Tokyo, Japan: A parliamentary alliance has been launched by Japanese lawmakers aimed at “protecting Mongolian culture from assimilation policies of the Chinese government”.
Citing Jiji Press, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the alliance will be headed by Sanae Takaichi, a former internal affairs and communications minister of Japan, with fellow members of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
The cross-party Parliamentary Alliance in Support of Southern Mongolia will aim to “protect the language and culture of Mongolians in China”, which is being threatened by the assimilation policies of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Ethnic Mongolians in China’s Inner Mongolia region had also protested last year against a new educational policy under which Inner Mongolia students needed to take classes in language, history and politics entirely in the Chinese language. They believe it endangers the Mongolian language and attempts to assimilate all ethnic minorities in a united “Chinese nation”.
Temurlun, an ethnic Mongolian currently living in Japan, said the move was a huge boost to ethnic Mongolians from China’s northern region of Inner Mongolia, which is referred to by rights activists as Southern Mongolia.
“The … alliance established by the Japanese parliament today is hugely encouraging for Southern Mongolians in exile,” RFA quoted Temurlun as saying.
He said the CCP is trying to “extinguish” traditional nomadic Mongolian culture within China’s borders.
RFA further stated that the launch of the alliance comes after Japanese lawmakers held a seminar earlier this month on how best to protest the Mongolian language and culture in China.
Ethnic Mongolian adults are being targeted by Chinese language-learning campaigns, with new programs teaching Mandarin being broadcast in the region since December 2020.
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