Zürcher Nachrichten - Prominent anti-China activist arrested in Mongolia

EUR -
AED 4.177115
AFN 81.881407
ALL 99.252011
AMD 444.59148
ANG 2.049629
AOA 1037.159602
ARS 1294.14051
AUD 1.780172
AWG 2.047025
AZN 1.937816
BAM 1.956825
BBD 2.294803
BDT 138.092365
BGN 1.957857
BHD 0.428625
BIF 3332.101328
BMD 1.137236
BND 1.492134
BOB 7.854392
BRL 6.605299
BSD 1.136596
BTN 97.022843
BWP 15.66621
BYN 3.71968
BYR 22289.824581
BZD 2.282996
CAD 1.574122
CDF 3271.828234
CHF 0.930817
CLF 0.028662
CLP 1099.88957
CNY 8.306268
CNH 8.306019
COP 4901.486936
CRC 571.199327
CUC 1.137236
CUP 30.136753
CVE 110.77121
CZK 25.063093
DJF 202.11002
DKK 7.466603
DOP 68.807192
DZD 150.758867
EGP 58.143353
ERN 17.058539
ETB 151.279275
FJD 2.59711
FKP 0.857926
GBP 0.857288
GEL 3.116471
GGP 0.857926
GHS 17.695835
GIP 0.857926
GMD 81.31675
GNF 9843.350125
GTQ 8.754588
GYD 238.429138
HKD 8.827817
HNL 29.46444
HRK 7.519522
HTG 148.317723
HUF 408.38716
IDR 19177.096068
ILS 4.189521
IMP 0.857926
INR 97.094367
IQD 1489.779092
IRR 47906.064711
ISK 145.100373
JEP 0.857926
JMD 179.644139
JOD 0.806646
JPY 161.682017
KES 147.276378
KGS 99.205077
KHR 4566.00273
KMF 492.996098
KPW 1023.518647
KRW 1613.044532
KWD 0.348711
KYD 0.947196
KZT 594.971784
LAK 24598.413953
LBP 101896.34134
LKR 339.937138
LRD 227.418803
LSL 21.444738
LTL 3.357963
LVL 0.687903
LYD 6.221113
MAD 10.547908
MDL 19.662304
MGA 5177.713287
MKD 61.514233
MMK 2387.530139
MNT 4022.532693
MOP 9.086962
MRU 44.847502
MUR 51.278399
MVR 17.517685
MWK 1974.241998
MXN 22.428272
MYR 5.012372
MZN 72.675107
NAD 21.444738
NGN 1824.926761
NIO 41.821916
NOK 11.919455
NPR 155.236349
NZD 1.916394
OMR 0.437833
PAB 1.136596
PEN 4.279463
PGK 4.700463
PHP 64.495498
PKR 319.112616
PLN 4.278742
PYG 9097.767521
QAR 4.140226
RON 4.978937
RSD 117.291464
RUB 93.451578
RWF 1609.188866
SAR 4.267179
SBD 9.516785
SCR 16.196165
SDG 682.914367
SEK 10.955779
SGD 1.490626
SHP 0.893689
SLE 25.900592
SLL 23847.250746
SOS 649.934509
SRD 42.248737
STD 23538.488054
SVC 9.945212
SYP 14786.663141
SZL 21.403201
THB 37.92345
TJS 12.206811
TMT 3.980326
TND 3.398104
TOP 2.663525
TRY 43.355779
TTD 7.712041
TWD 36.987505
TZS 3056.325739
UAH 47.101683
UGX 4166.329832
USD 1.137236
UYU 47.664978
UZS 14768.739292
VES 91.955341
VND 29420.293975
VUV 138.799625
WST 3.16989
XAF 656.312471
XAG 0.034867
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.073437
XDR 0.816192
XOF 653.911048
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.907529
ZAR 21.425938
ZMK 10236.492294
ZMW 32.36396
ZWL 366.189511
  • BCC

    0.7800

    93.47

    +0.83%

  • NGG

    0.6300

    72.11

    +0.87%

  • RBGPF

    63.5900

    63.59

    +100%

  • GSK

    0.5600

    35.93

    +1.56%

  • SCS

    0.0500

    9.76

    +0.51%

  • RELX

    1.0000

    52.2

    +1.92%

  • BTI

    0.5400

    42.37

    +1.27%

  • CMSC

    0.0400

    21.82

    +0.18%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    12.4

    +1.29%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1400

    9.36

    -1.5%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    21.96

    +0.18%

  • VOD

    0.1400

    9.31

    +1.5%

  • RIO

    1.0100

    58.17

    +1.74%

  • BCE

    0.4200

    22.04

    +1.91%

  • AZN

    0.5400

    67.59

    +0.8%

  • BP

    0.6600

    28.32

    +2.33%

Prominent anti-China activist arrested in Mongolia
Prominent anti-China activist arrested in Mongolia

Prominent anti-China activist arrested in Mongolia

A prominent anti-China activist has been arrested in Mongolia, part of what campaigners have said is a wider effort to "clean up" Beijing's critics in the country.

Text size:

Landlocked Mongolia is dependent on mineral exports to its giant neighbours, Russia and China, but there have also been protests in the capital Ulaanbaatar over Beijing's language policy in Inner Mongolia.

Critics of the policy in the Chinese border region -- home to an estimated 4.5 million ethnic Mongolians -- say it mirrors moves in other areas such as Xinjiang and Tibet to assimilate local minorities into the dominant Han culture and eradicate minority languages.

Munkhbayar Chuluundorj was arrested Friday in Ulaanbaatar on suspicion of "receiving instructions and funds from a foreign intelligence group", the country's spy agency said.

The General Intelligence Agency (GIA) said he had "engaged in illegal cooperation activities" but gave no more details.

Campaigners said they suspected Munkhbayar's comments on China had brought him under official scrutiny.

In Facebook posts, he recently called for the Mongolian prime minister to resign over his close relationship with Beijing, saying "our nation's independence will be lost and all citizens of Mongolia will become slaves of China".

Footage of the arrest published by Mongolian outlet Eguur News showed a man being led away by armed police down a shop-lined road.

Visits from relatives are being denied and a closed-door trial is being held, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre, an overseas NGO that advocates for ethnic Mongols, quoted his brother Munkh-erdene as saying.

The NGO said Munkhbayar is "one of the most vocal critics of the Mongolian government's cosy relationship with China".

Munkhbayar has "defended Inner Mongolian human rights, culture, history and land rights", according to Baljinima Bai, a language rights advocate originally from Inner Mongolia.

"Mongolia has started to 'clean up' these people... who oppose China," he told AFP.

Bai said he had also been summoned for questioning by the GIA in relation to Munkhbayar's case.

Inner Mongolian activists in Mongolia say they have faced threats and intimidation from authorities after a widespread protest movement against Chinese-language curriculum reforms across the border was met with a harsh police crackdown.

Activists also say China has pressured Mongolia to deport Inner Mongolian political refugees back to the country.

S.Scheidegger--NZN