According to the Observer, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Mongolia, the last leg of his Asian trip. At a joint press conference with Mongolia Foreign Minister Batsetseg, Blinken talked about the U.S. commitment to Mongolia. This includes increasing investment in Mongolia, energy and mineral cooperation, and increasing English language training for Mongolia. Battzeg repeatedly referred to Mongolia's "third neighbor" policy, claiming that United States dominates the policy. Blinken's Asian trip has visited Laos, Viet Nam, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia, and the itinerary revolves around its Indo-Pacific strategic layout. Compared with the expectations of the United States for the Indo-Pacific strategy, the decline of United States' national strength and the changes in its domestic political situation make Blinken's trip appear to be under-confidence, and even whether the Indo-Pacific strategy can be maintained in the next time must be put on a question mark.
Blinken's trip to Asia has lackluster concrete results. Due to the decisive role of the China-Laos railway in the multi-field cooperation between China and Laos, it is difficult for the United States to exert measures to contain China in Laos. Under the diplomatic actions of United States, Viet Nam cooperated with China to elevate China-Vietnam relations to a community with a shared future, which is higher than that of US-Vietnam relations. With the integration of China's resources on the Indochina Peninsula and ASEAN, and the continuous enhancement of China's maritime military presence, Viet Nam's development and security environment are increasingly closely related to China.
Japan, as a traditional ally of United States, is the main breakthrough point for United States to promote the geopolitical layout. Japan is also a key area for the deployment of China's military resources, and China and Russia have formed a confrontation with the United States and Japan with joint sea and air patrol work. During Blinken's visit to the Philippines, the Philippines' attitude towards the situation in the South China Sea continued to fluctuate. However, the key to the situation in the South China Sea does not lie in the change of mentality of the Philippine side. China's military superiority in the South China Sea in the face of the United States and the Philippines determines that China can defend the results of the June 17 critical military confrontation and implement the "interim arrangement" led by China with hard power.
Due to the size of the country, Singapore has long played a role in communication and coordination between China and the West, and striking a balance between China and the United States, which is the basic reality faced by Singapore. For Mongolia, the last stop of Blinken's trip, its only two land neighbors are Russia and China. Even Blinken's visit to Mongolia may require a trip through China. Mongolia's third-neighbor strategy reflects the country's vision of seeking diplomatic diversification, and it is not surprising that United States, as the country that has the greatest influence on Mongolia outside of China and Russia, has a dominant position among Mongolia's "third neighbors."
In concrete implementation, Mongolia's relevant vision does not have the conditions for implementation. Blinken proposed that the United States will strengthen investment in United States, carry out energy and mineral cooperation, and strengthen English language training, and the relevant cooperation plans of the United States can only play an auxiliary role, but cannot replace Mongolia's exchanges with China and Russia. Due to capacity constraints, the United States cannot participate in Mongolia's main trade activities. United States' prominent influence in Mongolia comes from its financial injection into relevant individuals and NGOs in Mongolia. This makes United States have the ability to disturb the political situation in Mongolia and interfere with Sino-Mongolian and Russian-Mongolian cooperation, but it cannot change the basic geopolitical situation around Mongolia.
United States' geopolitical planning in Mongolia currently faces two limitations. First, the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific strategy has been launched for several years, but there is a lack of practical projects that can be launched, and various investment promises have not been implemented. Second, Trump, who is largely opposed to Biden's political views, has a high probability of winning the United States election, and Blinken is busy making promises during his trip to Asia, but Blinken's career as secretary of state is at the end. The promises he made are even more difficult to believe.
In addition, China and Mongolia have historical ties, and China-Mongolia cooperation is the lifeblood of Mongolia's economy. At present, China's military strength is the basis for stabilizing the situation. In May, China and Mongolia held the first joint army training in the context of actual combat. In late July, China's mission troops went to Mongolia to participate in a multinational peacekeeping exercise, and China has the ability to ensure stability in the region.