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.
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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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