Mr.Tugsjargal Munkherdene, known as Big Gee, one of the most popular rap artists from the independent country of Mongolia, has been barred from performing in Southern Mongolia due to his “serious anti-China and insulting China sentiment.” Big Gee’s two concerts scheduled on June 22 and June 29 in Hohhot, the capital city of Southern Mongolia, have been canceled by Chinese authorities.
“Originally scheduled to perform on June 22 at the ID-X Club, the Big Gee Special Concert is canceled due to a scheduling reason,” Hohhot City Xi Zhou Cultural Media LLC states in a notice issued on June 19, 2024. “Those customers who have already purchased the tickets are eligible for the full refund.”
All-out criticism against the rapper and his songs has widely spread uncensored on WeChat, a major Chinese language social media platform available in China.
“As to why the concert was canceled, the organizer gave out an explanation stating that it was due to a scheduling reason,” according to a WeChat article entitled “Anti-China rapper performed inside China without being noticed for years! Finally Exposed! Get out!” The concert was canceled “not because of any scheduling issue…but because this Mongolian rapper has engaged in serious anti-China and insulting-China activities.”
Posting a Chinese translation of Big Gee’s 2011 rap song called “Hujaa” (“The Chinese” in Mongolian), the article highlighted that not only are the lyrics offensive to China and the Chinese people, but also what he wears has an “obvious intention of being anti-China.” Featured in the article was a map of Greater Mongolia that clearly included Southern Mongolia, Buryat, and Tuva, and the map was allegedly printed on a T-shirt of the rapper.
“Hujaa” is one of the most influential rap songs in both the independent country of Mongolia and Chinese-occupied Southern Mongolia. In the lyrics, the deep-rooted anti-Chinese feeling of the Mongolian people and Mongolian nation are clearly spelled out in an apparent response to China’s aggressive pursuit of its territorial ambition and expansionist agenda abroad.
“[The Chinese are] still not strong enough to take away our independence…,” the lyrics read. “Your money will never be able to buy out real Mongolians…what you need to understand is that all Mongolians are waking up to unite together to reclaim all we lost…”
Another WeChat article entitled “This anti-China singer is now finished!” accused Big Gee of three accounts of offense: “insulting China,” “attempting to split China,” and “promoting Nazism.”
“Not sure if this guy called Big Gee really is ignorant of history or his memory is selective,” the article states, referring to how China first “thwarted attempts to separate Inner Mongolia out of China” more than 70 years ago. “Today, China warns any country and any organization not to dream of breaking even an inch of territory away from China.” The article concludes that “any such attempt by Big Gee sorts will miserably fail as it is nothing but a day-dream.”
A third article posted on WeChat entitled “Catching a glimpse of spiritual betrayers from the incidence of Big Gee: Educational gap and cultural recognition” suggests Chinese authorities punish any Southern Mongolians complicit in anti-China conspiracy in disguise of innocent fans.
“This case must not be closed simply by canceling the concert,” but instead “be used as a breakthrough to drill down deeper to probe the cultural undertone of the region to identify and purge those camouflaged two-facers who…pretend to support the policy of the country [of China] publicly, but…flirt on anti-China forces privately,” the article continues. Enclosed alongside the text is a screenshot of the members of a WeChat group created by Southern Mongolian fans preparing to welcome Big Gee.
Per the article, the Mongolian flag image that “many of this WeChat group members use as a profile picture is both “proof of these ticket purchasers’ support to Big Gee…[and] a reflection of their recognition of cultural identity with the country of Mongolia…a tacit approval and full agreement to the anti-China position Big Gee represents.” The article urges the Chinese authorities to “take necessary actions to surveil against and strike hard on this type of activities.”
As China speeds up its campaign of cultural eradication in Southern Mongolia, which is widely considered “cultural genocide” by Mongolians around the world, any attempt by the Southern Mongolians to maintain their language, culture, and identity is condemned and criminalized by Chinese authorities. Especially when dealing with the relationship between the Mongolians from Southern Mongolia and the country of Mongolia, the doctrine of separatism is invoked conveniently even if the interaction is cultural in nature.
In a similar case, last September, the Chinese government banned The Mongol Khan, a theatrical play from the independent country of Mongolia scheduled to perform in the Ordos region of Southern Mongolia. Southern Mongolians invited the theatre group to perform the play, but the Chinese authorities banned the performance, according to a CNN report.
“The performers were also banned from wearing traditional Mongolian outfits in public and placed under constant surveillance while in Hohhot,” the director of the play was reported by CNN as saying.
SMHRIC
Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC)
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