On Chinese social media, videos of the protests have begun to circulate.
Enghebatu Togochog, director of the human-rights center, explained “Mongolians consider this as the ‘final blow’ to their culture and identity.”
Local authorities were mobilized to quell the protests. Police in Tongliao, an eastern city within Inner Mongolia, published photos of 90 suspected protesters who were “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble.”
A notice was issued to Tongliao locals, warning, “Anyone who gathers in a public place, the police will thoroughly investigate them all.”
Following the civil unrest and boycotting of Mandarin-language classes, local governments have instructed cadres to firmly discipline individuals who spread rumors, particularly “inappropriate views” towards the central government.
Threats from local authorities have failed to quell the protests, however. Daguulaa, a clothes seller in Xilinhot in western Inner Mongolia, worriedly said, “Our ethnic language will slowly disappear — parents are worried about this.”
