China's Inner Mongolia was under tight security Monday as authorities guard against possible new protests by ethnic Mongols seething over Chinese rule, AFP journalists and a rights group said.

The northern region bordering Mongolia has seen a wave of demonstrations triggered by the May 10 killing of an ethnic Mongol herder which have laid bare simmering resentment over what some perceive as Chinese oppression.

Universities and public squares were sealed off in a handful of cities -- a possible sign of mounting unease by authorities already jittery about anonymous online calls for nationwide protests emulating those in the Arab world.

Authorities are also likely fearful of another major outburst of ethnic turmoil following deadly unrest in Tibet in 2008 and in the remote northwestern Xinjiang region in 2009.

A top Communist party official in the Xilingol area, the epicentre of the unrest, admitted authorities were facing a "very large challenge" to stability -- but also warned the government would not be "tossed about".

"It's kind of sensitive around here right now," a uniformed police officer told AFP outside a vocational school in the old town of Xilinhot, the government seat of the Xilingol area.

Two local residents told AFP that students from the school had been involved in the protests, but declined to offer further details.

"The school is sealed off to prevent students from being affected by society. It's an extraordinary period," a duty officer told AFP.

City authorities, who said an AFP journalist must seek permission to visit the school and interview students, rejected the request, saying the students were "taking exams" for the next three days and could not be disturbed.

Local residents told AFP that all students boarding at middle and high schools, vocational colleges and universities in Xilinhot had been confined to campus.

City streets were nevertheless open to traffic, and AFP journalists did not see any signs of people gathering.

A male resident in the Left Ujumchin Banner, or Xiwuqi in Chinese -- another area hit by unrest -- said that police were carrying out identity checks and stopping cars but roads were open. A banner is equivalent to a Chinese county.

The unrest -- which has involved thousands of protesters in different areas over the past week -- erupted after the herder, Mergen, was run over on May 10 by a truck driven by a member of China's dominant Han ethnic group.

China is home to an estimated six million ethnic Mongols who have cultural and linguistic links with the Republic of Mongolia to the north.

Many harbour resentment over alleged Chinese repression and encroachment on pasture lands by Han mining and energy interests, in grievances similar to those reported by minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang.

In the last reported incident, hundreds of students and herders took to the streets of Chifeng on Saturday, but were quickly dispersed, according to the US-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre.

The Communist party chief in Xilingol, Bai Xiangqun, was quoted by local media Monday as saying the unity and stability of his area faced a "temporary but very large challenge".

Various cities "have seen mass incidents, mainly premeditated, organised and instigated by some people both within and outside our borders with ulterior motives," Bai said on Sunday, the Xilingol Daily reported.

China's Communist Party called Monday for stronger control over society, in a top-level meeting of decision makers presided by President Hu Jintao, the official Xinhua news agency said.

In a sign authorities were trying to address people's concerns, the regional government issued a series of new rules to improve the mining industry, saying it would probe the impact of mines and transport links on people's livelihoods.

Under the measures, companies whose production and transport links were found to have a serious impact on local residents would be immediately ordered to stop production, Xinhua said in a separate report.

Residents of the regional capital Hohhot told AFP on Monday that riot police had been deployed. The city's main square and major universities have been cordoned off.

"Controls are very strict. Many riot police wearing headpieces are standing in the streets," one hotel operator near Hohhot's Xinhua Square told AFP.

Universities also have been sealed off in the cities of Tongliao and Ordos, the Mongol rights group said.

The group had called for a regionwide protest on Monday, but did not publish any subsequent reports of widespread gatherings.

In Japan, around 100 ethnic Mongols rallied outside the Chinese embassy in Tokyo to protest against what they called Beijing's infringement of human rights in Inner Mongolia, Jiji Press reported.

The herder who died had been among a group of Mongols who attempted to block a caravan of coal-hauling trucks in Xilingol, the Mongolian rights group said.

They had been angered by an influx of miners that had displaced herders, destroyed grazing lands and killed livestock.

The Xilingol government has said four people were arrested over the killing and the destruction of pasture lands. China's state Xinhua news agency said Monday that one suspect was being tried for murder.

earlier related report
Facts behind unrest in China's Inner Mongolia
Beijing (AFP) May 30, 2011 - China's Inner Mongolia region has been hit by unprecedented protests by ethnic Mongols seething over Beijing's rule.

The following fact box explains their grievances, what triggered the unrest, and what the government is doing about it.

Where is Inner Mongolia?

A sprawling region in northern China, it borders Mongolia and Russia and is almost the size of South Africa. More than 24.7 million people live there, mainly China's dominant Han ethnic group (79.5%) and minority Mongols (17.1%).

Inner Mongolia was once part of the Mongol empire, but was split from the Mongolian heartland by later Chinese dynasties.

During the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, Mongols were mercilessly attacked, accused of plotting to unite with the republic of Mongolia, then a Soviet satellite state. Tens of thousands, perhaps more, were believed killed.

Why are ethnic Mongols protesting?

Many of China's roughly six million ethnic Mongols complain of political and cultural repression, saying they have been forgotten by a world preoccupied with similar troubles in Tibet and the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

They say traditional pastoral herders are being forced off their grasslands in the name of environmental protection, destroying an ancient nomadic way of life.

Han Chinese migration to their homelands has left Mongols swamped by Chinese culture, they add.

What was the trigger for the recent unrest?

On May 10, an ethnic Mongol herder named Mergen was killed -- run down by a truck driven by Han Chinese who worked for a coal company.

Truck drivers have been mowing through grazing lands, destroying pastures, and killing and stealing livestock for years, the US-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre (SMHRIC) alleges.

Another point of contention is the continued disappearance of Hada, China's most prominent ethnic Mongol dissident.

He completed a 15-year jail term in December imposed after he called for ethnic Mongol rights, but his supporters say that he, his wife Xinna and their son Uiles have since vanished into police custody.

What has happened so far?

On May 23, hundreds of ethnic Mongol herders took to the streets in the Xilingol area, protesting the killing of Mergen and the destruction of herders' grazing lands, according to the SMHRIC.

The protests then spread, with thousands of students and herders calling on the Chinese government to respect the rights of Mongol herders in the region, the rights group says.

The last reported demonstration took place on Saturday despite heavy security, but the protesters were dispersed quickly by riot police, it adds.

The rights group says more protests are planned on Monday in Inner Mongolia. It has also urged people around the world to demonstrate in front of Chinese embassies.

How is the Chinese government responding?

Hu Chunhua, Inner Mongolia's Communist Party chief, visited a school in one of the region's restive areas on Friday and assured students and teachers that suspects in the Mergen case had been arrested and would be punished by law.

More generally, the government says it has poured hundreds of billions of yuan into the region. This year, nearly 79 billion yuan ($12 billion) has been budgeted for projects aimed at raising living standards, such as better transport in rural areas, the official People's Daily newspaper has reported.

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