The unrest in China's Inner Mongolia region was sparked by the May 10 death of a herder named Mergen, who was run over by a truck driven by an ethnic Han Chinese, the US-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre said.

Mergen and other herders had been attempting to block a caravan of coal-hauling trucks in the Xilingol area, angered by an influx of miners that was displacing ethnic Mongol herders, destroying grazing lands and killing livestock, it said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Fury over the incident caused hundreds of Mongols to take to the streets in protest in the Right Ujumchin Banner in Xilingol on Monday, it said, quoting sources in the region.

A banner is a traditional Mongol land division and is equivalent to a county.

Photos showing protesters squaring off with police were posted on overseas rights websites.

Bloggers also were circulating a call online for a large-scale protest in the regional capital Hohhot on May 30, the group said.

A woman official who answered the phone at the Xilingol government office confirmed that protesters had again showed up in Right Ujumchin Banner on Wednesday but had left before noon. She declined to provide further details.

AFP calls to other government and police offices in the area went unanswered.

Many of China's roughly six million ethnic Mongols, who have cultural and ethnic ties with Mongolia to the north, complain of political and cultural repression by Beijing, and say their nomadic, pastoral lifestyle is being extinguished.

Some refer to Inner Mongolia as "Southern Mongolia".

A key irritant is what many Mongols say is an influx of members of China's dominant Han ethnic group triggered by the region's rich coal and other energy deposits.

The Xilingol government said in a statement shortly after Mergen's death that four people had been arrested for the killing and destruction of pasture lands.

earlier related report
Ai Weiwei work on show at key Hong Kong art fair
Hong Kong (AFP) May 25, 2011 - A leading international art fair is to display a provocative work by detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in Hong Kong in a show of solidarity with the outspoken dissident amid a government crackdown.

Director Magnus Renfrew said the organisers of ART HK shared the concerns of the international community over Ai's fate, and called for "due process" of the law to be upheld in his case, which has sparked an international outcry.

"Ai Weiwei's works have been greatly admired," he said.

The fair, starting Thursday, is to display Ai's 2007 sculpture "Marble Arm", which depicts an outstretched arm and hand -- with its middle finger raised.

The artist was taken into custody in Beijing last month during the government's biggest crackdown on dissidents and activists in years, with authorities later saying he was suspected of unspecified "economic crimes".

The US and European Union have called for Ai's release, but Beijing has rejected such calls, denouncing them as interfering and inappropriate.

"Marble Arm" was brought to the fair by Switzerland-based Galerie Urs Meile, which also run a gallery in Beijing.

"By presenting his work, we believe his situation will be discussed," the gallery's assistant Rene Meile told AFP.

Chinese police alleged last week that a firm controlled by Ai had evaded taxes, in a move that appeared to be aimed at building their case against the detained artist.

Hong Kong maintains semi-autonomous status from China and enjoys civil liberties not seen on the mainland. Artists and campaigners have staged a series of protests there calling for Ai's release.

ART HK, which is now in its fourth year, will see a record 260 galleries from 38 countries taking part in the four-day fair. It is expected to draw at least 45,000 visitors to see work by over 1,000 artists.

The city, which has become the world's third-biggest auction hub behind London and New York, has ambitions to establish itself as a centre for art in Asia.

The fair will also show new works by cutting-edge artist Barnaby Furnas and an acclaimed anamorphic projection by South African artist William Kentridge.

Organisers said they expect to see tens of millions of dollars in sales over the four days, but could not provide a forecast for the private transactions.

Several auctioneers, including Christie's and Sotheby's, are holding Hong Kong art sales expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming week.

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