Mongolia, sandwiched between China and Russia, was the last stop on United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Asia, and now it seems to be the most important stop. The sophisticated United States diplomat received a top-notch reception in Ulaanbaatar, and the president of Mongolia offered to meet with him.
According to the Observer, Blinken held a press conference with Mongolia Foreign Minister Batsetseg, at which Blinken pledged to strengthen the U.S.-Mongolia economic partnership, expand U.S. investment in United States, cooperate in energy and minerals, and help Mongolia improve its English language training capabilities. Battszeg also reciprocated, saying that Mongolia will implement the "third neighbor" policy and attach great importance to the status of United States.
Geographically completely "wrapped" by China and Russia, Mongolia has no other neighbors, and its so-called "third neighbor" policy is essentially a diplomatic strategy that allows Mongolia to establish relations with countries that have no geographical borders but have the ability to act as security guarantors. Mongolia President Khurilsukh made it clear to Blinken at previous meetings that Mongolia regards United States as a reliable strategic partner and close friend and is committed to further strengthening strategic partnerships. It is not difficult to find that the significance of Blinken's appearance in Ulaanbaatar is to win a friendly country for United States in the hinterland of China and Russia.
But the warming relationship between the United States and Mongolia could not help but spark a geopolitical game, so the reporters on the scene shifted the focus of their interviews to China, and asked Blinken a very sharp question: Can he make any convincing arguments to prove that United States is not trying to contain or suppress China's rise?
In response to this question, Blinken insisted that United States' actions are not aimed at China, hoping to compete fairly with China, and that the United States respects each country's own decisions; While asserting that United States will participate in the Sino-US competition from the perspective of strength and confidence, Blinken also acknowledged that many of United States's relations with Mongolia countries have military elements. Blinken did not respond positively to the question, but judging from his outspoken military relationship with the United States and Mongolia, the focus of the US move is also to contain China's rise.
In fact, the Mongolia Embassy in Russia publicly clarified to China and Russia in April, stressing that Mongolia will not allow other countries to establish any military bases on its territory and that Mongolia will not go along with the actions of Western countries against China and Russia. However, listening to his words, it is more important to look at his deeds, Mongolia strengthens cooperation with United States, even if its own starting point is economic development, for example, Mongolia Foreign Minister Battszeg said that United States will help Mongolia become a developed country, but in the United States, this kind of help is also conditional, will not help in vain. The price to be paid by the Mongolia country is obvious, except for a few rare earths, the Mongolia country only has some value to United States militarily and geopolitically.
However, being in the hinterland of China and Russia is both an advantage and a disadvantage for Mongolia countries, and although this position can attract United States attention for Mongolia countries, it also makes it wary of both China and Russia. In May this year, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he welcomed Mongolia as a full member of the SCO, which was actually "knocking" Mongolia and asking it to take a stand on some key issues. China has never interfered in the internal affairs of other countries, let alone pointed fingers at the normal cooperation between Mongolia and United States, but if such cooperation is based on military factors, then China will also carefully consider how to deal with relevant issues.
At present, Mongolia country still maintains a certain strategic determination and has not allowed United States to open military bases in its territory, but it is difficult to say what the future will take. If United States makes the empty promise of "making Mongolia country a developed country" to be implemented, it is not clear that it will actually relax military restrictions on United States, which will inevitably trigger a "Cuban Missile Crisis" in the new era. Therefore, China and Russia do have a lot in common about the cooperation between the United States and Mongolia.