The Chinese government is trying to suppress the Mongolian language. Under the guise of "bilingual education", there are plans to increase classes in High Chinese in Inner Mongolia. "For the Chinese authorities, however, 'bilingual education' means that – in the long term – members of ethnic minorities are supposed to learn High Chinese only," criticized Hanno Schedler, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. The same practice has already been applied in Tibet and Xinjiang. According to Schedler, the Communist Party is de facto trying to suppress minority languages, as a means to bring school children into line. The aim is to suppress their Mongolian identity by teaching them in High Chinese, using textbooks approved by the Communist Party.

The new guidelines were announced in Inner Mongolia only a few days before the start of the new school year. From now on, lessons in politics, history, and literature are to be held in High Chinese. Ethnic Mongolians are protesting against the decision, demanding the directive to be revoked. The Chinese government reacted with hundreds of arrests: protesters, parents who are not prepared to follow the new policy, administrators of the WeChat news service, and people who shared information on the protests via the Internet. "Parents who don't want to send their children to school under the new circumstances are threatened with losing their jobs, with property confiscation, and reduced social benefits," Schedler said. Nevertheless, according to the Mongolian human rights organization "Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center," the majority of parents are keeping their children at home for the time being.

Due to the state-sponsored settlement of Han Chinese, only 17 percent of the population of Inner Mongolia are ethnic Mongolians. "Against the background of decades of oppression, the concerns of Mongolian parents are more than understandable," Schedler emphasized. "Instead of taking these concerns seriously, the Chinese government is reacting with its usual strategy: repression against an ethnic minority. In the course of the virtual EU-China summit next Monday, Chancellor Merkel should remind Xi Jinping of the Chinese constitution, which guarantees ethnic minorities a right to preserve their languages.