Mongolia’s Prime Minister, Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, and Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh arrived in Washington on Tuesday to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other senior U.S. officials. This marks the first official visit of a Mongolian PM to the US since 2018.
Oyun-Erdene on Wednesday said that the country will deepen cooperation with the US to mine rare earths. He warned that the world economy would suffer greatly from a “new Cold War” between the United States and China.
Mongolia has an abundance of rare earth metals and copper- materials essential for high-tech applications and defense equipment. Mongolia’s rare earth reserves make up 16% of the world’s total. These metals are also vital for electrifying the auto market, as POTUS Joe Biden intends, to avert the climate crisis.
What else was discussed in the meeting?
Oyun-Erdene agreed to sign an “Open Skies” civil aviation agreement with the US, along with promises of increasing economic cooperation.
The PM termed the US as its “important strategic third neighbour”. He said that cooperation on rare earths with the US is already underway, and would be further deepened under an MoU signed between Mongolia’s Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry and the US State Department in June.
New cold war
China currently controls most of the world’s rare earth deposits. Mongolia hopes to have a good relationship with China as well as the US. However, Mongolia is landlocked between China and Russia, concerning the PM about the consequences of superpower competition.
With reference to the rapid pace of technical advancement and global issues like climate change, Oyun-Erdene added, “I fear that the new Cold War will be very different and (more) difficult than the first Cold War.” We “cannot withstand a fresh Cold War situation”.
He urged major powers to “be more responsible” to avoid “drastic negative effects on many countries around the world, especially the international economy.”
Other collaborations:
Mongolia is in talks with Elon Musk, TESLA CEO, over possible investment in the electric vehicle sector and space. The PM would not be meeting with Musk during this visit, but has said that he is planning to visit California to meet industry leaders on a separate trip later.
Oyun-Erdene brought up Musk’s interest in Mars, which the billionaire has stated he wants to colonise. He added, “I encouraged Mr. Elon Musk to conduct some research on this, and one interesting topic that I mentioned with him was the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, which has a similar environment to Mars”
During his visit, Oyun-Erdene is scheduled to visit NASA and is expected to meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
USA: a guiding Polar Star
The Mongolian Prime Minister labelled the US as the “guiding Polar Star for our democratic journey”. He said that his visit to the US would cover discussions on how to further enhance democratic values.
Mongolia shares a border with Russia, an adversary of the US. According to Oyun-Erdene, Mongolia has suffered from the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, including the inflation of goods like mining explosives.
Part of the reason that the Biden administration is emphasizing collaboration and cooperation with Asian countries like Mongolia is to counter China’s “no-limits” partnership with Russia.
