From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   Caught Between China and Russia, Mongolia Seeks Closer U.S. Ties   
   By Brian Spegele, Aug. 1, 2023, WSJ   
   BEIJING—Sparsely populated and sandwiched between two authoritarian powers,   
   Mongolia is positioning itself as a resource-rich, democratic partner for the   
   U.S. in Asia amid growing competition between Washington and Beijing over the   
   minerals needed to    
   pursue cleaner energy.    
      
   That push will be at the heart of a visit by Mongolia’s prime minister to   
   Washington this week, as his country attempts to draw itself closer to the   
   West in a bid to diversify its economy without angering its powerful neighbors   
   Russia and China.    
      
   “The visit will be crucial in delivering a different understanding for the   
   U.S. side about our democracy,” Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai   
   said, speaking through an interpreter in an interview ahead of his visit.    
      
   During the visit that begins Wednesday, Oyun-Erdene is expected to meet with   
   Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He is also   
   slated to visit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.    
      
   Mongolia’s rich mineral reserves as well as its unique geographic   
   positioning are winning it increasing attention on the global stage. The   
   Washington visit is the latest of several high-profile engagements by   
   Oyun-Erdene, who welcomed French President    
   Emmanuel Macron to Mongolia in May and sat down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping   
   in Beijing in June.    
      
   Mongolia was long a Communist country closely tied to the Soviet Union. Since   
   transforming into a democracy in 1990, it has kept close links to both Russia   
   and China, and relies on them for imports of electricity, fuel and many other   
   goods. Most of    
   Mongolia’s mining production, including significant volumes of copper ore   
   and coal, is sold to the Chinese market.    
      
   Courting the U.S. at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and   
   Washington carries risks for Mongolia, as China has shown itself willing to   
   punish its smaller, landlocked neighbor for perceived slights. After Mongolia   
   in 2016 welcomed a visit by    
   the Dalai Lama—the Tibetan spiritual leader whom China paints as a   
   separatist—Beijing raised fees on Mongolian mining products and caused   
   traffic to back up at an important border crossing.     
      
   The risk of shortages of minerals such as copper that are used in   
   electric-vehicle batteries, as well as solar and wind energy systems, is   
   helping draw the U.S. and Mongolia closer, with Washington increasingly   
   concerned about China’s domination of the    
   raw materials used in clean energy production.    
      
   “The global energy transition is ongoing but it’s also at risk,” Jose W.   
   Fernandez, undersecretary for economic growth, energy and the environment at   
   the State Department, said at an event hosted in July by the Center for   
   Strategic and    
   International Studies after touring Mongolian mines.     
      
   While Mongolia’s government says it has tens of millions of metric tons of   
   such minerals in reserve, issues including a lack of infrastructure and   
   corruption have held back foreign investment. In June, the State Department   
   signed an agreement with    
   Mongolia’s government to help the country’s resource sector attract   
   foreign capital.    
      
   The next step, Oyun-Erdene said, would be forming partnerships with more   
   international companies to jointly explore more of the country’s mineral   
   resources. He acknowledged that the country’s current data might not be   
   trusted by international    
   companies.    
      
   “We would like to be more open and transparent to our investors, especially   
   Western partners and including the United States,” Oyun-Erdene said, adding   
   that he also has been discussing potential investment in the country with   
   SpaceX founder Elon Musk.   
       
      
   Mongolia approved the use of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite-internet service in   
   July. Oyun-Erdene said that he and Musk, who has long envisioned sending   
   humans to Mars, recently discussed establishing training centers in Mongolia   
   because of what the prime    
   minister said were physical similarities between its Gobi Desert and Mars.   
      
   SpaceX didn’t respond to requests for comment.    
      
   Geopolitically, Mongolia is among the developing countries that are treading   
   carefully between the U.S. and its allies on one side and China and Russia on   
   the other, as the war in Ukraine grinds on. Ulaanbaatar, the capital of   
   Mongolia, has abstained    
   from votes at the United Nations that have condemned the invasion.    
      
   The prime minister in the interview called for a cease-fire and the start of   
   negotiations as soon as possible, but said that Russian people shouldn’t be   
   blamed for the actions of their government.    
      
   “We’re incredibly concerned about this tension because the challenges and   
   consequences of this will be not just geopolitical but also economical,” he   
   said.     
      
   The prime minister’s trip to Washington comes as Mongolia returns to   
   economic health following a slowdown during Covid-19. The country’s economic   
   growth was just 1.6% in 2021, dragged down by China’s pandemic border   
   closures. With the border open    
   again, the economy is on track to grow by around 5.2% in 2023, according to a   
   World Bank report released in April.    
      
   The country has had discussions this year with the Asian Development Bank, the   
   World Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, each of which   
   could offer hundreds of millions of dollars in new loans, said Bold Javkhlan,   
   Mongolia’s    
   finance minister. The government is planning to use the money it raises for   
   infrastructure projects, said Javkhlan.   
      
   https://www.wsj.com/articles/caught-between-china-and-russia-mon   
   olia-seeks-closer-u-s-ties-f7f090ec   
      
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