(TibetanReview.net, Jun16’26) – Foreign countries that enjoy normal diplomatic ties with China today have to pay a kind of tribute to Beijing: recognize Taiwan as part of China under the latter’s One China policy and declare it as well as Tibet and so forth as China’s internal affair. And so it was that on Jun 14 Mongolia reiterated its support for China on issues of Taiwan, Tibet, and so forth as the latter’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi concluded a three-day visit to the country on Jun 15.
“Mongolia reiterated its firm adherence to the one-China principle, its opposition to ‘Taiwan independence,’ and its support for China’s peaceful reunification. Mongolia also reaffirmed that matters related to Xizang, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang are China’s internal affairs,” China’s official globaltimes.cn Jun 15 quoted a joint statement issued at the end of the meeting between Mongolia’s Foreign Minister Batmunkh Battsetseg and Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, as saying.
Xizang is China’s Sinicized name for Tibet (Autonomous Region) and Xinjiang for East Turkestan.
Earlier, Mongolian President President Khurelsukh has also made the same reaffirmation when he met with Wang on Jun 13. Calling maintaining friendly relations with China one of the most important priorities of Mongolia’s foreign policy, Chinese state media quoted him as saying, “Mongolia understands and respects China’s positions and concerns and firmly adheres to the one-China principle,” and considers Taiwan an inseparable part of Chinese territory and does not support any form of Taiwanese independence.
He has also said issues involving Hong Kong, the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region were China’s internal affairs, reported the UPI news agency, citing Asia Today (South Korea) and Chinese state media.
The joint statement with Mongolia Foreign Minister was further quoted as saying, “Both sides reaffirmed that they will not join any military or political alliance directed against the other, will not conclude treaties with any third country that undermine the sovereignty and security of the other, and will not allow any third country to use their territory to harm the sovereignty and security of the other,”
The two sides have also agreed to strengthen alignment of their development strategies, advance projects under the frameworks of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and Mongolia’s Steppe Road Program, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in various sectors, and further enhance the scale, quality, and level of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
* * *
Mongolia and Tibet signed a treaty in 1913, after they broke free from the Manchu Qing dynasty empire. The treaty was a mutual declaration and recognition of independence and an alliance to support each other.
The economy of landlocked Mongolia today is highly dependent on China. When the Dalai Lama last visited the country in Nov 2016, China threw up a tantrum. Because Mongolia desperately needed a financial bailout from China at the time, the latter retaliated by freezing bilateral talks and hit Ulaanbaatar with harsh economic measures.
China also closed a key border crossing between the two countries, creating a huge traffic congestion. Hundreds of truck drivers for the mining conglomerate Rio Tinto remained stuck at the Gants Mod crossing in southeastern Mongolia in freezing temperatures with their cargoes.
China also imposed new tariffs on commodity shipments from Mongolia.
Accusing the Dalai Lama of being engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion with the aim of breaking Tibet away from China, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Nov 20 that year, “The Chinese side firmly opposes any anti-China separatist activities conducted by Dalai in any capacity or name in any country, and opposes any forms of contact by officials of any country with him. The Chinese side urges the Mongolian side to see through the nature of the Dalai clique, respect China’s core interests and major concerns, and take concrete actions to remove the negative effects so as to prevent the disruption of the sound development of China-Mongolia relations.”
Mongolia had deep historical connection with Tibet dating back especially from the 13th century and the two sides enjoy a shared Buddhist culture. But that incident brought to an end further visits from the Dalai Lama to Mongolia.