Ulaanbaatar
Scholars send open letter to President Xi Jinping to reconsider language rule in Inner Mongolia
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Several Mongolian scholars, including prominent writer Galsan Tangad and literary translator Akim Gotov, have recently sent an open letter to President of the People's Republic of China, concerning the recent rule in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China requiring some courses in regional schools to teach in Mandarin Chinese language.
In the letter written in traditional Mongolian script, dated 7 September 2020, the group of Mongolian scholars and linguists expressed their distress over the decision to stop teaching in Mongolian language at some Inner Mongolian schools, claiming that “the decision, if proven to be true, is a harmful act to be done in a unified multi-ethnic country of China.”
The scholars conveyed their worry that the decision may further result in negative consequences, such as preventing children of Inner Mongolian people to enjoy their fundamental right to education in their native language, threatening the Mongolian language and script with a danger of extinction, causing irreparable loss to the wealth of cultural heritage preserved by the Chinese nation and leading to damages in the literary, linguistic and cultural heritages of the humanity.
N.Altantsetseg (Doctor of Philology), S.Altantsetseg (Doctor of Philology), D.Ganbold (Doctor of Philology), Ts.Jambalgarav (Poet), L.Jumdaan (Doctor of Philology), N.Zolzaya (Scholar of human rights), S.Oyun (State Prize Laureate of Mongolia, Honored Fellow of Culture, Poet), N.Ulziijargal (Lawyer), L.Purevdorj (Honored Fellow of Culture of Mongolia, author), Ch.Purevdorj (Doctor of Pedagogy, Poet) and B.Elbegzaya (Editor-in-Chief of “Humuun Bichig” Mongolian script newspaper, Teaching fellow, Journalist) are among the literary and academic figures to pen the open letter, requesting Chinese President Xi Jinping to reconsider this matter thoroughly.
