China’s push to create a single national identity
Inner Mongolia is the latest target
THE STREET signs in Inner Mongolia, a region in northern China, are written in two languages. There are the blocky characters of Mandarin, the mother tongue of most Chinese. Then there is the vertically-written script of Mongolian, which is spoken by many people in the region. The language is not just seen on signs; it is heard in cafés and used in classrooms (such as the one pictured). More Mongols live in Inner Mongolia than in Mongolia, the country next door.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Assimilation game”
From the September 16th 2023 edition
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