Page | 64Today, China is Mongolia’s leading trade partner and its largest source of foreign direct
investment, with much of the Chinese investment in Mongolia focused on mineral
extraction and the associated infrastructure.340,341,^342 Several analysts have noted,
however, that despite friendly relations and economic connections, there are concerns
about establishing too close a relationship with China. Mongolian politicians and general
public worry that close ties could lead to Mongolia’s political and economic domination
by China.343,344,^345
The Dalai Lama’s periodic visits to Mongolia have been one of the few obvious thorns in
China’s otherwise cooperative relations with its northern neighbor.
(^346) Mongolia and
Tibet have traditionally been linked through their mutual embrace of Lamaism, and the
Dalai Lama continues to be a revered figure among a significant segment of the
Mongolian population. In 2002, during one of the Dalai Lama’s visits to Ulaanbaatar, the
Chinese government briefly delayed trains heading toward Mongolia.^347
Another potential irritant in Mongolian-Chinese relations is the development of a small
but not insignificant ultra-nationalist movement in Mongolia. This fringe movement
embraces Nazi-era iconography and espouses extreme anti-Chinese rhetoric.
348, 349
(^340) Wang Wei-fang, “‘Pan-Mongolism’ and U.S.-China-Mongolia Relations,” China Brief 5, no. 10, 2005,
http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=30361&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1
95&no_cache=1
(^341) Migeddorj Batchimeg, “Future Challenges for the PRC and Mongolia: A Mongolian Perspective,”
China Brief 5, no. 10, 2005,
http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=3853&tx_ttnews[backPid]=19
5&no_cache=1
(^342) Justin Li, “Chinese Investment in Mongolia: An Uneasy Courtship Between Goliath and David,” East
Asia Forum, 2 February 2011, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2011/02/02/chinese-investment-in-mongolia-
an-uneasy-courtship-between-goliath-and-david/
(^343) Robert G. Sutter, “10: Relations With South Asia and Central Asia,” in Chinese Foreign Relations:
Power and Policy Since the Cold War (Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008), 311–
313.
(^344) Sergey Radchenko, “Mongolia Between Russia and China,” April 2004,
www2.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/ideasToday/04/04_Mongolia.pdf
(^345) Morris Rossabi, “Beijing’s Growing Politico-Economic Leverage Over UlaanBaatar,” China Brief 5, no.
10, 2005,
http://www.jamestown.org/programs/chinabrief/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=3852&tx_ttnews[backPid]=19
5&no_cache=1
(^346) Robert G. Sutter, “10: Relations With South Asia and Central Asia,” in Chinese Foreign Relations:
Power and Policy Since the Cold War (Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008), 311–
313.
(^347) BBC News, “Dalai Lama Welcomed in Mongolia,” 22 August 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-
pacific/5275590.stm
(^348) Mitch Moxley, “The Neo-Nazis of Mongolia: Swastikas Against China,” Time, 27 July 2009,
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1910893,00.html