About the Recognition and Guarantee of the Independence of the Mongolian People’s Republic
Hu Hua
While signing new Sino-Soviet treaties and agreements, the foreign ministers of China and the Soviet Union exchanged notes, confirming the full guarantee of the independence of the Mongolian People’s Republic. This was based on its 1945 referendum and the fact that the People’s Republic of China had already established diplomatic relations with it.
When was the Mongolian People’s Republic established? What kind of country is it? What was the “1945 referendum” about? Why did these two countries reaffirm and guarantee the independence of the Mongolian People’s Republic again?
A Brief History of Mongolia
Mongolia—originally an ancient country north of China. Endless grasslands, the perpetually snow-covered Altai Mountains, vast deserts stretching thousands of kilometers, … formed a picturesque land for pastoralists. However, it long suffered under the brutal exploitation and plunder of both its own and foreign rulers, making it a poor, backward, and suffering land.
In Chinese history, it is known that Mongol rulers once invaded China proper and established the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang of the Han Chinese overthrew the Yuan and established the Ming Dynasty, with Mongolia remaining under Ming rule. After the Manchu rulers took over China, Mongolia was again occupied and ruled by the Qing.
In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out in China, overthrowing the Qing. But Mongolia was not liberated; instead, it became a target of imperialist invasion and struggle. When the Wuchang Uprising occurred in October of the Xinhai year, Mongol rulers—nobles, lamas—exploited the situation, declaring “independence” and falling into the embrace of Imperial Russia.
In 1917, the October Revolution in Russia succeeded, but Japanese imperialists used the White Russian general Semenov to seize control of Mongolia, invading the Soviet Union and fighting the Red Army until they were defeated in 1919.
After Semenov’s defeat, Japanese imperialists supported a reactionary general, Xu Shuzheng, from the Chinese Beiyang Army, to invade Mongolia and establish a pro-Japanese military dictatorship.
After the Fengtian clique’s decline in northern China, the Japanese re-supported Semenov’s aide, Baron Wengen, occupying Mongolia.
The Mongolian people, subjected to such long-term invasion and plunder, suffered immense pain and tears. Mongols, who lived by herding, owned few or no livestock themselves; most of their livestock was owned by foreign capitalists, Mongolian feudal landlords, and monasteries.
Influenced by the victory of the Russian October Revolution, the Mongolian people rose up in revolution.
To oppose imperialist plunder and to liberate Mongolia, impoverished herders and many lower-class officials and lamas organized a secret revolutionary group in 1920 under the leadership of Mongolian revolutionaries like Choibalsan, launching guerrilla warfare.
Although the invaders used brutal massacres, executions, and persecutions against Mongolian revolutionaries, the revolutionary groups and guerrilla units grew stronger. By March 1921, they held a congress near Chakhar, elected a provisional revolutionary government, and requested aid from the Soviet Union.
On the night of March 17-18, the Mongolian revolutionary guerrillas captured Chakhar. Soon after, they defeated over ten thousand troops of the Chinese Beiyang warlords and eleven thousand pro-Japanese White Russian cavalrymen led by Wengen. During the war, the Soviet Red Army sent troops to aid the Mongolian guerrillas, ensuring victory.
In 1924 (the 13th year of the Republic), Mongolia declared independence and established the Mongolian People’s Republic. At that time, the Guangdong revolutionary government, under the cooperation of the Chinese Communist Party and Sun Yat-sen’s Kuomintang, recognized Mongolia’s independence. The draft of the “Declaration of the First National Congress of the Kuomintang,” helped by Chinese communists, explicitly stipulated the principle of “national self-determination.”
Since the victory of the Mongolian people’s revolution in 1921, they began a new life. They became masters of their land, country, and livestock. New people—doctors, teachers, veterinarians, and livestock experts—appeared in the deserts, grasslands, and mountains. For the first time in Mongolian history, a government serving the health, welfare, and culture of the people emerged, beginning to transform the old, backward way of life.
The Significance of the 1945 Sino-Soviet Correspondence on Recognizing Mongolia’s Independence
However, in 1927, the reactionary government of the Kuomintang persisted with Han chauvinism, claiming to be the “ruler” and refusing to recognize Mongolia’s independence. Since the revolution, Mongolia had become stronger with Soviet friendship; it had made significant contributions to resisting Japanese aggression and defending peace in the Far East. For example, in 1935 and 1936, Mongolian revolutionary troops twice repelled Japanese provocations along Mongolia’s eastern borders; in 1939, at Nomonhan, Soviet and Mongolian troops fought side by side, severely hitting the invaders. During China’s eight-year Anti-Japanese War, the Soviet Far Eastern Red Army and Mongolian revolutionary troops helped contain over a million Japanese Kanto Army troops. In August 1945, the Mongolian People’s Republic declared war on Japan, cooperating with Soviet forces and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, launching attacks on Japanese troops, making a significant contribution to the global anti-fascist war. Therefore, all countries, especially China, should officially recognize Mongolia’s independence—an obligation and a matter of justice.
Thus, on August 14, 1945, when the “Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance” was signed, the two sides exchanged documents on the “issue of the independence of the Mongolian People’s Republic.” In the document, the Chinese Kuomintang government had to declare:
“…Due to the repeated expressions of desire for independence by the Outer Mongolian people, the Chinese government declares that after Japan’s defeat, if a referendum by the Outer Mongolian people confirms this desire, then the Chinese government will recognize the independence of Outer Mongolia within its current borders…”
What was the result of the “referendum”? The October 20, 1945, referendum of the Mongolian people showed that 97.8% voted in favor of independence. Even the deputy minister of internal affairs, Lei Fazhang, who was sent to monitor the vote, expressed satisfaction with the voting procedures (see TASS, October 22, 1945, Kuren telegram).
The significance of the official recognition of Mongolia’s independence by the two great powers—China and the Soviet Union—is to support a new country in obtaining formal independence before the world, adding strength to the peace and democracy camp worldwide. Recognizing the independence of the Mongolian People’s Republic is a matter of righteousness for every patriotic Chinese and worth celebrating.
Only the reactionary Kuomintang despises Mongolia’s independence; they were forced to recognize it at the time but later spread rumors, insulting the Mongolian people and the Soviet Union, claiming: “Mongolian independence is the loss of Chinese territory.” Some Chinese people, unaware of the facts, also fell into this “ruler”-style chauvinism, as if Mongolia must be part of China’s “territory.” This is precisely the poison of Han chauvinism spread by reactionaries.
The Current Situation of the Mongolian People’s Republic
What kind of country is the Mongolian People’s Republic today?
It is a:
“A country that has destroyed imperialist and feudal oppression and ensures the non-capitalist development of the state, ultimately transitioning to socialism, and is an independent state of the working people.”
— (Constitution of the Mongolian People’s Republic, passed in 1940)
The Mongolian society is essentially composed of two friendly classes—workers and peasants. The national economy of the Mongolian People’s Republic is planned. The five-year plan for economic and cultural development from 1948 to 1952 ensures further growth.
Thanks to the selfless friendship and help of the Soviet Union’s socialism, a new socialist system has emerged in Mongolia, represented by state-owned and cooperative enterprises in industry, agriculture, transportation, and communications. The feudal landlord class has long been liquidated, and capitalist elements are limited and excluded… All this has created conditions for Mongolia to develop toward socialism.
The government of the Mongolian People’s Republic operates under democratic centralism. The highest authority is the Great Hural (Supreme People’s Assembly). The government handles routine affairs through the Council of Ministers. Currently, the Prime Minister of the Mongolian People’s Republic is Choibalsan Marshal.
The leading political party of the Mongolian people is the “Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party”, along with the “Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League” under its leadership. Its leaders are Mongolian revolutionary leaders Sukhbaatar, Bardor, and Choibalsan.
With the help of the Soviet Union, the Mongolian People’s Republic has steadily moved from being one of the most backward nations in the East to a thriving socialist development path, confirming a glorious theory of Lenin and Stalinism:
A backward country can, with the help of a victorious proletarian state, skip the capitalist development stage and advance directly toward socialism.
The Significance of the Sino-Soviet Reaffirmation of Recognition and Guarantee of Mongolia’s Independence
Why did the foreign ministers of China and the Soviet Union reaffirm and guarantee Mongolia’s independence again when signing the new treaty?
We know that the Mongolian People’s Republic is located between China and the Soviet Union. When the October 1945 referendum expressed the Mongolian people’s desire for independence, the reactionary Kuomintang government was forced to recognize Mongolia’s independence. Now, with the Kuomintang overthrown, the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet government are reaffirming their recognition and guarantee of Mongolia’s independence, which is a true respect for the Mongolian people’s free will.
At the same time, since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, China and Mongolia quickly established diplomatic relations, further ensuring the full guarantee of Mongolia’s independence.
Moreover, today, American imperialism and the remnants of the Chinese reactionaries are still shouting absurdly:
“Soviet annexation of Mongolia” “China agrees to hand over Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang to the Soviet Union”…
Such declarations are also necessary.
About “Should We Also Recognize the Independence of Inner Mongolia and Tibet?”
Someone asked:
“Since we recognize Mongolia’s independence, should we also recognize the independence of Inner Mongolia, Tibet…”
We say:
All ethnic groups within China are equal. Recognizing the autonomy and self-determination rights of ethnic minorities and helping their liberation and development in various ways has been the consistent and correct policy announced by the Chinese Communist Party since its founding. It is also explicitly stipulated in the Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
However, the union and separation of ethnic groups should be based on certain historical conditions, and which arrangement is more beneficial to the fundamental interests of the people of that group.
Mongolia became independent under such historical conditions:
- When all ethnic groups within China were still under the dual oppression of imperialism and feudalism, far from liberation,
- When the Mongolian people found righteous help from the socialist country, the Soviet Union,
- After hard struggle, they first achieved liberation and independence.
Regarding this liberation and independence, the Chinese people should cheer for, respect, and learn from them, rather than oppose their early liberation and independence and force them to suffer with us.
Now, they have been liberated for twenty-eight years, and our entire country has only recently been liberated. They are already moving toward a socialist society, while we are still in the early stages of new-democratic construction. Therefore, our attitude is:
Reaffirm their independence and guarantee it, without requiring them to merge with us or follow us.
What about Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and other ethnic groups within China?
They were liberated roughly at the same time as us. The current issue is about working together to build a strong new democratic China, not about dividing or separating.
As the Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference states:
Only by uniting and assisting each other among all ethnic groups within China can the People’s Republic of China become a big family of friendly cooperation among all nations, effectively oppose imperialism and internal enemies of the people.
Only then can it fully serve the fundamental interests of all ethnic groups within China.
We must not forget the specific historical conditions. From the perspective of people’s fundamental interests, this should be our basic approach to issues.
— Hu Hua
