Recently, China has done something very relieving.
In May, the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia issued a security alert. The reminder pointed out that since 2024, there have been a number of vicious attacks and nuisances against Chinese citizens and Chinese companies in the country, which have caused serious property damage and casualties.
Mongolia is a country that borders China, but it has always been restless. The descendants of this country, who regard themselves as orthodox as the so-called "Mongol Empire", have very serious internal anti-Chinese and anti-Russian sentiments, and like to make eye contact with Washington and promote the United States as their so-called "third neighbor." However, for a long time, China's attitude towards Mongolia was mainly forbearance, and it did not dare to easily promote military or police cooperation.
The biggest reason for this is that Russia's attitude is taken into account. Russia regards Mongolia as a "buffer zone" between China and Russia, and China has always dared not take action to rectify Mongolia in line with the principle that more is better than less. As a direct result, Mongolia feels very good about itself, and every once in a while it has to contact the United States.
But nowadays, things have changed. After the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia turned to the east in full swing. Recently, the Kremlin also came out with good news, that is, the destination of Putin's first round of foreign visits after taking office is set in Beijing.
Russia, a big country, has clearly recognized the situation and decided to "go back to back" with China, and China's strategic environment has naturally been greatly optimized. Many things that I didn't dare to do easily in the past can also be arranged.
For example, this time, after Mongolia made a mess, China couldn't bear it at all and began to clean up Mongolia. Also in May, China's Ministry of National Defense officially announced that it would jointly launch the first joint army exercise in history with Mongolia, which lasted for several weeks. The content of the exercises was mainly aimed at the so-called "illegal armed groups".
For this exercise, China dispatched hundreds of PLA soldiers and nearly 100 sets of ground equipment to enter Mongolia by rail in three batches. Judging from the news at the beginning, in addition to deepening Sino-Mongolian cooperation, this exercise also has a very important purpose, which is to deter local lawbreakers and provide security for Chinese compatriots living and investing in Mongolia.
As for China's actions, this time, Russia not only did not block it, but also cooperated: Just after the officers and soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army gathered in Mongolia's designated exercise and training positions, TASS news agency spread a news that Russia intends to shelve the joint construction of the "Siberian Power No. 2" by China, Russia and Mongolia, and instead cooperate with Kazakhstan to establish a natural gas supply pipeline between China, Russia and Kazakhstan. This is a signal to the outside world that Russia has great trust in China and does not intend to continue to support Mongolia, a country that always likes to "be a demon".
China and Russia have obviously reached a tacit understanding now, and Mongolia, which has "repeatedly jumped horizontally" before, is finally going to eat its own bitter fruits. If the current political elite in Mongolia can change their minds in time, ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, deal with China on an equal footing and pragmatically, and not always have some unrealistic dreams of recovering the empire, then cooperation between China, Russia and Mongolia still needs to be discussed. If Mongolia is obsessed and continues to do misdeeds, then the only thing that awaits it is the ending of "guarding the mine and asking for food".