Summary of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC)'s statement to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 8th Session:

ENHABATU TOGOCHOG, Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre, in a statement delivered by Ms. Abbasova, said the Chinese Government had carried out State-sponsored massacres.  Mongolian Nomadic peoples had been impacted by the unsustainable farming practices of 12 million Chinese immigrants, while China stated that environmental degradation was caused by the “backward” Mongolian way of life.  Also, the Chinese Government had set up a “Livestock Prohibition Team” to confiscate the livestock of Mongolian herders, who were being detained and beaten daily. China declared that Inner Mongolia had become an energy base, and Mongolians had been displaced without their free, prior and informed consent.   China had signed the Declaration without considering its 55 indigenous peoples’ groups as “indigenous”.  As such, she asked the Forum what mechanism it had in place to ensure that China respected and protected indigenous peoples within its borders.

Summary of the statement of Zhou Ningyu, member of the Permanent Mission of People's Republic of China to the United Nations:

Exercising his right of reply, ZHOU LING YU, observer for China, said a so-called representative from an organization in Southern Mongolia had attacked China’s policies in Inner Mongolia.  That statement was “totally far” from reality and fact, and in total ignorance of the Government’s achievements in ethnic minority areas.  There was no foundation for such attacks on China’s policies towards ethnic minority groups.  That was a challenge to China’s sovereignty.

As such, he strongly demanded that the Forum be more careful in screening organizations that participated in its discussions, so that State sovereignty and territorial integrity were not encroached upon.  China was a multi-ethnic country with some 50 ethnic minority groups.  All were equal and their legitimate rights were guaranteed equally by the country.  China protected their identity, including in social and religious terms, and guaranteed their participation in health, the social sphere, education and employment.  China was committed to protecting them, in line with its laws, and had adopted special preferential measures to foster poverty alleviation in regions with ethnic minorities. China was committed to working together to build a prosperous, strong, civilized and harmonious nation.