Wind blows across the grassy steppes as the Great Wall looms long in the distance, marking the ancient barrier between Mongolia and China.
Gone are the days when its stones would shake with the thundering hoof-beats of Mongol hordes.
The nomadic horsemen have been displaced from their pastures into city apartments in the Chinese Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Even their written language, preserved from the Russian influence overwriting it in Mongolia, is at risk of slipping away, like so much of their way of life already has.
Ethnic unity
On July 2, in New York City, Tibetan man Lobga Rangzen approached the United Nations headquarters and set himself on fire in an act of political protest.
Amnesty International said the 52-year-old’s self-immolation was in response to China’s new ethnic unity law, which has sparked fears ethnic groups could face extinction.
The law was designed to create a “shared” national identity among China’s 56 ethnic groups.
Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, Sarah Brooks, said the incident was a moment to reflect on the human cost of certain
“A law that brazenly pushes non-Han ethnic groups including Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians toward a single, state-defined national identity rather than protecting their distinct cultures and languages,” Ms Brooks said.
An article by China’s state news agency, Xinhua, shared by the Chinese Ministry of Justice, said the law stipulated that “upholding national unity and ethnic solidarity is the responsibility of all Chinese citizens, and prohibits discrimination and suppression against any ethnic group”.
“It also combats violent terrorism, ethnic separatism and religious extremism, holding organisers, planners, perpetrators, instigators and funders of these activities criminally liable.”
Fifty-six races under one red flag
The Han Chinese are China’s largest and most dominant ethnic group, accounting for 17 per cent of the world’s population.
But 125 million Chinese citizens belong to 55 non-Han ethnic groups, including the Zhuang, Uyghur, Hui, Manchu, Yi, Tibetans and Mongolians.
Parts of China’s history were dominated by non-Han Dynasties: the Manchu Qing (1644–1912) and the Mongol Yuan (1271–1368).
