In its latest move to erase minority cultures and assert dominance over its frontier regions, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) appears to be rebranding Inner Mongolia, just as it did with Tibet. After a concerted effort to enforce the use of “Xizang” — the Chinese term for Tibet — in English-language media, Beijing has turned its sights to Inner Mongolia, now pushing the term “Northern Frontier” to strip the region of its Mongolian identity.
Much like its Tibetan playbook, this rebranding of Inner Mongolia is far more than a mere linguistic shift. It is a deliberate, insidious attempt to erase Mongolian culture, history, and ethnic identity in favour of a Han-centric national narrative. The CCP’s broader aim is clear: to crush any sense of autonomy or cultural distinctiveness among the people living in its borderlands. This campaign is a stark reminder of China’s aggressive settler-colonial project in the region — and its determination to homogenize its vast population under the banner of “Chinese-ness.”
In 2023, Chinese authorities launched a campaign to replace the word “Mongolian” with “Northern Frontier” (北疆文化, bei jiang wenhua), a term that erases references to Mongolians, one of China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups. Since July 2023, Inner Mongolia state media, official websites, party statements, and children’s activities have relentlessly promoted the phrase. In an orchestrated effort to cement this new identity, the party has established an academic journal and research center dedicated to “Northern Frontier Culture.”
The goal is chillingly clear: replace the idea of Inner Mongolia as a unique cultural and ethnic homeland with a Han-dominated “frontier” narrative. As the party’s propagandists declare, the purpose of this campaign is to “forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.” This euphemism barely disguises the intention behind it: the annihilation of Mongolian identity in favour of an ever-expanding, homogenized “Chinese” state.
The CCP’s move in Inner Mongolia echoes its recent policies in Tibet, where authorities have demanded the use of “Xizang” (西藏) instead of “Tibet” in English-language state media and international communications. The shift is part of a broader effort to dilute the global recognition of Tibet as a distinct cultural and historical entity. By replacing “Tibet” with a Mandarin term, China not only reasserts its sovereignty but also reinforces the notion that Tibet is an integral part of the Chinese nation — not a separate, ancient homeland of the Tibetan people.
Both regions have witnessed similar patterns: cultural erasure, forced assimilation, and aggressive Han colonization. In Tibet, the replacement of Tibetan with Mandarin in schools, combined with the increased use of Chinese boarding schools, mirrors the steps being taken in Inner Mongolia. There, Mongolian language education is being gutted, with Chinese-language textbooks now mandatory across the region. These are not isolated events but rather pieces of a larger, more menacing pattern of ethnic destruction under Xi Jinping’s rule.
For centuries, Inner Mongolia has been home to over 4 million ethnic Mongolians — more than the entire population of the independent country of Mongolia. Historically, the region has been a refuge for Mongolian culture, language, and script, the latter of which is still widely used in Inner Mongolia but has disappeared from the independent state of Mongolia after it adopted the Cyrillic alphabet in 1946.
However, the CCP is aggressively erasing this rich heritage. Since 2020, the party has mandated the adoption of Chinese-language textbooks, initially claiming that only a few subjects would switch to Mandarin. But the truth quickly became clear: Mongolian is now taught as a foreign language once a week, while students are barred from learning any subject in their native tongue. The protests that followed in 2020 were the largest the region had seen in decades, but as always, Beijing swiftly silenced dissent.
Now, the “Northern Frontier” campaign completes this process. Under the guise of “ethnic blending,” authorities are using Han Chinese culture as the dominant force, presenting the region as a historical melting pot that “developed and consolidated the unity of the great motherland.” Yet experts warn that what the CCP means by “blending” is the total assimilation of non-Han cultures, effectively erasing Mongolian history and identity.
The CCP’s tactics are nothing short of cultural genocide. By enforcing the term “Northern Frontier,” Beijing is sending a message that Inner Mongolia — like Tibet before it — is not a homeland of a distinct ethnic group but merely a frontier region, part of the larger Han Chinese nation. As James Leibold, a scholar on Chinese ethnicity and national identity, notes, the campaign “essentially erases Mongol culture and history.”
Much like the plight of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Mongols of Inner Mongolia now find themselves in the crosshairs of a relentless campaign to dissolve their identity and reframe them as merely another cog in the Chinese national machine. The fact that this terminology is still being used primarily within China suggests that for now, the target is domestic — but it’s only a matter of time before China attempts to enforce its language shifts on the global stage, as it has done with Tibet.
China’s campaign to rename, rebrand, and ultimately erase the identities of its minority regions signals a dangerous trend. First, it was Tibet, with “Xizang” replacing its internationally recognized name. Now, Inner Mongolia faces the same fate under the guise of “Northern Frontier Culture.” What’s next? Xinjiang, already undergoing brutal cultural suppression or the far-northern regions like Heilongjiang?
Beijing’s intentions are clear: there is no room for ethnic diversity or autonomous identity within Xi Jinping’s vision of a monolithic, Han-dominated “Chinese nation.” The renaming of Tibet and Inner Mongolia is not just a matter of semantics but a strategic, calculated assault on the very existence of these cultures. The ultimate goal is the forced assimilation of all ethnic minorities into a Han-dominated Chinese identity, eliminating any threats to the Communist Party’s authority.
By stripping away the names, languages, and cultural symbols that define Tibet and Inner Mongolia, China is rewriting history to serve its imperial ambitions. The world cannot afford to ignore these signs of cultural erasure. These campaigns are a clear attempt to erase not just the people’s past but their future, ensuring that generations to come will have no knowledge or memory of the vibrant, distinct cultures that once thrived in Tibet and Inner Mongolia.
