«——【Preamble】】 ——»
["Unauthorized transportation is prohibited, and offenders will be prosecuted"]
Since the establishment of Mongolia's independence, its relations with China and Russia have often undergone subtle changes.
As a country sandwiched between China and Russia, Mongolia must think carefully about everything, but in recent years it has been a little restless, often dealing with the United States and Western countries, and has also received a lot of assistance from the United States.
Since the United States has promised to assist Mongolia, it must have its own small calculations in its heart.
As early as 2003, Mongolia hosted the Khan Quest Joint Forces exercise, a bilateral military exercise between the United States and Mongolia, in which the mainland later participated.
Clearly, the exercise itself has a profound meaning, ostensibly to deepen understanding and cooperation between countries, but it may also be a way for Mongolia to increase its influence, or a test to do so.
After so many years, the relationship between Mongolia and the United States seems to have become closer, so the United States has discussed with Mongolia this year that it wants to open a military base in Mongolia.
The intention of the United States is very obvious, and Mongolia will not be confused, so it resolutely rejected the request of the United States, and even took the initiative to disclose this matter to the outside world, as if to make clear its attitude to China and Russia.
At the end of April this year, the mainland announced that China and Mongolia would carry out joint training for the army, and now the PLA at the battalion level has reached Mongolia and will carry out training.
Unexpectedly, not long after the arrival of the People's Liberation Army, the Kazakh ambassador to Russia released news that the "Power of Siberia 2" pipeline, which transports natural gas from Russia to China, was originally planned to be transported directly from Mongolia, but now it will be changed to pass through Kazakhstan.
This change is very sudden, so what is the message hidden in it? In fact, China, Mongolia and Russia all have their own calculations in their hearts.
Mongolia's relations with China and Russia
From history textbooks, we can know that Mongolia was once Chinese territory, but due to the decline of the Qing government and the interference of the Soviet Union, Mongolia eventually broke away from China and became an independent country.
However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mongolia's relations with China were very poor, but its relations with the Soviet Union were very close, and its own development was also copied from the Soviet model, and its strength and influence have indeed been greatly improved.
More importantly, the Soviet Union also cooperated with Mongolia, and more than 100,000 Soviet soldiers were stationed in Mongolia, obviously using Mongolia as a springboard to send troops south at any time.
However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia lost the support of the Soviet Union, and its economy and industry were hit hard.
It was also from that time that the relationship between China and Mongolia began to gradually improve, and Mongolia would export a lot of resources to China every year, and obtain a lot of economy.
However, exchanges between Mongolia and Russia have become less and less, but relations are not so bad.
Later, China and Russia cooperated and decided to build a Sino-Russian eastern gas pipeline, that is, "Power of Siberia 1".
In order to save construction costs, this pipeline passes through Mongolia, and China and Russia can directly transport natural gas, which is also a good thing for Mongolia, after all, it can collect a part of the "toll", lie down to make money, and can also help complete part of the infrastructure.
As relations between China and Russia have deepened in recent years, and the two countries want to build a second gas pipeline, Mongolia naturally hopes that it will pass through Mongolia.
However, this project has not progressed until recently, the Kazakh embassy in Russia announced that the gas pipeline will be diverted to Kazakhstan farther away, what does this mean?
Mongolia "Empty Joy"
In other words, the pipeline to Kazakhstan is a plan put forward by the Russian side, which believes that Kazakhstan can become a new bridge for Sino-Russian energy cooperation.
In fact, the original plan for the second gas pipeline was indeed to pass through Mongolia again, but it is a pity that Mongolia's diplomatic relations have been unpredictable in recent years, and it is quite close to the United States, so Russia is fearful.
When the news of the pipeline passing through Kazakhstan was released, it also attracted the attention of many countries, after all, this new route is a detour, which requires more costs and the construction time is also greatly improved.
For Russia, the sooner the second pipeline is completed, the better, after all, it has consumed too much economy and resources in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and after it is completed, it can effectively alleviate Russia's economic pressure.
When Russia was very worried in its heart, afraid that the United States would make a small move and take advantage of Mongolia to impose sanctions on itself, it was forced to propose such a plan.
For Mongolia, this is a warning: if it wants to develop its economy rapidly, it should cooperate with China and Russia, and strengthen its position and partners, rather than always trying to get closer to the United States and Western countries.
In addition, the joint army training between China and Mongolia may have a deeper meaning, and it also wants Mongolia to find its own direction.
There are also analyses on the Internet pointing out that in the process of trying to win over Mongolia in recent years, the United States has also released some erroneous remarks, such as the theory of the China-Russia threat, etc., in an attempt to change the thinking of the Mongolian people internally.
Therefore, it is very necessary for China and Mongolia to carry out drills, and the friendly relations between China and Mongolia must not be undermined.
For now, it is very likely that the gas pipeline will no longer pass through Mongolia. Do you have anything to say about that?
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Resources:
Huanqiu.com, 2024-05-06, "The First Batch! Chinese troops participating in the training leave the country》
Observer.com, 2022-07-18, "Prime Minister of Mongolia: China-Russia Gas Pipeline Project "Power of Siberia 2" Starts Construction in 2024