Inner Mongolian People's Party - History of China-Inner Mongolia Relations

History of China-Inner Mongolia Relations

Inner Mongolia is located between the People’s Republic of Mongolia and the People’s Republic of China. China was under Mongol rule when Genghis Khan toppled the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and established the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, China was returned to Han Chinese control and stayed that way through the Ming (1368–1644) Dynasty until the Qing (1644–1911) Dynasty when China was invaded and ruled by the Manchu people. During the Qing Dynasty and the Republican period (1911–1949), Inner Mongolia was heavily populated with Han settlers. The Nationalists, who ruled during the Republican period, banned the use of the Mongolian language and were said to be more ruthless than the Japanese who later occupied Inner Mongolia. In the 1920-1940’s there were many political movements to reunite Inner Mongolia with the Mongolian People’s Republic (MPR) (that was established due to Soviet sponsorship). During WWII, the Soviet-Mongolian joint army entered Inner Mongolia to fight the Japanese. The Inner Mongolian’s gave allegiance to the Communists to fight the Japanese in hopes of attaining their independence after the war. However, this was not the case. On May 1, 1947 the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (IMAR) (Mongolian: Öbür mongγol-un öbertegen zasaqu orun, Chinese: 内蒙古自治区， pinyin: Nèi Měnggǔ Zìzhìqū) was established. IMAR also had close ties with the USSR through the Mongolian People’s Republic. The Inner Mongolians hoped that Communist Rule would be better than the previous Nationalist rulers. Ulanfu was appointed by the Communist Party to rule Inner Mongolia. As Ulanfu was of Mongolian ethnicity, it was an improvement for the Inner Mongolia’s as even though they did not have independence, they were at least being ruled by an ethnic Mongolian. Ulanfu was an early Communist activist, studied in the USSR and joined the Red Army in Yenan. Mao Zedong, at first, trusted and supported him. For the next two decades, Ulanfu worked to balance the needs of the Inner Mongolian people and the demands of the Communist Party. In the 1950s, Ulanfu’s balancing act became more difficult with the Communist Party’s land, social and political reforms aimed to tie Inner Mongolia closer to China. Ulanfu struggled to preserve Inner Mongolian interests as well as the Central Government’s as tensions increased. His efforts to adapt the reforms to the needs of the local population lead to his downfall and made him the target of Maoists. In the 1960s, as the Cultural Revolution was coming into fruition, China and the USSR cut ties. Anyone with connections to the USSR was seen as a potential political enemy. In 1966, Ulanfu due to his previous close connection to the USSR, was to become one of the most senior victims of the Cultural Revolution when he was denounced and dismissed for alleged anti-party activities. He disappeared until after Mao’s death when he was appointment Vice Premier in a wave of rehabilitations of party officials who fell victim to the witch hunts during the Cultural Revolution.