Xi pushes Mandarin to ‘solve ethnic problems’
Authorities in Inner Mongolia must "solve ethnic problems" and push the use of the Mandarin language, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said, months after the region was rocked by protests over a new rule that would reduce the use of the local language.
The region in China's far north borders the independent nation of Mongolia, with which it shares ethnic, cultural and linguistic ties.
Tens of thousands took part in demonstrations and school boycotts last year after an edict mandated Mandarin replace Mongolian as the language of instruction, part of a nationwide drive to assimilate China's ethnic minorities into the majority Han culture.
On Friday, Xi doubled down on the integration policies.
Speaking at an annual convention of political leaders in Beijing, he said Inner Mongolia should "unwaveringly promote the use of national common textbooks," to correct "wrong ideas" on culture and nationality, according to a readout of the meeting in state media.
He said Inner Mongolians should "learn by heart that the Han ethnicity cannot be separate from ethnic minorities and that ethnic minorities cannot be separated from the Han ethnicity."
The clampdown echoed Beijing's moves in Xinjiang and Tibet, where similar assimilation policies have been implemented.
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