There are two governments in the world which are very much aggressive towards the rights
of Southern Mongolians. One is Mongolia itself and the other country is China . This
concern is shared by a person who has an ardent vision towards their freedom. He is
Munkhbayar Chuluundorj and two days before he was arrested by Mongolian Police accusing
him of involvement in illegal activities in the country . As his supporters expected, his
criticism of the Chinese dominance in Mongolia has caused disregard to the Chinese
government which brought him under the surveillance of authorities . Since they do not
tolerate this kind of criticism, the detention of Munkhbayar happened under the regular
supervision of China .
He was arrested in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar by Country’s spy office , the General
Intelligence Agency . When the reason for his arrest was enquired by his supporters the
agency acknowledged a naive response that “Munkhbayar had received illegal funds from
foreign intelligence groups” . Authorities had made the accusation without disclosing further
details or any substantial information . Supporters suspect that the arrest is part of a cleansing
campaign by China to eradicate the Chinese critics in Mongolia. As per local news reports
closed door trial proceedings are conducted and his relatives are denied visits to the
confinement center .
Munkhbayar Chuluundorj is a human rights activist who advocates freedom for regions in
Inner Mongolia. Upon the Second World War the southern part of Mongolia was taken over
by China. Since then China has been constantly suppressing the ethnic and cultural identity
of Mongolians in the annexed area. For instance in August 2020 the Chinese government
introduced a regulation that restricts the use of Mongolian language in schools which could
be replaced by the official language of China called Mandarin1
. Also the Chinese Communist
Party has supported relocation of Han Chinese people to the areas of South Mongolia.
Thus Munkhbayar had strongly criticized the policies that violated democratic rights of
ethnic minorities . He conducted various meetings , conferences and organized movements
against human rights abuse of China in Mongolia.Munkhbayar had demanded resignation of
Mongolian Prime Minister Mr. Luvsannamsrain Oyun- Erdene for his close ties with China .
2
In a Facebook post he has cited two significant reasons for his lack of confidence in the
prime minister. Firstly during the Beijing Winter Olympics the Prime minister had publicly
declared his support for China by considering China as a valuable neighbour and pathway for
governance and development . And Munkhbayar published research findings which
disclosed the fact about a government sponsored NGO working with the objective of
territorial expansion over neighboring countries like Taiwan and Mongolia.
1 https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/chinas-crackdown-on-mongolian-culture/
2 https://www.facebook.com/moenhbayar
Beijing had been trying hard to oppress the autonomy and uniqueness of Mongolian culture
in inner Mongolia. Those people who publicly challenged have been arrested or detained. In
September 2020 authorities in Horqin district published a list of 129 people who were
charged for reprehensible behavior. Mongolians organized their largest protest movements
against the inhuman actions of the Chinese government . Engehebatu Togochog , President of
Southern Mongolia Human Rights Center said that the patriotism courses are forcefully
inculcated to impart Chinese nationality , culture and party ideology in Mangolians.
The arrest of Munkhbayar has triggered outrage among his supporters. Several activists have
condemned the arrest telling that it was a plan instructed by Beijing and executed by
Mongolian government .A coalition of activists appeared before the GIA headquarters and
raised their dissent . According to the US based Southern Mongolian Human Rights
Information Center , Munkhbayar’s brother and family were forced to sign a non-disclosure
agreement with the GIA. If any of the details in regard to the case were publicly discussed
they would be charged for leakage of state secrets and shall be punished with 5 years of
imprisonment3
. Social Media was also not immune to the protests over arrest . Some of the
twitter responses are seen in the screenshots below :
A protest sign in Inner Mongolia against the new Mandarin language education reads “
Mongolia’s language is an inevitable part of Mongolian culture and losing language is
somewhat equal to their national identity crisis “. Not only language , the Chinese
government is entrusted with the propaganda to eradicate Mongolian identity from their
hearts and lives. World has witnessed the irreparable damage China has caused in Tibet.
Between 2009 and 2019 Mongolia’s GDP has grown from US$ 2.3 billion to US$13.99
billion.China has made a significant contribution to the Mongolian economy. The capital
investment by China reveals how much Mongolia has to be dependent on China.It is evident
that China’s intervention in Mongolia is on the same path as that happened in Tibet and
Uyghur ethnic groups which elucidates the autocratic attitude of China towards human rights
Mongolia in the path of Tibet?
