According to Radio Free Asia (RFA) on January 13, 2015, dozens of ethnic Mongolian herders from China's Inner Mongolia region converged on Beijing to lodge a complaint with the national government over a land grab by the PLA in 2011 since when they have received little compensation. The Herding communities in Durbed (in Chinese, Siziwang) Banner told RFA they were promised far larger sums in compensation than they had actually received. They were quoted as saying that "The Beijing Military Command District [of the PLA] took over our grazing lands starting in 2011, and by June 2012 we had all moved out. Here in Durbed, authorities told us that the government would pay us 1.8 million yuan (U.S. $290,530) in compensation, averaging 96,000 yuan (U.S. $15,500) per person. Up until now, we have received 147,000 yuan (U.S. $23,730)." The herders said "At the time, they told us that the grasslands didn't belong to us, but to the state, and that we had to move out because we were on someone else's land."
(Comment: Ethnic Mongolians, who make up almost 20 percent of Inner Mongolia's population of 23 million, are reported to be complaining increasingly of widespread environmental destruction and unfair development policies in the region. Clashes between Chinese companies and ethnic Mongolian herders are said to be common in the region. )
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