DISQUS

Christian · 1 year ago

Inner Mongolia is such a touchy issue. What Oyunbileg leaves out is that Outer Mongolia, even through the chaotic years of the Russian Revolution, was squarely under either overwhelming Russian/Soviet influence or direct Russian/Soviet military control. It could not have achieved its independence without the help/support of its despotic and self-interested overlords. He also omits that those overlords were a bit less oppressive than the Qing Dynasty, which imposed a ban on permanent Han Chinese settlement in Mongol/Manchu/Uriangkhai territories, and gave all of those fairly substantial autonomy.

I in no way want to imply that things aren't bad for Mongols in Inner Mongolia, and I recognize that he's basically the only person really putting his neck on the line for them, but the way I look at it is that Outer Mongolia is the exception in that it was barely able to escape while Inner Mongolia never had much chance. The only chance they could have had would have been as a Manchuko-style puppet state (see Wikipedia article on Mengjiang), which would have entailed an alliance with Nazi Germany, and which was ultimately destroyed by a joint military assault by both the USSR and the People's Republic of Mongolia.

Also, if I understand things right, based on my limited knowledge of Inner Mongolian social history, things weren't any better or worse for Mongols than for Han Chinese, Uyghurs, Tibetans, etc, until the establishment of the PRC in the 40s. That is to say, things were pretty indiscriminately horrible for everyone.

Anyway, I don't want to come across as anti-Mongol or whatever. I generally agree that being an Autonomous Region really sucks for Inner Mongolia. I just don't agree 100% with Oyunbileg's description of events. What's worse is that "historical reasons" are the used by China to retain Tibet, Serbia to retain Kosovo, and could be used to advocate for the breakup of countries like Russia, Germany, Canada, and the USA. Very little good comes of such arguments, typically designed to serve the interests of glory-days-obsessed reactionary nationalists, and what we should do instead is look to what the people want today. Unfortunately this would leave Inner Mongolia as a whole squarely inside of China, though vast swaths of its countryside could conceivably be pro-independence even today (or at least 15 years ago, when that map was made).

bilgoon · 1 year ago

Christian, I think what the Mongols of Inner Mongolia want today is some form of independence and justice. And not to be a minority race in their own region. I think most of us, including world leaders such as Dalai Lama, have pretty much given up hope far as independence for Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang are concerned. The other issue is that the Chinese government and general public mentality perpetuated by the education system in China support the Sinosupremist attitude and the Han Chinese identity. Sure Mongolia was not very independent during its time as a puppet state of the USSR and many terrible things have taken place. But given a choice between the Soviets and the Chinese, the Mongolians chose and the Inner Mongolians would definitely have chosen the Soviets. What many people do not understand, and I agree that it may seem hard to understand for many, is that the anti-Chinese sentiment in Mongolia is very strong. Does that mean the Mongols would rather have chosen the Russians as the "overlords" over the Chinese? Definitely. The hatred and animosity between Mongols and Chinese run very deep. What is very insulting to all Mongols is that the Chinese seem to think Mongolians are simply misguided Chinese, and all Mongol territory should rightfully belong to China. I do not think the Russians suffer from the same delusion, however destructive they were.

The other problem with Inner Mongolia is that should a referendum be held, against all odds, in Inner Mongolia on the issue of independence, overwhelming majority of Inner Mongolia would choose to remain in China. Because 80% of Inner Mongolia is Han Chinese.

On a pessimistic note, while I understand and completely empathize with the Inner Mongolian Mongols' desire for independence and self-governance, I do not see a day when Inner Mongolia will gain its independence. Just like I do not see any hope for Tibet freedom. Slowly they will be assimilated, their cultures forgotten and reduced to museum exhibitions and sad mockery reenactments by tourist companies.