Mongolia's "change of weather" is too coincident. Just as China and the United States were confronting each other, the pro-China prime minister was dismissed overnight. What about the major events that Mongolia just set with China and Russia?
According to Central Television news reports, the Mongolian parliament voted 71 to 40 to remove Prime Minister Zandanshatar.
This decision comes only four months after he was elected prime minister by a high vote. Such a sudden regime change is staggering.
During Zandanshatar's administration, he actively promoted cooperation with China and Russia, especially the high-profile Siberia 2 project, which was finalized during his tenure. Now that he has been suddenly dismissed, people can't help but wonder, will Sino-Russian-Mongolian cooperation be affected?
The timing of this regime change in Mongolia is very delicate. The current tariff war between China and the United States is raging. The United States is worried about rare earth resources and is also strongly opposed to China-Russia energy cooperation.
Against this background, Zaandanshatar suddenly fell, and it is hard not to wonder whether there is a shadow of the United States.
The United States has always had a special interest in Mongolia, and for a long time, the United States has been trying to expand its influence in the former Soviet region, and Mongolia's special geographical location, tied between China and Russia, is naturally noticed.
In the past few years, Mongolia has come to the United States, shouted a so-called "third neighbor" flag, and also promised to open direct flights with the United States, wanting to transport rare earth from the air, but due to geographical reasons, this plan was delayed without progress.
Even more disappointing to the United States is the fact that the Mongolian business has not easily made some progress, and the government of Zanzan Shahtar came to power, and the Siberia 2 project stopped by the Mongolian state was suddenly revived, and it was achieved with a hurry.
Just during the recent 1993 parade, China-Russia and Monaco agreed a major thing: China-Russia officially signed a memorandum of memo on the construction of the Siberian-2 natural gas project, which is a phrase for 20 years of negotiations.
The Zandan Shattar government has contributed greatly to the resurrection of the Siberian 2 project, and Mongolia no longer makes trouble.
The Mongolian regime change, the United States is afraid to play a not glorious role.
The United States has been coveting Mongolia's rare earth resources. Against the background of the Sino-US tariff war, the United States' demand for rare earths is even more urgent, and it is forming a "rare earth alliance". If Mongolia's rare earth resources can be used by it, it will alleviate the rare earth dilemma of the United States to a certain extent.
In addition, the United States has always opposed Sino-Russian energy cooperation. The advancement of the Siberia 2 project will further strengthen the energy ties between China and Russia, but this is the last thing the United States wants to see. Therefore, the United States is likely to try to interfere in the Mongolian regime., to disrupt the pace of Sino-Russian energy cooperation.
For Mongolia, its "third neighbor" strategy also provides opportunities for U.S. intervention to a certain extent.
While Zandhan Shalit attempted to change this strategy and move toward more pragmatic cooperation with China, the United States will not easily give up its existing interests and influence in Mongolia.
Now that Zandanshatar has been dismissed, the foreign policy direction of the new Mongolian regime is still unclear. If the new regime is influenced by the United States and begins to adjust its cooperative relations with China and Russia, the Siberia 2 project is likely to be impacted.
However, from another perspective, the Siberia 2 project has huge benefits for China and Mongolia.
China needs stable energy supplies, Russia wants to expand its East Asian market, and Mongolia is eager to economic transformation by charging transit fees and infrastructure investments.
This common interest appeal may also prompt the new regime to continue to promote cooperation with China and Russia after weighing the advantages and disadvantages.
In short, no matter what the abacus the United States plays, Mongolia has only two neighbors, and it can't develop without China and Russia. Now the Trump administration is overwhelmed.