Mongolia’s Neo-Nazi problem

Ron Nurwisah August 3, 2010 – 10:10 am

They worship Hitler as a great leader, parade around flags with swastikas and practice the Nazi salute. But these neo-Nazis aren’t terrorizing people in Eastern Europe or North America, instead they’re practicing their brand of paranoid hate in Mongolia.

Time Magazine writes about a small fringe movement that’s growing in the north Asian country sparked by fears of foreign influence from neighbouring China and Russia.

From the article:

Ulan Bator is home to three ultra-nationalist groups claiming a combined membership of several thousand — a not insignificant number in a country of just 3 million people. They have adopted Nazi paraphernalia and dogma, and are vehemently anti-Chinese. One group, Blue Mongolia, has admitted to shaving the heads of local women found sleeping with Chinese men. Its leader was convicted last year of murdering his daughter’s Mongolian boyfriend, who had merely studied in China.

The neo-Nazis may be on society’s fringe, but they represent the extreme of a very real current of nationalism. Sandwiched between Russia and China, with foreign powers clamoring for a slice of the country’s vast mineral riches, many Mongolians fear economic and ethnic colonization. This has prompted displays of hostility toward outsiders and slowed crucial foreign-investment negotiations.

The Guardian’s Tania Branigan also writes about these groups and points out that seem to have a very selective reading of Nazi history. They see Hitler as a leader to be emulated but gloss over small things like starting the Second World War and genocide.

From the story:

“We don’t agree with his extremism and starting the second world war. We are against all those killings, but we support his ideology. We support nationalism rather than fascism.”

She also digs a little deeper at the anxiety over growing Chinese influence on Mongolia.

“While most people feel far-right discourse is too extreme, there seems to be a consensus that China is imperialistic, ‘evil’ and intent on taking Mongolia,” said Franck Billé of Cambridge University, who is researching representations of Chinese people in Mongolia.

From: http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/08/03/mongolias-neo-nazi-problem/