Reuters reported that on August 3, Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun Erden met with U.S. Deputy Harris in Washington. Due to Mongolia's unique geographical location, the visit attracted a lot of attention.
Some foreign countries hyped the incident as a major diplomatic victory for Biden as a major diplomatic victory for the United States and Mongolia, a landlocked country located between China and Russia. This is Oyun Erden's first visit to the United States since he became prime minister of Mongolia.
During the talks with Harris, the two sides expressed the hope that this opportunity will be used to deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries and strengthen cooperation in the economic field. The two sides also pledged to cooperate in areas such as mineral resources, food security, the climate crisis and space cooperation, and signed a cooperation agreement worth 31 million tons of rare earths.
Harris praised Mongolia as a "reliable democracy and friend" of the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, saying, "The future of the Indo-Pacific region is closely related to the American people."
It is in our interest to make the Indo-Pacific region open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient. Oyun Erden expressed his gratitude for this and thanked the United States for its support of democracy in Mongolia over the past 30 years.
Under the leadership of Oyun Erden, significant progress has been made in the cooperative development of mineral resources between the two sides. It is understood that the potential cooperation discussed in this discussion includes the mining of critical minerals such as rare earths and copper.
Mongolia is rich in mineral resources, with more than 80 kinds of minerals proven, among which rare earth reserves rank second in the world, second only to China. It is worth mentioning that cooperation between Mongolia and the United States on critical minerals has been underway for a long time.
At the June meeting, South Korea, the United States and Mongolia announced the establishment of the "South Korea-US-Mongolia Trilateral Consultation Mechanism on Critical Minerals" to jointly mine critical mineral resources such as coal, copper, rare earths and lithium.
In this way, the three countries can share mineral exploration and research and develop key rare earth resources together.
Against the backdrop of increasing global competition, the United States and South Korea have strengthened cooperation with Mongolia, especially in the field of rare earth resources. This is considered a move against China. However, Mongolia** is cautious about this.
In an interview with Reuters, Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun Erden said he was worried that the new Cold War would bring greater difficulties and stressed the need for Mongolia to maintain good relations with China.
He sees the United States as a "strategic third neighbor" and believes that receiving "diversified assistance from third countries" is crucial for the landlocked country of Mongolia.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia quickly formulated the strategy of "third neighbor", forming a non-aligned, equidistant, all-round and multi-fulcrum foreign strategy. Although the United States was initially seen as a "third neighbor" and later turned to "Western countries" and even Asian countries such as South Korea, China and Russia have always been Mongolia's two most important neighbors, and they cannot avoid the influence of their geographical location.
In order to balance the influence of China and Russia, Mongolia has been actively developing cooperative relations with organizations and countries such as the United States and the European Union, and the "third neighbor" strategy has always remained the same no matter how Mongolia's leadership changes.
Andrei Gubin, an expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, a doctor of political science and an associate professor at the Department of International Relations at Far Eastern Federal University, who has an in-depth study of China, Russia and Mongolia, published a column on this strategy in early March this year.
Gubin stressed that Mongolia is an important hub connecting China and Russia, and because of its high strategic position, it may become a "vote" for Russian-Chinese energy projects to cooperate with the West.
As early as 2019, Mongolia reached an agreement with Russia to jointly explore the "Power of Siberia 2" pipeline project, which will transport 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China through Mongolia every year.
At present, Russia is in danger of losing the European gas market due to the severe situation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, so the "Power of Siberia 2" project is of great significance to it, and construction is expected to start in 2024.
At the same time, Mongolia has a young population of more than 60%, which is vulnerable to the influence of the West, especially the frequent implementation of color revolutions by the United States against other countries in recent years, which may lead to political turmoil in Mongolia.
Mass demonstrations erupted in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital, in early December, and although officials said the cause was corruption and inflation in the coal industry, there was speculation that there might be outside interference.
At that time, the U.S. Embassy in Mongolia issued a warning reminding U.S. citizens and individuals in Ulaanbaatar to avoid the crowds of demonstrators, pay attention to local news, maintain good security awareness, and check their personal safety plans.
1.Foreign media have smeared Sino-Mongolian relations for no reason, saying that there is corruption and coal theft in China and Mongolia, but they have been refuted by China. Another important task of Mongolia's Oyun Erden during his visit to the United States is to sign an "open skies" civil aviation agreement with the United States.
After the signing of the agreement, Mongolia will have direct flights to the United States, which will bring great opportunities for Mongolia's **, tourism, business and investment. You may not know much about Open Skies, an international treaty signed in 1992 between the United States, Russia, and most NATO members to enhance military transparency.
The signatories will allow the other signatories to conduct unarmed aerial reconnaissance on each other's territory to check their implementation of various international treaties of control. 2.Foreign media have maliciously attacked Sino-Mongolian relations, saying that there is corruption and coal theft in China-Mongolia coal, but it has been refuted by China.
One of the tasks of Mongolia's Oyun Erden's current visit to the United States is to sign an "open skies" civil aviation agreement with the United States. After the signing of the agreement, Mongolia will have direct flights to the United States, which will bring great opportunities for Mongolia's **, tourism, business and investment.
You may not know much about Open Skies, an international treaty signed in 1992 between the United States, Russia and most of NATO's member states to enhance military transparency.
The signatories will allow the other signatories to conduct unarmed aerial reconnaissance on each other's territory to check their implementation of various international treaties of control.
Although"Open Skies Treaty"It has lapsed, but the United States is still achieving similar goals by signing civil aviation agreements with other countries. At present, the United States has signed agreements with more than 130 countries, among which Mongolia is particularly important.
In fact, back in January of this year, the United States had already signed a memorandum of consultation with Mongolia aimed at determining the air transport agreement between the two countries, allowed"Unrestricted capacity and frequency of service, open route rights, free charter mechanism and open sharing opportunities"。
Therefore, it can be said that the opening of direct flights between Mongolia and the United States is"The result of careful consultation"。
Mongolian Prime Minister Oyun Erden said during his visit to the United States that if the competition among superpowers intensifies, Mongolia, as a landlocked country located between China and Russia, will be affected.
His decision to open the sky and rare earths to the United States could adversely affect both China and Russia. At present, relations between the United States and Russia have deteriorated because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and they are in a state of mutual sanctions.
Therefore, if American planes want to enter Mongolia, they may need to pass through Chinese airspace. Similarly, Mongolia's rare earths need to pass through Chinese territory, then be shipped to South Korea for processing, and finally exported to Western countries such as the United States.
Oyun Erden is clearly aware of this. However, the main reason why the United States still received Oyun Erden at a high level may be to "plant nails" between China and Russia.
It is recommended that the Mongolian side carefully consider that Oyun Erden's special plane once passed through the airspace of China and Russia. While opening up the sky and rare earths to the United States, should China and Russia listen to the relevant opinions?