The following is a statement made by the Southern Mongolian representative Temulun Togochog on April 18, 2023 before the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) 22nd Session in New York City:

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Temulun Togochog. On behalf of six million Southern Mongolians, I would like to bring to your attention the ongoing cultural genocide committed by the Government of China.

Starting in 2020, the Government of China has banned the Mongolian language entirely across Southern Mongolia in the name of the “National Common Language” policy. 300,000 Mongolian students went on a total school strike. The Chinese authorities responded with mass arrests. An estimated 10,000 protestors have been arrested, detained, imprisoned, and placed under house arrest. Eleven lost their lives in defense of their rights to their mother tongue.

What followed this heavy-handed crackdown was a full-scale cultural genocide campaign, the scope of which has extended far beyond the simple switch of language in schools. “Learn Chinese and become a civilized person” has been an official slogan publicly promoting Chinese supremacy. Mongolian language programs have been removed from radio, television, and newspapers.

To justify the campaign, the Chinese National Congress announced that minority language education is “unconstitutional”, overwriting its own constitution and “National Minority Autonomy Law”. Schools from kindergartens to colleges removed Mongolian language instruction altogether. All extracurricular activities for learning Mongolian are banned.

Mongolian traditional arts are forced to adopt Chinese styles to reflect the superiority of Chinese culture. Mongolian sacred sites are destroyed, and Mongolian customs and rituals are scorned and mocked. Sculptures, monuments, and buildings with Mongolian characteristics are taken down; signs and banners in Mongolian are removed from schools, buildings, streets, and parks. Mongolian publications are banned, and books removed from shelves. Services for printing and copying Mongolian language materials are denied; postal services are ordered not to deliver any Mongolian books or publications.

After cracking down on the Mongolian protest, a region-wide training program called the “Training for the Firm Inculcation of the Chinese Nationality Common Identity” was launched. The entire Mongolian population is subjected to this training program to denounce their own language, culture and embrace the Chinese identity.

Mr. Chair, China is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. China must fulfill its obligation to respect the rights of six million indigenous Mongolians and must stop her ongoing cultural genocide in Southern Mongolia.

Thank you,

Temulun Togochog

 

A response from the Chinese delegation to the Southern Mongolian representative's speech at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 22nd Session (2023-04-19):