A further step to solidifying China-Mongolian relations was made last Thursday with the signing of a joint declaration to upgrade bilateral relations by Xi Jinping and Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, his Mongolian counterpart during what was the first visit of the Chinese head of state to the country in 11 years.
Mongolian-Chinese ties have been tense due to their long and complicated history. The Great Wall of China, today the country’s most famous tourist attraction, was built mainly, while not entirely, due to aggressions from Mongolian tribes, beginning as early as the Han dynasty in 220 BC. Despite the wall, the Mongolians managed to establish the first foreign rule in China, founding the Yuan dynasty under Mongolian leadership, which lasted from 1271 to 1368. That same year, the Ming dynasty managed to expel the Mongolian occupiers and strengthen the Great Wall, while altercations between the two empires continued to occurr. During what was to be China’s final imperial dynasty, the Qing rule, Mongolia was incorporated into Chinese territory. However, in the ensuing chaos of the founding of the Republic of China and warlord period after the fall of the Qing in 1911, with Russian support Outer Mongolia managed to acquire and in 1924 officially proclaim its independence, the Chinese government being in turmoil and in no position to oppose the move; especially due to Russian backing.
Inner Mongolia, as it were, remains to this day a Chinese province, an “autonomous region” to be exact, with a majority of Han Chinese settlers and Mandarin as the main language of communication, as opposed to the country of Mongolia, where the Mongolian language and customs live on as something more than a mere tourist attraction. After this turbulent time, the countries managed to establish diplomatic ties 65 years ago, in 1949 coinciding with the emergence of the “new China” under communist rule.
Since then, both sides have been working on forming a closer, more positive relationship. In fact, peaceful business and cultural exchange has been going on between the country of Mongolia and the Chinese province Inner Mongolia for a long time, the country at times even providing shelter for Han from their own government.
Feng Zhenxiang, a Han Chinese who was raised in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, remembers the stories she was told about her father, Feng Liku, who spent three years just across the border in Mongolia from 1965 onwards. This allowed him to escape from the persecution he would have faced in his own country during the Cultural Revolution as a “rich capitalist”. “He worked as a carpenter in Mongolia during that time and thereby was safe during the beginning of the cultural revolution. During that time, he would buy carpets and other materials in Mongolia, since their quality was splendid, and then bring them back into China where he would make them into clothes.” At that time Chinese customs did not allow the import of Mongolian clothing; the reasons for this can only be speculated upon, with the unisex communist garb being non-optional possibly this was a measure to ensure no temptation in form of colourful folk garments was presented. Still, Feng Liku found a way around the system, providing his family with wonderfully unique clothing from the neighbouring country.
His daughter, Ms Feng, would go on to have frequent dealings with Mongolia as part of her wood business during the early nineties, at a time when Li Peng signed a treaty of cooperation and friendship (1994) to further improve the relationship. While, unlike her father, Ms Feng never stepped foot across the border, she was involved in many business transactions with Mongolian wood dealers, who would come to Erlianhaote (or Erenhot as it is called in the Mongolian language), a city close to the border on the Chinese side, to provide the young woman (only about 23 at the time) with large wood deliveries. Without an interpreter at hand, the two sides had to rely on sign language to come to an agreement in terms of the price. Ms Feng holds a very positive attitude towards her neighbours, who were all about business, and is full of praise for their appearance recalling her admiration at their “handsomeness and beauty.”
However, on both sides there still exists negative feeling and stereotyping. Once Ms Feng was having dinner in Erlianhaote, placing her milk tea on the floor and letting it out of her sight. When she looked down to pick it up, it was gone. “The waitress told me the Mongolians took it and sure enough there they were sitting with my cup of milk tea; when I asked her why they would do that she replied: ‘They tend to do that a lot, they are famous for being thieves.’”
On the other side there is still aggravation and contempt about the fact that part of the country was annexed by China, which is illustrated by blogs such as Sodon, describing the plight of Mongolian minority nomads and farmers, who find their lifestyle and habitat being encroached upon by Han tactics of modernization.
Furthermore, according to reports by local media, there is still a worry amongst the neighboring country that China plans to expand its territory and re-incorporate Mongolia into its modern empire. Such fear is of course fueled by other border conflicts China is currently involved in, such as the Fishing Islands, setting a bad tone as well as the drastic overpopulation the Middle Kingdom faces, which makes necessary an expansion in one form or another.
Yet, conciliatory moves such as Xi Jinping’s appearance in Ulanbaatar, the only destination of the Chinese head of state on this occasion, are helping to further the countries’ good relations. In fact, the neighbours have become rather interdependent; in 2013 their bilateral trade volume reached almost ¥37 billion, on the Mongolian side making up over half of the nation’s total foreign trade volume. The 26 agreements signed on Thursday speak of a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, relating to fields of trade, infrastructure, energy and finance in addition to pledging to increase bilateral trade volume to over ¥60 billion by 2020.
The Chinese investment is especially beneficial for the further development of the nomad state of Mongolia with a population of about 3 million people, whose infrastructure is vastly underdeveloped across the country; a modern road system being only present in the capital Ulanbaatar according to traveler’s experiences. Yet, the international exchange is also an important step for China, who are thereby demonstrating their intent on peaceful coexistence with their neighbours. In fact, local media are hailing the visit and its result not only as a new era in China-Mongolian bilateral relations, but further as a model for further peaceful cooperation amongst Asian countries.
In the meantime, Inner Mongolian business woman Ms Feng applaudes the move due to the opportunities it opens for exchange and internationalisation. “As China becomes more modernized and wants to enter the global market as an equal partner to other countries, it becomes more important to further interaction with other countries and cultures. The possibilities the younger generation have nowadays to go abroad and study a different way of life and of doing business have received even more support with the signing of this declaration.”
