Wednesday, June 1, 2011

China Mongols protest in Xilinhot over shepherd's death


Ethnic Mongolians in northern China have held a rare protest in front of a government building over the death of a shepherd.

Crowds of students this week marched to the building in Xilinhot, a city in Inner Mongolia, rights groups said.

They were angry at the 10 May death of a herder, Mergen, who they say was run over by a van driven by a Han Chinese, the country's dominant ethnicity.

The Xilinhot government has not commented on the protest. 

In a statement on its website, though, the government said police had arrested two Han Chinese for murder.

China's six million ethnic Mongols say their nomadic pastoral existence is being threatened by the growth of mining projects in the mineral-rich region.