50 YEARS OF TURMOIL IN INNER MONGOLIA

Since spring this year, Chinese Communists have been using a variety of propaganda methods to broadcast and comment on Mongol problems and boasted the "great" success of Chinese communism in Inner Mongolia. All this propaganda is aimed at celebrating the 50th year anniversary of the establishment of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. In order to prove that Mongolians and Han Chinese were members of the so called 'big family', Chinese propaganda repeatedly told the beautiful and romantic story of Wang Zhaojun's "friendship" with Mongolians so as to refute those "shameless arguments" of the "Mongolian splittist".

The geographical position of Mongolia in the Heartland of Central Asia was the main environmental factor that determined the specific character of the historical development of its inhabitants. "The Great Steppe of Mongolia" which represents a huge grazing land was most favorable for animal husbandry, and hence the civilization that developed there was of the pastoral type. Mongolia was historically a unified independent nation. It had its own territory, ethnic group, political system, and a very developed national-ethnic consciousness. The Mongolian people were well known to the world by their fierce fighting ability and strength. At the beginning of the 13th century under the leadership of Chinggis Khan, the Mongols established the most powerful empire in the world --- one that encompassed the Asian and European continents. The history of the Mongols has not only had an impact on the 50 or so nations of Europe and Asia, it has also affected Egypt on the African continent. It also had a great influence on Middle age world history. After the 16th century, Great Mongolia separated into three parts:

1). Southern Mongolia, which consisted of today's Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region and surrounding area. After Huang Taiji (Manchu Emperor) was defeated by Yuan Chonghuan, he initiated a "Unite with Mongolians against Ming dynasty" policy. Later, with Mongolian help, Huang Taiji took the route through Chakhar and invaded Beijing. That was the road Chinggis Khan used to defeat Chinese troops in Beijing. Now this road is protected by the best equipped Chinese motorized 38th and 27th armored divisions.

2). Northern Mongolia, which consisted of the Kingdom of the Khalkha tribes - Tsetsen Khan, Tushetu Khan, and Chasaktu Khan.

3). Kingdom of Jungharia - The four tribes of Oirats were called the "outside disaster" by the Chinese Ming dynasty(1368---1644). Essen khan led a 20,000-strong mounted army and severely defeated Yingn-tsong (Chinese Emperor)'s 100,000-strong army to the north of the Great Wall and took Ying-tsong under house arrest. In the middle of the 18th century, Galdan (Boshogtu Khan) of Jungharia fought with Kang-hi's (Manchu Emperor) army in the Xi Fengkou (in what is now Inner Mongolia). Unfortunately, Galdan Khan's army was defeated by Kang-hi's troops outside Xi Fengkou. Galdan himself fled to Qing Hai province. In 1758, Jungharia was occupied by Kien-lung(Manchu Emperor). Since then, Mongolians and Han Chinese were forced to be ruled by the Manchu(1644-1911). When the Manchu ruler was overthrown. In 1911, the northern part of Mongolia was established as an independent Mongolia. In November of the following year, Mongolia and Russia signed the Russia & Mongolia Treaty which clearly prohibited Chinese troops from entering Mongolian territory and prohibited Chinese immigration to Mongolia. Mongolian nobility refused to recognize Inner Mongolia as Chinese territory and advocated the unity of Northern and Inner Mongolia. In November 1913, China and Russia signed the Declaration of China & Russia to divide Mongolia; in the declaration, Russia recognized the sovereignty of China over Inner Mongolia; Northern Mongolia was allowed administrative autonomy with the condition of recognizing Chinese law. In 1917, by taking advantage of the downfall of the Tsar, the Chinese attempted to control outer Mongolia against the provisions of the Declaration of the China & Russia treaty. On November 22, 1919, president Xu Shichang abolished the autonomy of Mongolia, eliminated the treaty with China, Mongolia and Russia. Since the Bei Yang warlords were busy with their own warfare and had no interest in implementing Xu's order, Northern Mongolia stayed as a de facto independent state.

In 1920, Communist ideas entered Mongolia, Smirnoff's white Russian troops invaded Mongolia. On February 21, 1921, Mongolia established an independent government. In June, the soviet Red Army drove out the white Russian army. Assisted by the Soviet Union, communists lead by Choibalsen established the "People's Government of Mongolian Revolution" and signed a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union. In July 1, 1924, the Mongolian Peoples Republic was proclaimed. In 1945, the Soviet and Chinese governments agreed to let the Mongolian people vote for the independence of Mongolia. In October, the vast majority of the Mongolian people voted for independence. Thereafter, the Chinese Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Shijie signed an agreement called "China and Soviet Friendship Agreement" with the Soviet foreign minister Morotoff, whereby both formally acknowledged the independence of Mongolia. But, in 1952, the Chinese Nationalist Government changed its mind and refused to comply with the agreement. The Chinese Communist Government acknowledged the independence of Mongolia in 1949. In turn, the Mongolian government also acknowledged the People's Republic of China on October 16, 1949. Mongolia was then the eighth country in the world to establish formal foreign relation with China.

In the winter of 1949, when Mao Zedong was visiting the Soviet Union, he clearly promised J.V. Stalin (Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili 1879--1953 ) to guarantee the independence of Mongolia and send an ambassador to Mongolia. In the coming 11 years, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De visited Mongolia 4 times, representing the Chinese government.

After the Qing dynasty was overthrown in 1911, the Mongolian independence movement started in outer Mongolia. In July 10, all Mongolian Khalkha tribes held a joint meeting in Ulaanbaator and decided to secede from the Qing dynasty to form an independent country. Their specified final goal was to unite outer and inner Mongolia.

What was the situation in Inner Mongolia in that time? On July 26, 1933, under the leadership of De Wang (he was the 31st generation descendent of Chinggis Khan), representatives of all Mongolian tribes gathered in front of "Bai Ling" temple in Ulaanchab League (League, an administrative division of the Inner Mongolia autonomous Region, corresponding to a Prefecture) and held the first "Autonomy Conference", the meeting marked the beginning of the autonomy / independence movement of Inner Mongolia. Later, as a result of the intervention by the Nationalist Chinese Government, the foreign invasion and occupation, the political situation in Inner Mongolia became very complicated, a variety of political opinions appeared including "autonomy", "independence", unification of outer and inner Mongolia, there were also those who wanted to establish 'communism' in Mongolia. For example, in August 1945, more enlightened upper class Mongols and Mongolian young intellectuals held a conference in Gegen temple in Khinggan League(an administrative division of the Inner Mongolia autonomous Region) and announced the establishment of the Inner Mongolian People's Revolution Party and East Mongolian Party District, the conference also issued the "Declaration of Inner Mongolian Liberation" , which promoted unification of Outer and Inner Mongolia, expelling of foreign invader, opposing feudalism and demanding equality among different nationalities. It also asked all Mongol people to fight for national liberation. Thereafter, the party established the Mongolian Armed forces and collected signatures for unification of Outer and Inner Mongolia, the party also sent a delegate to the Mongolian People's Republic to discuss the issue of unification, however, this encountered harsh refusal from Stalin.

On August 23, 1945, Mongol and Daghur people in Hulunboir prairie sent representatives to Ulaanbaator asking the integration of Hulunboir to Mongolian People's Republic, which was refused by the Communist International. Instead, the Hulunboir Autonomous Province was established in Hailar region. In October, Hulunboir Autonomous Province sent delegates to Chang Chun city requesting the Chinese Government in the northern district to implement "Higher degree Autonomy" in the province, the request was also rejected by China. At the same time, Mongolians in Shilingol League established the "Inner Mongolian People's Provisional Committee" and requested unification of Outer and Inner Mongolia from local allied forces of Soviet Union and Mongolia, they also sent delegates to Mongolian People's Republic to discuss the issue of "unification", as can be expected, the request was rejected again. In September 1945, they held a Congress of Mongolian in Sonid Banner and announced the establishment of the Inner Mongolian People's Republic. Buyandalai was elected as the president of the republic, a team of delegates was sent to the Mongolian People's Republic again in order to convince the Soviets and Mongolia to acknowledge the independence, the delegates also asked Ulaanbaator Radio Station in Mongolia to broadcast the independence of Inner Mongolia to the world, all of these requests were rejected once more.

The Mongolian People's Republic not only refused to support the request of unification of Inner and Outer Mongolia, but also changed the principle goal of "ultimately unifying Inner and Outer Mongolia". The main reason is because Mongolia was a "dependent" country of the Soviet Union, it was "remote" controlled by J.V.Stalin. In order to protect its own security interest in Siberia, the Soviet Union used Mongolia as the "buffer zone" between itself and China. Hence, Soviets, Chinese Communists and Chinese Nationalists divided Mongolia into three parts: Mongolian People's Republic, Soviet controlled Buriat Mongol Republic and Chinese controlled Inner Mongolia. On January 16, 1946, the East Mongolian People's Conference was convened in Khinggan League. The conference decided to establish the East Mongolian People's Autonomous Government, issued the "Declaration of East Mongolian People's Autonomous Government" , passed the "Constitution of East Mongolian People's Autonomous Government" and the "East Mongolian People's Autonomic Law" . On February 15, the East Mongolian Autonomous Government was formerly announced, Buyanmandukh was elected as the president, Hafunga was elected as Chief secretary of the government. The East Mongolian People's Self-protection Army was also organized. Once again, "independence", "autonomy" and "unification of Inner and Outer Mongolia" were clearly indicated in these "Declarations" , "Constitutions" and " Autonomy Laws" . Later, led by vice-president Manibadara of the East Mongolian People's Autonomous Government, a team of 7 delegates went to Chong Ching city and accepted the leadership of Nationalist China. During that time, there were certain number of communist believers in Mongolia who received long term training from the Chinese Communist party. Headed by Ulaankhuu and directed by the Chinese Communist Party, these Mongol communists specialized in "dividing" and "disintegrating" the independence activities among the Mongol people. With Communist help, they succeeded in destroying the tendency of "Nationalist Self-determination" ideas in various regions of Inner Mongolia. On April 3rd, 1946, they won the negotiation with the East Mongolian People's Autonomous Government. All those working for the Communists were given promotions, all those against communism were severely punished; that negotiation was named "April 3 meeting" in modern Chinese history. On April 23, 1947, Communists organized the so-called Conference of Inner Mongolian People's Delegates in Khinggan League. The platform was decorated by Mao Zedong, Ulaankhuu, J.V.Stalin and Choibalsan's portraits and flags of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government. On May 1st, the first Autonomous Government organized by the Chinese Communist Party was announced, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government was established on the closing date of the conference. The conference decided to set up the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government and the Provisional Congress of Inner Mongolia. The conference also passed the " Constitution of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government" . The first 3 provisions of the constitution were: I. The Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government was established according to the will and request of all different nationalities of the Inner Mongolian people, according to Mr. Sun Yatsen (Sun Zhongshan)'s principle of :"All the nationalities are equal" and "recognize the self-determination of all nationalities in China", according to the leader of the Chinese Communist Party Mr. Mao Zedong's minority people's policy and the spirit of the Congress of Political Consultants. II. The Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government is the regional government at every level of the Mongolian people together with all other minority nationalities, the government implements a higher degree autonomous power in the region. III. The Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government is composed of all League and Banner (banner, an administrative division of county level in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) in Inner Mongolia, which is an inseparable part of the Republic of China.

On December 2, 1949, the Chinese Communists changed the name of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government to that of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. They did this change without any consultation of the Inner Mongolian People. From that time on, the Chinese Communists completely destroyed the Mongolian religious and political system. The political reform and constitutional monarchy established by the Domestic Mongol Khan and nobility were terminated as the Chinese People's Liberation army forced the implementation of a "Communist dictatorship" in Inner Mongolia.

In the early years of the P.R. China, in order to gain assistance from the Mongol upper class, the Chinese Communists actively encouraged the Mongol people to use their own language and writing, and trained quite a few number of new local bureaucrats loyal to the communists. The communists also gained support from young Mongolian intellectuals who believed the Chinese were helping the Mongol people. Take Ulaankhuu as an example, he was promoted as a 4 star P.L.A. general, was chosen as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, was assigned as Vice Premier of P.R. China, he was also the head of the Inner Mongolian Communist party, Inner Mongolian government and army commander in chief. But in the late 50's, Chinese policy started to change and the Mongolian people began to doubt the truth of Chinese "good intentions". For instance, the so-called "206 Event" in Jining city in Ulaanchab League was a good example to explain this. During that time, 5 leaflets against the Chinese communists and the Chinese minority policy were found all over Inner Mongolia, the leaflets contained the following 5 sections: 1). Resentment against the 1962 treaty between China and Mongolia in which the two countries' borders were formally determined. 2). Demanding the unification of Inner and Outer Mongolia. 3) & 4). Against the control of the Chinese Communist Party and the Minority policy of the People's Republic of China. 5). Pointed out the policy, guiding method and measure of unification of Inner and Outer Mongolia. Finally, the leaflets pointed out: Struggle hard to achieve the goal of unification of Mongolia before July 1, 1966. If this plan is not successful, then try to gain the last victory on July 1 or November 26, 1966. The vice-commander in chief Mr. Tokhtokh of Shiliingol Army District , vice-chairman Tsungdui of Shiliingol League and Attorney General Namjilin Punsag of the Prosecutor's Office of Shliingol league criticized the Chinese policy of forcing Mongols to learn Chinese and to accept the communist ideology against their own will. As a result, they were all eliminated from the Communist party. The "Unification Party" and "The Truth Party" in Eastern Inner Mongolia also announced opposing Great Han Chauvinism and unifying Inner and Outer Mongolia.

In 1954, the 71st provision of the Chinese "Constitution" clearly stated: "Minorities have the right to use their native language and writing." However, the Chinese government thought the multi-language policy helped to widen the gap between Han Chinese and minority people. So, in 1957, premier Zhou Enlai administered the "Meeting of Minority Affairs in Tsingtao city", the meeting prohibited usage of Mongolian written language among all minority primary schools. This decision received strong opposition from Mongolian intellectuals; as a result, all those who opposed the decision were suppressed again. In 1973, the Chinese communists changed their mind and allowed the usage of native languages and writing.

The Chinese and their descendants who lived in Inner Mongolia for a long time never bothered to learn the local languages. It is hard to hide their inner feeling of superiority from local inhabitants in the way they treat the local Mongolian culture. In the cultural revolution, the Chinese communists organized a political movement to search members of "Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (IMPRP). The purpose was to wipe out the national dignity of the Mongolian people; the consequence of this movement was devastating for the Mongolians. The range of the search extended from Inner Mongolia to Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu and three provinces of Northeastern China, basically, no Mongol was free of inspection. Nearly 700,000 to 800,000 people were put in jails, close to a million were connected to IMPRP and 50,000 executed - all under the false charge of "local nationalism" or " trying to split up the motherland ". They received inhumane treatment both spiritually and physically. By contrast, we have never heard of a single case where a Chinese has ever been punished for being a Han Chauvinist. Such unfair practices instill a sense of outrage in Mongolians who have to live under Chinese domination. But as Mongolians didn't surrender themselves to the Chinese communists, all these harsh treatments increased their hatred of the communist system and Chinese rule. That was one of the main reason of the subsequent clash between Han and Mongols.

In 1974, when giving his lecture in the Inner Mongolian University, the famous Minority specialist Mr. Ya Hanzhang seriously criticized the Chinese Communists' Ultra Han Nationalist ideology and national repression policy in Inner Mongolia. His speech received an enthusiastic welcome from the Mongolian people. Afterwards, Ya Hanzhang's paper was translated into Mongol and spread all over Inner Mongolia, even the Mongol herdsmen in tents heard about the name of Ya Hanzhang. Some Mongols even asked if Mr. Ya was a living Buddha in Communist China. As can be expected, Mr. Ya wasn't able to escape from the Communist regime, he was characterized as "counter reaction specialist in nationality theory" and transferred to work as a factory worker in He Nan province.

In the summer of 1981, a large scale student movement exploded in Inner Mongolia, the movement lasted for about 3 months under the leadership of student leader Shobtsood Temtsiltu (Xi Haiming). Students in about 100 colleges and universities from Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Northeastern provinces joined the student movement and organized demonstrations and strikes. The movement received wide and warm support from Mongolian communities. The ignition of the movement was the issuance of the Chinese Communist Central Committee's "Number 28" document, in which Chinese Communists decided to settle large numbers of Han people to Inner Mongolia. This movement greatly weakened the Chinese communists' control in Inner Mongolia.

In July 1987, the Chinese government dumped 4,000 tons of nuclear waste from Germany in the Mongolian Gobi Desert, this action encountered severe resistance from the Mongolian people. Students from Hohhot city took to the streets in protest and made their way into the building of the Inner Mongolian People's Government. With no other choice, the Inner Mongolian Military district chief commander Tsai Ying ordered troops to suppress the demonstration.

In 1990, there were well organized movements in Inner Mongolia which openly challenged the Communist Party rule and demanded independence for Inner Mongolia. The organizers planned to achieve the goal of independence in three stages: 1. Spend 2-4 year for advocacy; 2. Spend 3-5 years to establish political organization; 3. Complete national independence. This movement was crushed cruelly by the Chinese communists in May, 26; the leaders were arrested.

In March 1994, there were protests demanding "a democratic open election procedure in choosing all levels of Inner Mongolian government leaders; free broadcasting and publication; the right of Mongolians to publish newspapers; modify provisions in the constitution which discriminate against the Mongolian people; equality for all nationalities."

In April 1994, 4000 official workers protested the privileges and corruption of government officials. They wrote an appeal to the related government organizations requesting: I. Implement necessary steps to stop inflation; II. Stop buying luxurious cars and houses for government officials; III. Immediately pay salaries of retired officials; IV. Punish corrupt government officials who abused power for personal gain. In reply to the appeal, the Inner Mongolian government decided the following: I. The protesters were inspired by some bad elements among the government officials and workers. The purpose of these 'bad elements' is directed against the Regional Communist Party Committee and Government; II. They intended to create turmoil to destroy the Party's work plan and peaceful unity in Inner Mongolia; III. The Autonomous Regional Government should implement necessary process including using force to resolve the event.

As a consequence of this unfair treatment, the protest was expended to Bao Tou city, Jining city and Hailar city as well, 4000 more official workers including 3700 Chinese Communist Party members in over 120 government organizations were involved in the event. It was clear that the protest was directed against the Central government. Such an event had never happened in 50 years of Communist control in China. The Chinese Communist Central government's response was to send Wei Jianxing to Inner Mongolia to investigate the event, later Chinese premier Li Peng also spent 4 days in Hohhot on his way back from Mongolia to resolve the problem. In December 1995, Mr. Hada and other leaders of the organization called "Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance" were arrested. These arrests received strong protest from students and other Mongolians, the demonstrators held high the portrait of Chinggis Khan and sang traditional Mongol songs, protested the cruel Communist control, demanded the release of Hada and other prisoners. Afterwards, the demonstrators were dispersed by Chinese paramilitary forces, 27 people were arrested again.

III. The issue of "Mongolian Independence"

The issue of the independence of Mongolia has always been one of the major nationality problems. Chinese communists never admit the historical cause of the problem, they simply accused the "Gang of Four" as responsible for the Mongolian people's suffering and economic disaster. By using this accusation, the Chinese government thought they could cheat all people of China and repent for their sins.

As a result of the Chinese Communist success in blocking the news from spreading all over China, for a long time, the majority Chinese people have not been informed of the Mongolian people. By sending troops, mass immigration of Chinese, abuse of human rights, nuclear tests, dumping nuclear waste, taking away the natural wealth and destroying religious tradition and culture, the Chinese government harshly oppressed the Mongolian people. Although there are quite a number of Chinese pro-democratic scholars who fully understand the Mongolian problem, but unfortunately, because of fear of being addressed as "Han Chinese traitor" or "National betrayer" by the Chinese people, very few of them actually stand for truth and speak up for Mongolians. Rather, against their own will of setting up a "democratic" and "free" China, their passivity is helping the Chinese government in the political repression of the Mongolian people.

According to Chinese statistical reports, there are about 6 million Mongolians in China, mainly inhabiting Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Qing Hai, Gansu and three provinces in North-Eastern China. Mongolians occupied an area of 1,600,000 square kilometers, which consists of 1/6 of the Chinese territory. The size is about 40 times that of Taiwan. Although Mongolian people are spread over 8 provinces and autonomous region in China, they basically live in compact communities. They have their own language and writing, the language is the Mongolian branch of the Altaic family, their alphabet is written from top to bottom. Mongolians believe in Lamaist Buddhism according to the Yellow Faith. In 1949, just before the establishment of the People's Republic of China, there were more 1,400 temples, over 20,000 Buddhist lamas, but there are very few of them today. There are many natural resources in Mongolian inhabited area: coal reserves are the number one in China, forestry resource is the number one in China, the area of grass land is the number one in China, steel and iron production is the number one in China with an annual production of 360,000 tons of steel. Four out of the six biggest gold mines are in Inner Mongolia. 80% of the whole world's reserves of selenium are in Inner Mongolia. Oil, salt and calcium are the three major industrial products. The military production plants are the biggest in China. A Chinese nuclear test site is in Bayangol Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang. Etc.

So called autonomous regions and autonomous prefectures have no real autonomy. The "Law of National Autonomous Regions" is just a piece of paper, no one has ever seriously implemented it. The Central government is the key to communist power, it contradicts regional autonomy. Similar to the central government in Beijing, in the autonomous region, there are Party Committee, People's Congress and People Consulting Committee etc, Governing organizations. However, all the leading positions are held by Han Chinese cadres. The leadership quality of Chinese communists in Inner Mongolia is very low, corruption is a big problem among these authorities, the lack of basic administrative ability in government and the organization of modern industry. All they know is how to exploit and abuse their own privilege and power. 50 yeas after the establishment of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, these "local red army" members treat the Mongolian people as if they were lower class animals.

In half a century, large numbers of innocent Mongolians were put into prisons as "Local Nationalist" and "separatists", but no single Han Chinese has ever been convicted of "Big Han Nationality Chauvinism". This sort of social injustice and corruption of government officials were the main causes of the Mongolian people's desire for social reform and demand for political independence. Among the regional level government officials, ethnic Mongols constitute a very small proportion. However, at the time of the establishment of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, the percentage of Han Chinese officials was very small, now it is just the opposite. The vast majority of judges and policemen are Han. Almost 95% of the labor force in iron-steel, oil and mineral industries is Han Chinese. There are basically no Mongols working for the military industry. More than 90% of modern constructions were occupied by Han Chinese. Native Mongols live on mountains or grasslands and share the same dwellings with their herds, where no clean water, no electrical power and no heating system are available. After 50 years of Chinese Communist control and suffering from the Chinese regime, the Native Mongolian People's living condition has not changed, they are still the poorest class in China. This kind of unfair treatment of the Native Mongolian people is the basic source of turmoil.

A major cause of conflict between Han Chinese settlers and the Native Mongolians is the mass population transfer policy. In order to facilitate assimilation and control of Mongolian people, the Chinese communists widely construct communications such as highway, railway, bridges, telegraphic system and telephone lines in Inner Mongolia. To protect these facilities, the communist sent heavily armed forces into the region. Chinese communist mass immigration policy has resulted in large numbers of Han Chinese migrating to Inner Mongolia. In 1949, the proportion of Han Chinese to Mongol was 1:5 , now it is 4:1. The speed of population transfer and the numbers transferred is a record breaker in Chinese history. The mass immigration policy has resulted in serious consequences, since there is no specific policy and law to protect the Native Mongolian people's basic rights, Mongolian culture, education and customs are on the verge of extinction.

Under the Chinese communist nationalistic oppression policy, two policies are being implemented, one is the expropriation of local natural resources such as mineral resource, oil, coal, iron, wood, gold and animals, the other is the massive flow of Han Chinese immigrants into Inner Mongolia. The economic plunder and mass immigration has caused great difficulty in the local people's daily life. They are furious about the injustice and the treatment of their natural wealth. Forced by Chinese communist "Ultra Han Nationalist" control, unequal treatment of Mongols in political, economic and social life, the Mongolian people pointed out the following new demands: "Against nationalist oppression, save Mongolians from extinction, unite all Mongols around the world, independence for Inner Mongolia.", The slogans inspired the Mongolian's national enthusiasm and confidence. If one carefully observes the situation in Inner Mongolia, one would notice that the Mongol way of life, language and religion are getting stronger than ever. A lot of people are aware of this phenomenon. For example, one Chinese scholar pointed out: "Mongols were one of the strongest nationality who had the same political and military strength as Chinese in history. For this reason, if Mongols stand up against us, they will definitely bring disastrous consequence to China."

Just as the Chinese historical autocratic monarchs, Chinese Communists have used suppression and conciliation policies together to prevent national minorities from secession. In the coming Chinese democratic process, the minorities will certainly demand national autonomy or even independence exactly as former Soviet Union and Yugoslavian minorities did. There are huge number of relatives of Inner Mongolian people living in Mongolia, through communication with each other, these people brought in the democratic idea to Inner Mongolia. Inner Mongolians and Mongolians are the same nationality and speak the same language, their influence on each other is inevitable. At the present, the democratic process and nationalistic ideology in Mongolia will definitely have a great impact on Inner Mongolia, it will force the Chinese government to face the problem of "Mongolian Independence". Inner Mongolia is geographically a neighbor of the Chinese midland and 9 Northern provinces, it is only 120 miles to Beijing from the Inner Mongolian border , if Inner Mongolia gains independence, it will have a huge impact on China. In my opinion, the influence of the Mongolian democratic movement and political reform on Chinese society will be greater than the change in East Europe. The Chinese government is also aware of the potential danger of Inner Mongolia and pays great attention to the region, the government has imposed stronger control over Inner Mongolia since 1990. The Official newspaper "Inner Mongolian Daily" warned local Mongol people: "A small number of class enemies may continue to have connections with international reactionary forces, they are causing resentment among different nationalities". Chinese communists frankly revealed their intention to implement a new policy to prevent turmoil in Inner Mongolia. Once a nationality, which suffered decades of political suppression from an other nationality, broke the shackles of the ruling class, it will often become arrogant and out of control during the process of searching for psychological balance and spiritual need, it can lead to nationalism as happened in East Europe and ex-Soviet Union.

The Mongolian democratic revolution succeeded in a more moderate way by establishing a multi-party based democratic system. In the 1996 elections, The Democratic Party took the role of the executive party of the country. However, like every major revolution in history, it also awakened the national self-consciousness of the Mongols. As a result, in the very beginning of the Mongolian democratic movement, Mongolian nationalists consider Chinggis Khan as the spiritual leader. The name of Chinggis Khan was sung in most popular songs among Mongols, the name was printed on the flags of democratic movements and widely published in official newspapers. The portraits of Karl Marx ( 1818-1883 ) and V.I. Lenin ( Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov 1870--1924 ) were replaced with Chinggis Khan's portrait in the museums. The famous and proud words used by Chinggis Khan to inspire the Mongols to conquer the world such as: "As long as my nation exists, I don't care about my own life." "Mongol brothers, onto the horse!" were used in several demonstrations as slogans. The Mongol people's demand for democracy and independence is based on: 1. The long period of national repression caused by communist system, a resentment of the fact that the national hero Chinggis Khan was vilified; 2. Mongolians don't want their motherland to become a Chinese "colony".

It is imaginable, through the continued influence of outside information, that the Mongols' spirit of resistance will be inspired eventually. This is proven by the fact that several pro-independence organizations were suppressed by the Chinese communists in recent years. Although the number of demonstrations and turmoil is increasing, it is not enough to overthrow the Chinese communist regime. On the contrary, these demonstrations may be suppressed by the Chinese government using cruel methods. When China changes from inside, namely, when the Chinese government is forced by democratic procedure to weaken control over its own citizens, independence movements similar to East Europe and the ex-Soviet Union will occur in Inner Mongolia or other minority region. The long time of military suppression of various independence movements has inspired the minority people's resistance, their demand is "complete independence from China". The minorities no longer believe in the false promises of the Chinese communists' so called "autonomy", they are eventually heading toward the road of complete independence.

In summary, since the day of establishment of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region on May 1, 1947 until today, history has witnessed 50 years of violence, turmoil, poverty and hatred on the land of Inner Mongolia. Whose fault?

March 15, 1997

New York city Columbia University

Mr. Bache is the Vice Chairman of the IMPP (Inner Mongolian People's Party).