A heartbreaking video of a Southern Mongolian girl has gone viral on social media as China pushes a sweeping ban of Mongolian-language instruction in schools across Southern Mongolia starting this September. In the video, a Mongolian girl of 8 or 9 years old is seen crying over a fear of “becoming Chinese” under the National Common Language Reform policy instituted by the Chinese government.

The following is an English translation of the conversation that transpires between the girl and her mother:

 

Mother: “My darling, what makes you so sad? Tell mommy, why are you sad?”

Girl (crying): “I can’t learn Mongolian anymore….” 

Mother: “You’re sad because you’re no longer able to learn Mongolian?”

The girl nods.

Mother: “Darling, it is what it is—we’re helpless. Mommy and daddy will teach you Mongolian. Many parents will teach their kids Mongolian at home. From now on, my darling needs to learn Mongolian even harder, even better. Will you?”

The girl nods. 

Mother: “Don’t be sad. Is anything else bothering you, my darling?”

Girl (crying): “If I only learn Chinese…what if I can’t speak and write Mongolian anymore? I’m afraid I’ll become Chinese.”

Mother: “My darling, your mommy and daddy speak Mongolian at home. You will not become Chinese. You were born Mongolian, in a Mongolian yurt, to a Mongolian family. Your blood is Mongolian. Your heart, mind and everything is Mongolian. That means you are forever Mongolian. We’ll try to find a private instructor for you to learn Mongolian at home. Don’t be sad, because this is something we are unable to change. I feel helpless, mommy’s heart is breaking too. Anything else bothering my darling?”

The girl shakes her head. 

Mother: “Crying doesn’t help, my darling …”

Since September 2020, China has been aggressively enforcing a new language policy called the “Second Generation Bilingual Education” as part of her effort to “Firmly Inculcate the Chinese Nationality Common Identity” into the Mongolian population of six million in the region.

The Government of China initially claimed that this new policy would shift the language of instruction from Mongolian to Chinese for only three subjects, including literature, history and politics. Yet new details leaked from a covert recording confirm otherwise: a comprehensive ban of Mongolian language instruction across the “Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region” would be fully effective starting September 1, 2023.