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Preface
As soon as the United States wanted to establish a military base in Mongolia, the mainland and Mongolia subsequently reached a consensus.
The two sides will begin joint army training in 2024.
So, what's the meaning of this?
The United States intends to station troops in Mongolia
Mongolia is geographically located as a landlocked country halfway between the mainland and Russia.
In 1911, the country declared independence as a sovereign state, but this was not internationally recognized.
It was not until 1961, when Mongolia joined the United Nations, that it gained international recognition.
Although Mongolia has not been internationally recognized for a long time, it also has a very important strategic position.
Because of its geographical location, Mongolia has a large area of grassland, so animal husbandry is relatively very developed.
Nearly 30% of the country's population works in nomadic pastoralism, and the country's industrialization is relatively backward, with an annual GDP of $15.7 billion in 2022.
At the same time, Mongolia is very rich in mineral resources.
Today, there are more than 80 kinds of mines in Mongolia, and the country's coal and gold reserves can be said to be among the top in the world, especially rare earth resources are also very rich.
The demand for rare earth resources in the international market is also very large, and it is a precious resource that all countries want to compete for.
Therefore, although Mongolia's economic development is not very good, and the domestic infrastructure is not perfect, the country's mineral resources are mainly extracted and excavated with the help of other countries.
Therefore, whether it is rich in mineral resources or important strategic position, Mongolia is an enviable country.
Naturally, it was also "favored" by the United States.
The intention has been for a long time, and the relationship between the two countries is "ambiguous"
As the world's largest power, the United States also has close exchanges and contacts with many countries in the world.
Naturally, the United States and Mongolia are also relatively closely linked.
The two countries also interact frequently, and under the leadership of the United States, Mongolia has maintained frequent interaction with NATO, and even in 2012, formed a quasi-alliance with NATO.
Source: People's Daily (2012-05-17) - Report on Mongolia's quasi-alliance with NATO
Because of historical problems and many reasons, Mongolia and Russia have always had exchanges in the military field.
But in addition, many countries and regions in Mongolia have military cooperation.
In 2003, it held a joint military exercise with the United States.
Not only that, the United States has also set up corresponding radar detection equipment and electronic monitoring stations in Mongolia on the grounds of counter-terrorism.
Source: The Paper - Cyber War "Gunsmoke"|NATO helps Mongolia improve cybersecurity, and military relations continue to get closer
In this way, relevant intelligence is gathered
In the years that followed, Mongolia not only maintained relatively good relations with the United States, but also maintained close relations with NATO countries
In 2010, Mongolia chose to send troops to Afghanistan as a gesture of support for NATO.
It was also during this period that it was reported that the United States intended to build a military base in Mongolia.
Source: Global Times (2010-04-09) -- The United States may build a military base in Mongolia and Mongolia will send troops to Afghanistan to help NATO
Although such a plan was not realized at that time, the United States has never given up on such plans and ideas.
And the US military activities around the world are so frequent.
Military exercises with the Philippines in the South China Sea have also been used to deploy intermediate-range missile systems in the Philippines.
The direction and implication of the United States in this way are also very obvious.
Source: Jinan Times (2024-04-21) - The first deployment of an intermediate-range missile system by the US military in the Philippines reported
Not only that, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken once again expressed his thoughts during talks with the leaders of Mongolia.
Naturally, this approach has attracted the attention of many parties.
According to Russian media reports, on April 25, the Mongolian ambassador to Russia made it clear that he would no longer build a U.S. military base in Mongolia.
Source: Sputnik News Agency (2024-4-25) - Mongolian Embassy in Russia: Mongolia ruled out the possibility of establishing a US military base on its territory Report
In the face of such concerns, the Mongolian ambassador also said that this is not a cause for concern, because according to the Mongolian constitution, no military force will be allowed to deploy military forces in the country.
After all, in addition to close cooperation with the United States, Mongolia has close exchanges with China and Russia in both economic and other aspects.
As a landlocked country, if you want to transport domestic goods and help the development of the domestic economy, you still have to go through China and Russia.
The largest land port between China and Mongolia is the Erenhot Highway Port.
As of April 29, the total amount of goods imported and exported at the port has reached 1 million tons.
This port is also the first 24-hour road cargo port opened to Mongolia on the mainland.
Information source: Guangming.com (2024-04-29) - This year, the total volume of inbound and outbound goods at the most mainland road port in China and Mongolia exceeded 1 million tons
Not only does the goods transported through the port contract more than 70% of Mongolia's daily necessities, but also three-quarters of the country's vegetables and fruits are also very dependent on the transportation of this port.
Therefore, Mongolia and the mainland also maintain good cooperative relations.
After Mongolia explicitly rejected the US military's construction of US military bases in China, China and Mongolia announced on April 29 that they would hold joint army training in 2024.
Source: Guangming.com (2024-04-29) - The Ministry of National Defense announced that China will send battalion-sized troops to Mongolia for training
China and Mongolia launched military exercises
This time, the joint training of the Chinese and Mongolian armies was carried out in Mongolia.
It starts at the end of April and lasts until late May, almost a month.
This is the first joint training of the two armies, and our army will send a battalion of troops, and naturally all kinds of military weapons and equipment are also indispensable.
The topic of this joint training is also very intriguing, and the purpose of this joint training is to deal with the activities of illegal armed groups, and through this operation, not only will the military cooperation between the two countries be further strengthened.
At the same time, we will also make joint efforts to maintain regional peace, stability and development.
However, this is not the first time that the mainland PLA has entered Mongolia to participate in military activities, as early as June 2023, the mainland accepted Mongolia's invitation to participate in the "Khan Exploration" peacekeeping exercise in the country.
Source: China News Network (2023-6-16) - A report that the Chinese military will go to Mongolia to participate in the "Khan Quest-2023" multinational peacekeeping exercise
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