The Repression of Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians
By Elena Artibani, Academy Analyst Assistant
Introduction
In the contemporary global landscape, cultural assimilation has become one of the most insidious instruments of domination. Nowhere is this more evident than in China, where the state’s policies toward its so-called “autonomous regions” aim to systematically dismantle local identities and replace them with a homogenous national narrative centered on Han Chinese culture. In Tibet, Uyghur regions and Southern Mongolia, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has pursued an extensive campaign of sinicization, targeting language, religion and traditional ways of life in an attempt to erase centuries-old identities and reshape them into a single state-approved ideal of citizenship.
Condemning China’s actions on the international stage remains an immense challenge. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and one of the world’s foremost economic and military powers, Beijing holds significant leverage over the institutions meant to uphold human rights and international law. This privileged position enables China to frame its internal repression as a matter of “domestic sovereignty,” effectively insulating itself from scrutiny and criticism. Within multilateral forums, Beijing’s political and economic influence often translates into silence or complicity, preventing meaningful international responses to the systematic abuses occurring in Tibet, among the Uyghur people and in Southern Mongolia.
This modern form of domination has been described as neo-imperialism, a project that combines economic exploitation, demographic manipulation, mass surveillance and ideological control. In the case of China, it manifests through forced assimilation, expropriation of land and resources and the suppression of cultural and religious expression. Beyond its borders Beijing extends its reach through transnational repression: a systematic campaign of surveillance, intimidation, and coercion directed at activists, human rights defenders and diaspora members who speak out against state abuses. From digital harassment to pressure on families in China, these tactics are designed to instill fear and enforce silence, even far beyond national territory.
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) have been working closely with the Uyghur community, the people of the Tibet Autonomous Region and those of the Southern Mongolia Autonomous Region. Since at least 2013, these groups have faced sustained and systemic violations of their civil, political, cultural and religious rights, violations that have only intensified under the CCP’s campaign of cultural homogenization and authoritarian control. The UNPO plays a crucial role in amplifying their voices, advocating for accountability and challenging the structures of power that allow such abuses to persist unchecked. At its core, the struggle of these communities is a struggle for identity, for the right to exist, to speak and to preserve their heritage in the face of a state determined to erase it.
The Cultural Erosion and Land Dispossession of the Southern Mongolian People
Southern Mongolia is a vast area in the north of the People’s Republic of China, founded in 1947 as the country’s first autonomous region, it was established with the stated aim of providing some political and cultural representation to the local Mongolian population; however, since its creation, regional autonomy has proved to be more nominal than substantial: the control exercised by Beijing has progressively intensified, reducing the space for ethnic minorities to express themselves.
Unlike neighbouring Mongolia, the independent state to the north of China that established itself as a democratic parliamentary republic during the 20th century, Southern Mongolia remained under Chinese administration as a result of historical agreements between the then Republic of China and the Soviet Union, which influenced the territorial arrangements of the region after the fall of the Qing Empire. The division between Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia (today simply ‘Mongolia’) reflects more geopolitical choices than real cultural differences between the two territories.
The Mongolian population has preserved a strong cultural identity, deeply rooted in their language, nomadic traditions and connection to the land. Historically, the people of Southern Mongolia maintained a deep link to the vast steppes, where their pastoral lifestyle and distinct Mongolic language shaped a unique cultural heritage passed down through generations, But in recent decades Chinese authorities have promoted large-scale internal migration of the Han majority, China’s dominant ethnic group, characterized by Confucianism, standard mandarin, and a unified national vision. As a result, Mongols now make up less than 20% of the region’s population. Rapid urbanization and demographic transformation have forced many Southern Mongolians to abandon their traditional livelihoods, accelerating the erosion of their nomadic way of life. At the same time, the state has continued to seize land traditionally used for grazing, dismantle the pastoral economy and enforce a gradual but systematic policy of cultural assimilation. Land in Southern Mongolia is an essential element of identity and community cohesion. By confiscating ancestral territories and suppressing the Mongolic language, China is erasing a way of life and extinguishing a culture that has endured for millennia, severing the profound bond between people, language and land that defines Mongolian civilization.
This process, known as ‘sinisation’, aims to integrate minorities into the dominant Han culture, at the expense of their historical identities. In September 2023, during a Chinese Communist Party conference, President Xi Jinping explicitly praised the policies implemented in the autonomous region of the Ughyur people, presenting them as a model for dealing with ethnic minorities. Shortly afterwards, the replacement of Mongolian language teaching with Mandarin was imposed in Southern Mongolia, a measure that was also extended to pre-school education, despite local protests.
This is accompanied by increasing cultural censorship: the suspension of the circulation of the work General History of the Mongolian Ethnic Group, as well as the cancellation, under pressure from the Chinese authorities, of an exhibition dedicated to Genghis Khan planned in Nantes, in France, demonstrate the government’s attempt to control the historical and cultural narrative of minorities. This is part of a broader strategy to align local identities with the unifying and nationalist vision promoted by the Chinese Communist Party.
The most serious abuses against the Mongolian people are the arbitrary detention of political dissidents, the expropriation of lands traditionally used by nomadic communities and the deliberate suppression of cultural and linguistic heritage. Across Southern Mongolia, Chinese authorities continue to enforce policies of forced assimilation, mass surveillance and targeted repression against those who strive to preserve their cultural identity.
One emblematic figure of this struggle is Mr. Hada, a historic dissident and symbol of non-violent resistance among the Southern Mongolian people. For decades, he has been persecuted for his peaceful advocacy in defense of cultural rights, linguistic preservation and autonomy. His disappearance on February 6, 2025, reportedly following hospitalization for medical reasons, marks yet another grave episode in Beijing’s long-standing pattern of human rights violations against the Mongolian minority. The case of Hada underscores the broader campaign of intimidation and silencing directed at human rights defenders who dare to challenge state-led assimilation and repression.
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) strongly condemns these ongoing violations and continues to advocate for justice and accountability for the Southern Mongolian people. Since 2004, when Southern Mongolia became a member of the UNPO, its rights have been officially represented by the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC). Through this partnership, the UNPO works to amplify the voices of those silenced by repression, bring international attention to their struggle and uphold their fundamental right to cultural identity and self-determination.
The Colonial Domination of Tibet and the Struggle for Identity
Tibet’s history as an autonomous region dates back centuries, characterized by a distinct cultural and spiritual identity that sets it apart from its neighbors. Before China’s annexation, Tibet functioned as an independent state with its own government and theocratic leadership under the Dalai Lama. During this period, Tibet maintained diplomatic relations with other countries and preserved its religious and cultural traditions, deeply rooted in Buddhism, a faith that has shaped its philosophy, art and daily life since the eighth century. The Tibetan language, one of the oldest in the world, belonging to the Tibeto-Burmese branch of the Sino-Tibetan family, remains a central pillar of national identity.
In 1950, the People’s Republic of China, under Mao Zedong, invaded Tibet, initiating decades of occupation and repression. The so-called liberation of Tibet mirrors classical colonial patterns, where an external power invades, exploits and assimilates a people while suppressing their cultural and political autonomy. Following the invasion, the “Seventeen Point Agreement” of 1951 formally integrated Tibet into the People’s Republic of China, promising autonomy and respect for Tibetan religion and culture. Those commitments were swiftly violated as Beijing consolidated direct control over the region. The growing repression led to mass resistance, culminating in the 1959 uprising and the Dalai Lama’s flight to exile in India.
Human Rights Violations and Environmental Degradation
Today, Tibet remains one of the most repressed regions under Chinese control. The region is heavily militarized, tightly monitored and largely closed off to the international community. Severe restrictions on movement, communication and access make it extremely difficult to document the full scope of human rights violations.
One of the most alarming aspects of Beijing’s interference is its control over Tibetan Buddhism. An emblematic example was the abduction of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the Panchen Lama recognized by the Dalai Lama in 1995, stands as one of the most egregious cases of state repression of religious freedom. Missing since the age of six, he remains one of the world’s youngest political prisoners. China has since installed its own state-approved Panchen Lama, part of a broader effort to dominate the spiritual hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism and to manipulate the future selection of the next Dalai Lama.
In recent years, the Chinese government has intensified its campaign of cultural assimilation through the establishment of state-run boarding schools. Thousands of Tibetan children are forcibly separated from their families and taught exclusively in Mandarin, under curricula saturated with Chinese Communist Party ideology. This system aims to sever generational transmission of the Tibetan language and culture, effectively erasing Tibetan identity over time.
Equally devastating are other human rights abuses such as restrictions on freedom of expression, association and religion; arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances; land grabbing; and of course the destruction of cultural heritage. Environmental degradation has become a defining feature of China’s colonial presence in the region. The uncontrolled exploitation of Tibet’s fragile ecosystems, through mining, deforestation and dam construction, threatens not only the Tibetan plateau but also the water security of millions across Asia, as Tibet is home to the headwaters of major rivers.
The UNPO has repeatedly emphasized that it is time to break the silence and stop appeasing China regarding Tibet. The international community must recognize that the situation in Tibet is a critical issue of global justice and cultural preservation. Tibet’s fate represents a test of the world’s commitment to protecting the principles of self-determination, identity and the survival of a civilization that has endured for centuries.
The Uyghur People: Colonialism and Cultural Erasure
The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group with a rich cultural heritage and a distinct identity shaped by centuries of history in what is historically known as East Turkistan, a region covering 1.6 million km² in Central Asia. Strategically located and bordering Russia, Afghanistan, India and China; East Turkestan has long been the cradle of Uyghur civilization. The Uyghurs have preserved their language, traditional and religious practices, primarily Islam, which collectively define their cultural and spiritual life. In the early 20th century, the Uyghurs briefly declared independence twice for the region. However, in 1949, East Turkestan came under the control of the newly established People’s Republic of China, beginning decades of political domination and cultural suppression. Since then, Chinese authorities have implemented policies aimed at assimilating Uyghurs into the broader Chinese state, reflecting patterns reminiscent of colonial and neo-imperial domination. These policies have sought to reshape the cultural and religious landscape of East Turkistan while exploiting the region’s economic and strategic resources.
The Systematic Repression
The Uyghur population, estimated at around 12 million according to Chinese statistics, now lives under extreme surveillance and systematic repression. The Chinese government has created an extensive network of “re-education” camps, where over one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups are believed to have been arbitrarily detained. These camps employ armed guards, pervasive monitoring and reportedly a shoot-to-kill policy for those attempting to escape. Incarcerated Uyghurs face torture, forced labor and ideological indoctrination aimed at eradicating their religious and cultural identity.
The state’s policies extend beyond incarceration. Uyghur women are particularly targeted through gender-based violence and coercive reproductive measures, part of a broader strategy to suppress the community’s population. Beijing has also aggressively pursued cultural assimilation: the Uyghur language is being suppressed, mosques and religious sites destroyed and traditional practices banned. Han Chinese migration into the region has been encouraged to dilute the Uyghur population and consolidate control. Uyghur economic marginalization is widespread, with forced labor implicated in the production of key exports such as cotton, solar panels, tomatoes, fish, PVC and electric vehicles. Estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands are coerced into labor, including work in factories attached to the detention camps.
Surveillance is pervasive, including checkpoints, facial recognition cameras and digital monitoring of electricity usage and mobile phones. Since 2017, under President Xi Jinping’s order that all religions in China should be “Chinese in orientation,” repression has intensified, reflecting a systematic campaign to eradicate Uyghur identity.
This campaign of repression extends beyond China’s borders. Uyghur human rights defenders and refugees living abroad are frequently targeted through transnational repression, including surveillance, intimidation and threats orchestrated by Chinese authorities. Families within China may be punished in retaliation for relatives living overseas, creating a climate of fear that permeates both domestic and diaspora communities. Together, these abuses form a comprehensive strategy of cultural and social engineering, aimed at eradicating Uyghur identity, eliminating dissent and consolidating state power over a strategically and economically critical region. The intensity and persistence of these measures make clear that the repression of the Uyghurs is a deliberate state-directed campaign to destroy a distinct people and their way of life.
International observers, UN experts, major news outlets and leading human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have extensively documented the situation, describing it as crimes against humanity and, in some assessments, even genocide. Reports detailing mass arbitrary detentions, torture, forced labor, and cultural erasure have circulated globally, drawing widespread concern and condemnation. Despite this, China has consistently rejected all allegations as false, politically motivated, and unjustified, framing the Uyghur crisis as an entirely domestic matter. In 2022, the UN Office of the High Commissioner published its first report on the situation of the Uyghurs, determining that these crimes ‘’may amount to crimes against humanity’’.
As one of the world’s most powerful states, endowed with immense economic and political leverage, China has largely succeeded in shielding the region from meaningful external scrutiny. As a result, the fate of the Uyghur people remains effectively sealed behind an impenetrable wall of state secrecy. Many governments, wary of jeopardizing strategic partnerships or vital economic interests with Beijing, refrain from taking decisive action, leaving the Uyghurs’ struggle for justice and recognition dangerously marginalized on the international stage.
The Rise of China’s Neo-Empire: Repression and Expansion at Home and Abroad
China’s contemporary geopolitical posture reflects the emergence of a new imperial model, rooted in a blend of authoritarian governance and economic expansionism. The Chinese state applies a deliberate dual strategy: while it criminalizes, intimidates and silences individual, human rights defenders and community leaders, it simultaneously dismantles the long-term resilience of entire minority communities by attacking their languages, cultures, traditions, and collective rights. This is not collateral damage, it is an intentional method of weakening resistance, securing control over strategic territories and ensuring unchallenged access to natural resources and geopolitical influence. The repression inflicted on Southern Mongolians, Tibetans and Uyghurs is thus part of a broader logic: consolidating state power by erasing any form of cultural or political pluralism within China’s borders.
This internal strategy cannot be separated from China’s global geopolitical trajectory. Over the past decades, China has expanded exponentially, initially presenting itself as the architect of an alternative world order aimed at counterbalancing Western influence. Yet the result has been the creation of a hybrid system: Beijing has appropriated the tools of Western capitalism, investment, infrastructure, debt and trade, as instruments of soft power, while maintaining a rigidly authoritarian domestic model that conceals systemic repression, mass surveillance, enforced disappearances, ethnic cleansing and pervasive human rights violations. These abuses are denied outright, buried beneath the narrative of “domestic affairs,” and shielded from scrutiny by China’s immense economic leverage and its political weight within multilateral fora.
The international community, fully aware of the atrocities occurring in regions like Tibet, Southern Mongolia and the Uyghur territories, often chooses silence. Economic dependency, strategic interests and fear of political retaliation lead many states to avoid confronting China at the expense of human rights. Yet it is crucial to recognize that Beijing’s domestic authoritarianism is not confined to its borders. The methods perfected internally are increasingly exported externally, albeit cloaked in diplomatic language and development rhetoric. Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive global infrastructure project, China has entrenched its influence across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Many of the states involved already suffer from fragile democratic systems or authoritarian leadership, and Beijing’s partnerships, unconcerned with human rights or democratic standards, further entrench these dynamics. In exchange for investment and financial dependency, China gains political loyalty, while local governments gain tacit permission to intensify their own violations against minorities, dissidents and unrepresented peoples, now emboldened by the backing of a global superpower.
This emerging world order, shaped by economic coercion, political intimidation and cultural erasure, cannot be ignored. The struggles of Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, and Uyghurs are not isolated domestic affairs, nor internal questions to be left to China’s discretion. They represent the visible edge of a much larger geopolitical transformation: the rise of a neo-imperial system that Beijing is actively exporting worldwide. If the international community continues to prioritize economic gain over fundamental rights it risks enabling a global order dominated by authoritarian elites, where the freedoms and principles so painstakingly defended over the past century are quietly abandoned. The cause of these three unrepresented peoples is a warning that demands the world confront the true face of China’s neo-imperial ambitions.
UNPO INSIGHT
UNPO calls on the international community to rise to the challenge posed by the systematic repression of Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians, and to confront the broader reality of China’s neo-imperial ambitions. The ongoing violations against these peoples are part of a deliberate strategy of cultural erasure and social control, reinforced by the projection of extraordinary soft power globally. It is essential to recognize that such influence abroad is underpinned by the consolidation of hard power at home, where systematic repression and forced assimilation of minorities remain unchallenged.
UNPO urges governments, international institutions and civil society to move beyond complacency and economic expedience and to acknowledge that the struggle of these communities is both a moral imperative and a matter of global stability. By continuing to support, amplify and advocate for Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians, UNPO seeks to ensure that their voices are heard, their rights are defended and their cultural and political autonomy is recognized. The organization emphasizes that confronting these injustices is a necessary step in addressing the systemic risks posed by unchecked authoritarian power in the 21st century.