"Is Chinese President Xi Planning To Annex Mongolia?" Topic

"Late last month, Beijing introduced changes to school curricula in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, requiring certain subjects to be taught in Mandarin rather than Mongolian.

What is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) seeking to gain from sending this message of pernicious intent? It is possible that he is attempting cultural genocide in Inner Mongolia, but does Xi also have the same plan for the democratic, independent nation of Mongolia?

The controversy emerged with the announcement by the Inner Mongolia Education Bureau on Aug. 26 that first-grade elementary-school and junior-high students would in certain subjects start learning with Chinese-language textbooks, as opposed to starting in the second grade, as was previously the case…"

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Amicalement
Armand

No need to waste resources including political capital. They already, de facto, control Mongolia.

I am searching in vain for a vital American interest in that area to give me something to worry about.

John it has the Gobi desert and the Dinosaur bone bed there within.

Maybe not a vital interest to the US, but for Russia, maybe. Mongolia was a buffer state for them. With Mongolia in place, they share a much shorter border with China.

Damon.

Their propaganda must be working, since I've considered that to be part of China for quite some time.

Yes, it has been under PRC/CCP control for the most part for a long time. And really nothing the US, etc., should get involved in besides condemnation at the UN, the media, sanctions, etc.

Hell we are still trying to get out of A'stan on that side of the planet!

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Making Mandarin compulsory is sop, and does not mean there are plans for expansion. It is more about internal homogenisation rather than external ambitions.

Mandarin is already a compulsory subject from pre-school on in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong. More and more schools are switching to an all-Mandarin ciriculum. At university and post-grad level in Hong Kong, an increasing number of subjects are now only taught in putonghua. It is now essentially impossible to obtain new broadcasting licences in anything other than Mandarin. I know people who were involved in a bid to launch a new Cantonese TV channel who got burned badly.

It is indeed a creeping cultural genocide/homogonization. IMO the protests in HK are as related to (justified) fears of cultural extinction as they are to creeping political repression. It will take a long time to achieve, but China is nothing if not patient. According to our media dept, only 70% of the PRC are currently fluent in Mandarin (though most read Chinese, which is a different thing). Xi is out to change that.

Good information to hear from someone how is from China …

It seems not unlike the situation in Sinkiang, where the Chinese are trying to "homogenize" the Uighurs. The Mongols are probably not as intransigent as the Uighurs.

Speaking of Uighurs, why is there no Islamic solidarity supporting them from Pakistan or Iran?
I'm suspicious and cynical to say the least.

Very true John. Their religiously affiliated brothers should be making terrorists attacks etc., all through the streets of Chinese cities. As they did in the Europe, the US, etc.

But I think since the PRC/CCP leadership is really not "open", PC, etc., as many in the West are. They would stop any sort of thing like that at their borders. Or if they thought some were planning a terrorist attack(s). They would not hesitate to shoot first and ask no questions later. No worries about CD, etc. They are basically a Communist oligarchy. They can do, say, etc., anything they want to. If they thought Pakistan, Iran, even ISIS or AQ. They would not be shy about "repaying" them many times over. If those nations and groups supported any terrorist actions. The PRC has a lot of non-nuclear missiles, etc., too.

The terrorists use the West's progressiveness, open tendencies, etc., to makes us an easier target.