Every nation has right to self-determination

The defining feature of human perception of the world is a desire to live freely in peace and quiet without war and strife. This is the deepest desire of all mankind. We are the children of one planet. We have one common home, whose name is Earth. We are members of a common family-humanity. The peoples of the world have different races, different religions, unique culture, traditions customs etc. 

But all the same prayers, fighting for a prosperous peaceful life. Mongolians treasure their national spiritual unity and freedom of belief and religion.

In Mongolia, since of the Genghis Khan, we had no religious conflicts. We Mongolians peacefully coexisted Buddhists, Christians, Muslims. We took this tradition and resumed at democratization of the society.
In today’s world, one of the most frequent negative phenomena that prevent the establishment of universal peace is religious contradictions. Why is this so? At the root, all religions preach spiritual cleansing, humane attitude towards all living things, love for life. It’s tantamount to recognition and confirmation peaceful ideals. Of course, it is impossible not to recognize the role of public policy and religious tenets in the maintenance of peace. 

Both have a huge impact and importance in promoting peace and harmony among peoples. These two factors are interrelated, and thus should be considered on a par with them in order to maintain a healthy atmosphere loyal both in individual countries and in international relations.The Constitution of Mongolia is fixed and sacred principle is observed: “... The State respects religion, and religion honors statehood.”
This is one of the core values of democratic Mongolia to promote universal civilized, peaceful life. Most holy purpose for which all States, all religions, all mankind must unite their efforts, the consolidation of peace and security in the world through peaceful coexistence.  The path of peaceful coexistence, and approved in the practice of international relations entrenched as a result of the collapse of the Cold War and today is the guiding principle of peaceful development. Recognition and observance of this principle is the main lesson of the twentieth century bequeathed us. But unfortunately, this principle is violated in some places increasing the risk of armed clashes. Therefore, the task of reducing restrictions and complete elimination of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, all types of weapons of mass destruction, remains acute, more urgent, urgent.

Mongolia, authority the international community announced its country, non-nuclear area and in 2000 in the Parliament passed a special law about this. This is our initiative has the full support of the leading nuclear powers-permanent members of the UN Security Council. President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbzgdorzh made in 2013 with a new peace initiative on the need for a permanent consultative mechanism to discuss security issues in Northeast Asia. This was followed in Ulaanbaatar, a series of working sessions on various topics with experts and officials concerned countries of our region. More recently, another meeting was devoted to discussion of problems of energetic supply in the region. There are presence representatives from Russia, China, the two Koreas and Mongolia. This cycle will continue.

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I’m sure that our friendly Ukrainian people in this critical situation will be able to summon the courage to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in the peaceful settlement of internal conflicts. Of course, it’s a not easy. The situation requires fine judgment insight, foresight and consideration of the international dimension around the created reality in their country. No one has the right to convert Ukrainian incident into an international scandal, bring the matter before the armed clash the war. Every nation has the right to self-determination. Let no one hurt Ukrainian peoples follow this principle and to solve their problems at home.
I’m sure that our friendly Ukrainian people in this critical situation will be able to summon the courage to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in the peaceful settlement of internal conflicts. Of course, it’s a not easy. The situation requires fine judgment insight, foresight and consideration of the international dimension around the created reality in their country. No one has the right to convert Ukrainian incident into an international scandal, bring the matter before the armed clash the war.

Every nation has the right to self-determination. This is recognized democratic principles are respected in the world. Let no one hurt Ukrainian peoples follow this principle and to solve their problems at home.

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Political leadership and putting the economy first

By Cameron McRae, former director of OT LLC and director of
Institute of National Strategyin Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Prime Minister Saikhanbileg addressed the nation on Sunday evening, and focused on the need to turnaround the economy and address the issues causing the current situation in Mongolia. INS has analyzed the speech and the first 100-day track record of the new coalition government.
Institute of National Strategy commentary
Congratulations to Prime Minister Saikhanbileg and to the President and Mr. Tsagaan who have spoken of the hardships and lessons learned over the past three years, and the need to do things differently moving forward. This theme was amplified at Mongolia Economic Forum last week. Instead of blaming the world, they have put the focus onto the accountability and responsibility of Mongolia’s leadership.
Most importantly the PM is indicating that Mongolia’s greatest modern day economic triumph, and ironically, the source of Mongolia’s biggest FDI dispute, is likely to have it’s second phase restarted shortly. This will see nearly six billion USD invested over five years and OT revenues into the country triple when the richer underground moves into production.
For those who continue to question the fairness of the investment agreement, an interesting fact is that the government share of free cash-flow from 2010 to 2021 will equate to almost 80 percent – and well over three billion USD in taxes and royalties alone. This is for zero cash outlay, with all cash inflows provided by the foreign investor.
And these returns to the government do not count the multiplier effect on the economy, employment, secondary business development, and additional taxes.
The misleading debates over cost overruns and long-term returns to the country need to stop, but why? Because what Mongolia has enjoyed for the past two years is 100 percent of nothing, plus damage to its international reputation as a safe and reliable place for investment.
The PM has stated that his focus is all about the economy, and his speech on Sunday evening reinforced the essential need to put a growth-focused base under the economy. He emphasised the need to reignite the confidence and positivity of all Mongolians and foreign investors alike.
The PM has admitted this will be hard work and several Mongol specific factors need to be overcome – specifically populism and inept officialdom. He has indicated his determination to overcome these cancers to economic growth – and to force through tough decisions which are in the interest of Mongolia as a whole.
The PM claims many issues have been settled already and that work is underway. However the ability to turnaround a stalled economy, to reduce inflation and interest rates, to rebuild foreign currency reserves and strengthen the exchange rate is not done overnight. Indeed returning to a good position is only step one, maintaining a winning position over time is the real objective.
Mongolians cannot realistically expect to see the full effects of an economic recovery prior to the next election in mid 2016, especially when one looks at the condition of the global economy and the prices of mineral products internationally. There is no upside kicker from high minerals prices for Mongolia.
Nevertheless the PM made many positive and sensible announcements, in addition to a solution at OT and the establishment of a new consortium at TT.
Very important will be those actions that structurally impact the government’s ability to stimulate the non-mining economy and to reduce unnecessary drains on the government’s budget. Namely these are:
• the removal of government subsidies from energy, petrol and oil, flour and wheat, and other agricultural products
• the removal of wasteful people and practices in bureaucracy
• actions that stop price manipulation on imported products
Missing from the PM’s speech was the need to reduce subsidies to building companies and to look at measures that do not create another price bubble. The disparity between housing prices and incomes needs to be closed, and it is clear that the real estate market needs to self-correct.
The drive to formalize a savings pool through development of a pension scheme makes sense, especially if this is directed back into new and focused real estate development. Better buildings in better locations with better social services and thoughtful traffic planning are critically needed. UB already has too many skyscrapers without living space, services and year round parking.
INS has been clear and consistent in a call for government to exit business and to support the business sector to grow the economy. The government is best placed to provide educational, social, and essential services – but even today there is a growing and successful trend to outsource this to public-private partnerships and the private sector.
The PM has emphasized some important privatization decisions around the MSE, MIAT and putting Mongolia’s state owned enterprises (SOE) under a Temasek structure. INS strongly recommends the full privatization of loss making business, and that a Temasek-type structure should focus on investing in companies but not operating them. Getting the existing suite of SOE assets into better shape for privatization should be one urgent focus of Mr. Byambasaikhan, the new CEO of Erdenes Mongol.
The GoM should finish its love affair with strategic mineral deposits. It should encourage competent and responsible mining companies to do the exploration, development studies, and ultimately, to fund, construct and operate them. The government has been blind-sided on OT and TT for far too long, and it cannot afford to be so distracted in the future.
Mongolia definitely needs a “solution for UB pollution” and has the resources and ability to become energy self-sufficient, and possibly a net exporter. Remember, this will only happen if China is prepared to receive power across the border at a price sufficient to underwrite the power station investment inside Mongolia. Having the most cost (and environmentally) effective plants is essential to turn this into profitable business and for Mongolia to make use of its lower quality coal resources.
There are at least four coal to liquid project promoters in Mongolia, but these projects are technically complex and globally tend to have marginal economics. The government cannot afford to subsidize another loss-making venture and needs to be careful. Of course, the long term solution to UB’s pollution is modern power and heat plants servicing well laid out suburbs in the UB region. This is a long term issue but also a great economic opportunity. The ger districts need to be transformed into a new way of people living together, that is sustainable and attractive for the families and businesses that will reside there.
Importantly, Mongolia must upgrade its country-wide power generating capacity, plus invest heavily into the transmission network for both domestic usage and exporting to China.
Of critical importance is the need for the government to increase its tax base, and this will occur as it brings more people and enterprises into the formal economy. As real wages increase, a share of that increase will be captured as tax and should be reinvested in essential infrastructure.
While the tax base remains small, it is important that the government exercise restraint on pensions and salaries for public servants. Downsizing public service is one way of increasing productivity while allowing an increase in salaries without an increase in the salary bill.
The PM has focused on exploration – which can be a driver of long term economic growth – but only if the exploration results in new mines being built. This takes time, expertise, lots of money injected into development work, and inevitably, many failures along the way. The PM has rightfully looked at a new royalty tax-sharing regime with the “mine-hosting aimags and soums”. This is innovative and practiced in several progressive countries.
On a negative front, INS is afraid that the re-commencement of issuing of exploration permits may see the same negative outcome that led to the implementation of the exploration moratorium in 2010.
INS suggests the PM seek independent review on what is currently happening, as the current arrangements appear very loose and are more likely to lead to development of a secondary market in trading licenses. What is really needed is to attract expert and financially capable players. It would be very interesting to know who the 130 licenses have been issued to – but MRAM is not publishing this information, and it is difficult to trace company ownership in Mongolia to individuals.
The PM will build confidence with his speech. But there are challenges that his cabinet must also overcome as they roll out the recovery plan. It is critical that they focus on the key macro-economic targets of:
• Sustainable levels of government debt (on and off balance sheet)
• Significantly reduced inflation and interest rates
• A stabilized foreign exchange rate
These three factors are considered seriously as investors assess political risk, valuations and eventual exit strategies for their investment proposals.
In summary, the PM has shown leadership by confronting the harsh realities facing Mongolia and its economy – and political courage to do this with elections scheduled in mid 2016.
Of course the parliament will review and comment on the PM’s plans, and let us hope the MPs act together to support the recovery and growth agenda.
Let us also hope that the forthcoming election period will see the political parties campaign on the basis of economic discipline and playing to Mongolia’s strategic strengths. Resorting to populist scare campaigns is not compatible with the emergency agenda facing Mongolia today.

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In China’s Inner Mongolia, mining spells misery for traditional herders

By Simon Denyer April 7 at 3:30 AM  

HOLINGOL, China — When the wind blew in their direction, smoke and dust from a huge aluminum smelter would drift across the grasslands where herders had grazed their flocks for generations in China’s Inner Mongolia.

A few years after the smelter opened, herders in the area said their sheep began falling sick, with jaws so painful they could not eat. Soon, thousands of their animals had died. When they complained, the government simply arrested five of their leaders and forced the others to resettle in the nearby city of Holingol, demolishing their original homes.

The vast, wind-swept grasslands of Inner Mongolia have been home to nomadic pastoralists for thousands of years, but the rich resources that lay under these rolling prairies have proved a curse to the people who have long called this land their home. A boom in mining and mineral industries has polluted the grasslands, marginalized herders and pushed them from their homes. Now, a fall in coal and gas prices could spell more pressure on government spending, and more misery for herders.

Seventy-five-year-old Du Shaocai was moved from her grasslands home to a small apartment in Jarud last year, and she now lives apart from her sons and grandchildren. She watched her family’s livestock die after the smelter was built in the midst of massive coal mines.

“It was horrible. The sheep’s teeth became abnormal and broke through their lips, so they couldn’t chew the grass,” she said. “The powder poisoned the grass, and then it poisoned our livestock. We didn’t want to leave the grassland, but the government forced us to resettle here.”

A spate of protests over land rights and mining projects reached a climax this past weekend as police crushed a three-week-long demonstrationagainst toxic waste from a chemical refinery in the eastern part of the region. One protester was reportedly killed and 100 injured.

The government announced Monday that it would close the refinery, but tensions in Inner Mongolia are on the rise, posing fresh problems for Beijing as it attempts to maintain stability while global commodity prices slide.

“Local herders in Inner Mongolia have never benefited from mining, but have only lost their land and been victims of environmental pollution,” said a local academic who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “Now that the price of coal and other resources has peaked, revenues will shrink, which will cause the local government to invest less in education, the environment and people's livelihoods. Local herders’ lives will get even harder.”

Inner Mongolia is China’s second-largest coal producing region, the main global supplier of rare earths and the site of large natural gas supplies. The resources have helped to drive China’s prosperity and have brought undreamed of wealth to a few. But unregulated mining and refining have polluted the grasslands, driven herders from their homes and bred a culture of corruption and dependency.

“Their pastoralist communities are being torn apart, and their pastoralist economy is being devastated, while the natural environment where Mongolians have maintained their traditional way of life for thousands of years is being destroyed by Chinese miners and settlers,” said Enghebatu Togochog, director of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center in New York. “Mongolian herders are trying their best to defend their land, culture and way of life, but very little resources are available to them, and government policies are very hostile to the Mongolian way of life.”

Protests across the region

Nearly twice the size of Texas, the sparsely populated Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region straddles northern China, lying south and east of Mongolia itself. It is home to nearly 25 million people, of whom just 17 percent are ethnic Mongols.

Gently rolling prairies, carpeted in yellow-brown grass, stretch in every direction, with sheep, cattle, horses and, occasionally, a small camel train, scattered across the endless landscape. Yet the idyllic vistas are also punctuated by mountains of waste from huge, open-cast coal mines, by wind farms and by the smoke stacks of power stations that send dense clouds billowing into the blue skies.

In May 2011, a Han Chinese coal-truck driver killed a Mongol herder who was protesting mining, sparking days of protests. The government responded by cutting the Internet and temporarily imposing martial law, but also by promised an overhaul of the coal industry, stricter environmental protection, and hundreds of millions of dollars of new spending to promote Mongol culture.

But interviews with herders across the region showed that the fundamental causes of discontent have not gone away.

“Smaller, sporadic protests are still taking place in almost all parts of rural Mongolia, on an almost daily basis,” said Togochog. Often they are ignored by the authorities, “but if the protest escalates, then the response is crackdown,” he said.

One herder was reported to have hanged himself outside a government building in January to protest a land grab. Five villagers who demonstrated against the aluminum plant here were arrested, herders said: three remain behind bars, while two, party members and retired village leaders, died of ill health after being released.

On a recent trip to Inner Mongolia, a Washington Post team was followed for several days, sometimes by three or four cars packed with security officials and police. At least 15 different cars were involved in the tailing operation. The reporting team was repeatedly questioned, told they could not report there without prior permission, and often blocked from talking to locals.

Nevertheless, a clear picture emerged of herders who feel the mining industry has polluted their land without bringing them any rewards.

“Everyone is unhappy about the mining,” said Eerdun, 39, who says he lost much of his grassland to a huge coal mine in West Ujumqin. The compensation he received was worth a small fraction of its value — and equal to a single forklift load of coal — and he had to move his home away from the mine.

As the sun set over the grasslands, he perched on a small stool inside his yurt, the traditional domed tent that has come to symbolize Mongol nomadic culture. “No one wanted to move, but we were forced to,” Eerdun said. Like many Mongols, he uses one name.

The curse of mineral wealth

A study by a team of Chinese academics published last year titled “The false promises of coal exploitation” found that the mining industry had not raised herders’ incomes and that damage to the fragile grassland environment from mining activities had “increased the risks that herdsman will have to endure in the future.”

Inner Mongolia suffers from the “resource curse,” experts say. The easy money generated by mineral wealth produces a narrow elite with little interest in the welfare of common citizens and often lower levels of spending on education and health care, said Zhan Jing, an associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“The resource economy tends to crowd out other economic sectors, and in the long run, that is going to be dangerous,” she said.

Herders’ grievances have also been fueled by decades of misguided government policies. The fencing of the grasslands in the 1980s and 1990s ended the nomadic culture and upset the natural balance between pastoralist and grassland that had existed for thousands of years.

The result has been overgrazing and degradation of the grasslands, says Li Wenjun, a professor at Peking University. Government policies to resettle some herders onto farms have caused more pressures on scarce water resources, because agriculture is water-intensive. Effectively, she said, the grazing ban was “solving one problem by creating a bigger one.”

Mining has also sucked up vast quantities of water, depleting underground reserves, and causing hundreds of lakes to shrink or disappear, said Fang Jingyun, another Peking University professor and director of the Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Fluoride poisoning

In Inner Mongolia’s Holingol, the Huomei Hongjun factory is one of the largest aluminum smelters in the world, conveniently located in a coal mining district because of the tremendous amount of electricity required by the smelting process. Its coal-fired power plant was fined by the Environmental Protection Ministryin 2011 for excessive sulphur dioxide emissions and for falsifying emissions data. But it is the smelter itself that has attracted the herders’ ire.

A government document obtained by Ceng Jing Cao Yuan, a local advocacy group, showed that more than 12,000 sheep died and 23,000 fell sick in seven villages and two farms near the factory between 2008 and 2009, the probable cause being high levels of fluoride in their bones and the grassland, although tests on herders showed no ill effects on humans. The document carried no official stamp and its authenticity could not be independently verified, but the symptoms described by the herders were consistent with fluoride poisoning, a classic side-effect of untreated emissions from aluminum refining.

China Power Investment Corp., which owns the smelter, did not respond to a faxed list of questions. A local environment official, who declined to give her name, confirmed that an investigation had been carried out into the death of livestock but said that she was not aware of its findings.

Outside Holingol, Du’s son Bao Chaganbala said the family had lost 1,000 sheep, roughly half their flock, and been forced to sell the remainder at half-price. Compensation in the form of cash, an apartment and a teaching job for his daughter, he said, had failed to approach the losses the family suffered from losing livestock and land.

For his mother, the psychological losses were more significant. She used to live with her extended family. Now she lives alone and worries that her sons will not be able to cope in their new lives. She used to have a view across the grasslands; now she looks out on a characterless back street.

“I am old and I don’t ask for anything,” she said. “But how will my sons survive without the grasslands?”

Xu Jing contributed to this report.

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Simon Denyer is The Post’s bureau chief in China. He served previously as bureau chief in India and as a Reuters bureau chief in Washington, India and Pakistan.

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Petro Matad, BG Group Partner Up In Two Blocks In Central Mongolia

LONDON (Alliance News) - Petro Matad Ltd Tuesday said it has entered into an agreement with FTSE-100 listed BG Group PLC which will see Petro Matad divest stakes in two blocks in Mongolia to the gas giant.

Petro Matad said the farm-out agreement concerns Block IV and Block V in central Mongolia. Under the deal, BG Group will acquire a 78% stake in both blocks, and in return BG Group will pay Petro Matad's share of a mutually agreed USD28 million work programme as well as pay Petro Matad USD4.5 million in cash.

The work programme will ensure the minimum work commitments on the two blocks are fulfilled, and Petro Matad said the majority of work will be undertaken in 2015 and 2016 and consist of 2D seismic work, core hole and exploration wells and an airborne FTG gravity and magnetics study.

Petro Matad said it will use the USD4.5 million as working capital to fund ongoing operations and obligations. The deal remains subject to approval from the Mongolian government and other Mongolian regulatory formalities, it said.

Petro Matad said it will retain a 22% stake in Block IV and Block V under the deal, but said it continues to hold a 100% interest in Block XX, which is nearby.

"BG Group's decision to enter Mongolia is an endorsement of the potential within the acreage and Petro Matad's technical work to date," said Acting Chairperson Oyungerel Janchiv. "As a result of this transaction Petro Matad will be fully funded in relation to the remaining licence commitments on Blocks IV and V. We look forward to building a lasting relationship with BG Group".

Petro Matad shares leapt 44.2% to 7.75 pence per share on Tuesday morning whilst BG Group shares rose by 4.2% to 888.62 pence.

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Mongolian parliament holds up foreign investment in giant coal mine

By Terrence Edwards

ULAN BATOR, April 7 (Reuters) - Mongolia's parliament has stepped in at the last minute to halt a landmark deal with a consortium of foreign firms to develop the giant Tavan Tolgoi coal mine near the Chinese border, saying it needs the approval of legislators before going ahead.

A series of delays at major mining projects such as Tavan Tolgoi and the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine run by Rio Tinto have taken a toll on Mongolia's tiny economy, with foreign investment slipping 74 percent last year.

The government asked a consortium consisting of the Mongolian Mining Corp, China's Shenhua Energy and Japan's Sumitomo Corp to invest $4 billion in the project and had hoped to sign off on it this week following four months of negotiations.

Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg said in a televised address at the weekend that the talks were in their final stages.

However, parliamentary speaker Zandaakhuu Enkhbold said the deal might be in breach of Mongolian law and the government has now agreed that it should be approved by legislators before going ahead.

"It seems the prime minister did not keep the speaker apprised of developments," said Badral Munkhdul, chief executive officer of market intelligence group Cover Mongolia.

A government spokesman confirmed that representatives of both Shenhua and Sumitomo were in Ulan Bator on Monday to sign the deal, which would see the consortium take over management at Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, the state-owned entity in charge of the project, and expand capacity.

Sumitomo and Shenhua were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.

The much-delayed 1.8 billion tonne coking coal project, located 240 km (150 miles) north of the Chinese border, was regarded as one of the most promising untapped deposits in the world.

But commercial activity at the mine has been halted repeatedly as a result of financial constraints. In February, the former chief executive officer of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, Yaichil Batsuuri, was jailed on corruption charges.

Saikhanbileg took over as prime minister in November after political infighting and a flagging economy resulted in a vote of no-confidence in his predecessor, Norov Altankhuyag. (Additional reporting by Ruby Lian in SHANGHAI and Aaron Sheldrick in TOKYO; Editing by David Stanway and Alan Raybould)

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Rio's Mongolian expansion to 'go ahead'

Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh has confirmed expansion of it's $7 billion Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper mine in Mongolia will go ahead.

It comes after Mongolia's newly elected Prime Minister, Saikhanbileg Chimed, announced the two sides had met on 'crucial issues'.

The expansion plans came to a standstill almost two years ago over a tax dispute and cost over-runs during the first phase of contruction.

The move comes as Mongolia's new leader lookes to improve the country's economy and foreign investment.

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Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh says Oyu Tolgoi talks in Mongolia down to deal breakers

Rio Tinto Group, the world's second-largest mining company, is locked in talks with Mongolia over developing the second stage of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine, saying only a few matters remain on the table.

"We are down to a few issues and these issues are deal breaker type issues," chief executive Sam Walsh said Saturday in an interview in Ulaanbaatar. "And we are not asking for anything that is out of the ordinary or special to Rio Tinto."

Talks are aimed at resolving a stalled $US5.4 billion expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi project, Rio-controlled Turquoise Hill Resources said. Mongolia's Prime Minister Saikhanbileg Chimed said in December that resolving wrangles with Rio over taxes and cost overruns was a priority.

While commitments from lenders for $US4.2 billion needed to help fund the development expired after a September 30 deadline a "suitable financing package will be available once we have successfully resolved the outstanding matters," Turquoise Hill CEO Jeff Tygesen said in an earnings call.

Oyu Tolgoi, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the Chinese border, will contribute about a third of Mongolia's economy when in full production and will be the world's third- biggest copper mine, according to Turquoise Hill.

Walsh said he is very "patient and hopeful" that an agreement can be reached, adding that the Rio has no plans to exit the project.

A senior Mongolian government group recently visited the mine, said Walsh, in order "to understand more about how it operates and what are the complexities and issues associated with running a project of such huge scale and operations."

"I am hopeful that a solution is more a matter of transparency, awareness (and) communication," said Walsh, who planned to visit the mine on Sunday to participate in an event to mark 1 million tons of copper concentrate exports.

A sticking point in the talks has been a claim of around $US30 million in taxes that Mongolia says it is owed by Oyu Tolgoi. Rio denies the charge.

"We do not believe that amount is due and we will continue to discuss with the Mongolian government and if necessary we will go to international arbitration," said Walsh. Any possible writedown of the underground project is an issue for auditors and accountants, he said. "At this stage by not spending the dollars you actually push out the point where you would consider the carrying value for the project."

A reorganisation of Rio's business units which brought coal assets under the managements of the producer's copper chief Jean-Sebastien Jacques isn't a signal toward a potential exit from the commodity, Walsh said.

Walsh declared coal "a major part" of Rio's portfolio, in the interview Saturday, adding that "carrying the overhead of a standalone product group is something we couldn't support going forward."

Around $US800 billion in annual costs had been taken out of Rio's coal business, he added.

The overhaul, which saw energy unit CEO Harry Kenyon-Slaney leave the company, could be seen as the first step in a longer term exit from coal, Jefferies analyst Chris LaFemina wrote in a report dated February 26. Jefferies estimates Rio's coal business is worth about $US3.6 billion.

Walsh reinforced his rejection of a proposal last week by Fortescue Metals Group chairmanAndrew Forrest for big iron ore producers to cap output to help support prices. Forrest's call prompted Australia's competition watchdog to seek an explanation.

The proposal "is against international law, that is why I said it was absolute nonsense and of course that is why Rio Tinto would not consider such a proposal," Walsh said in clarifying statements on Saturday.

The outcry missed the "elephant in the room," Forrest said in an interview on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia with Bloomberg Television on Saturday, adding that Fortescue will behave responsibly.

""There's a national interest issue here," Forrest said. "China's national interest, Australia's national interest, isn't helped by companies dumping iron ore into a foreign market."

Iron ore slumped 47 per cent in 2014 and has extended losses this year, touching the lowest since at least May 2009.

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One dead, 50 arrested after Inner Mongolia protest

One person died and 50 were arrested after some 2,000 police, using rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons, confronted a protest by villagers against pollution from a chemical plant in China's Inner Mongolia, an overseas human rights group said.

Inner Mongolia has seen sporadic unrest since 2011 when the vast northern region was rocked by protests after an ethnic Mongol herder was killed by a truck after taking part in demonstrations against pollution caused by a coal mine.

Ethnic Mongols, who make up less than 20% of Inner Mongolia's 24 million population, say their grazing lands have been ruined by mining and desertification and that the government has tried to resettle them in permanent houses.

Coal rich Inner Mongolia is supposed to enjoy a high degree of self-rule, but many Mongols say the Han Chinese majority has been the main beneficiaries of economic development.

In the latest incident, villagers in Naiman Banner took to the streets to protest against a chemical processing zone they said was polluting farmland and grazing land, the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre said in a statement late on Monday.

The group quoted a witness as saying police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators, leading to one death.

An official who picked up the telephone at the local government said he was unable to confirm any deaths and declined to comment further.

However the government posted on its official microblog on Monday that it had ordered the chemical zone to close and shift to another undisclosed location and that it would punish any rule breaking by the companies there.

The government also said that it would go after protesters who blocked roads, smashed up vehicles, stoked tension or spread rumours. – Reuters, April 7, 2015.

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Mongolia apologizes for attack on Chinese tourists by neo-Nazi group

ULAN BATOR, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said here Friday that extreme nationalism is harmful, and Mongolia should be a responsible, friendly and open country.

He said this in response to a recent incident in which an extremist group in Mongolia attacked and insulted several Chinese tourists.

On March 28, several Chinese citizens were attacked by a Mongolian neo-Nazi group known as Khukh Mongol (Blue Mongolia) while traveling on the Burkhan Khaldun mountain in Khentii province, eastern Mongolia.

The extremists forced one of the Chinese tourists to kneel down.

The Chinese tourists, all of whom have already returned to China, neither contacted the Chinese Embassy nor went to the local police after the incident.

However, relevant pictures and video clips were uploaded to the Internet, drawing wide attention of the Mongolian society and media.

Ulan Bator's Mayor Erdene Bat-Uul on Thursday offered an official apology for what had happened to the Chinese tourists, pledging to hold the perpetrators accountable.

"I officially apologize to the Chinese citizens for the immoral behavior" of the extremists, Bat-Uul said.

The mayor said he felt ashamed for what had happened, which was in violation of Mongolia's Constitution and criminal law.

In a public speech Friday, President Elbegdorj appeared to approve with the mayor's apology.

The Chinese Embassy in Mongolia Thursday lodged solemn representations with Mongolia, condemning the incident which violated the personal dignity and safety of the Chinese citizens and demanding those responsible be brought to justice.

The embassy also demanded that Mongolia make more efforts to protect the Chinese citizens in the country, and ensure a safe work and living environment for them.

In recent years, a number of neo-Nazi groups have appeared in Mongolia, espousing ultranationalism and harboring hatred for foreigners.

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Foreign Ministers of China and Mongolia Express Willingness to Jointly Commemorate 70th Anniversary of Victory of World Anti-fascist War

2015/04/02

In the evening of April 1, 2015, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the visiting Foreign Minister Lundeg Purevsuren of Mongolia jointly met the press.

Lundeg Purevsuren said that China is going to hold a grand celebration for the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascist war this year, and the relevant commemorative activities bear historical significance, which will definitely play an important role in safeguarding peace in the region. Mongolia and China worked together in resisting aggression in the World War II. He suggested that the two sides jointly hold some commemorative activities, such as jointly producing TV programs and organizing veterans to visit important battle sites where the Soviet-Mongolia allied forces fought in China. The two countries should widely publicize the history of their side-by-side fighting among the youths.

Wang Yi said that the Asian battlefield was an important part of the world anti-fascist battlefields. For a long time, the role of the Asian battlefield has not received enough attention. Taking the 70th anniversary as an opportunity, China is willing to work with the Asian countries including Mongolia to jointly honor the martyrs who laid down their lives for peace, jointly carry forward the great contribution that Asia made to fighting against foreign aggression, and jointly demonstrate the strong will of the Asian countries' commitment to maintaining world peace.

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Defiant former political prisoner remains true to Inner Mongolian cause

In the 19 years he spent as one of China’s longest-serving political prisoners, Hada says he was beaten, injected with drugs and threatened with death. Authorities wanted him to recant his advocacy for the country’s ethnic Mongolians, whose autonomy and independence he has long sought. He refused.

He is now out of prison, re-leased four months ago after serving a sentence for separatism. His fervour and outspokenness for the causes that led to his arrest are undiminished. His people remain subjugated, he says, and the beloved grasslands so integral to their herding culture remain endangered.

Both are issues Hada wants the world to know about. Although he knows that Chinese authorities keep a close watch on him – indeed they have ordered him not to speak with foreign media and forcibly prevented him from meeting a Globe and Mail reporter face to face – he spoke passionately about the threats in an exclusive interview conducted in an online chat.

Mongolians in China are in a “crisis for our lives, and a crisis for our ecosystem,” Hada said. The 67-year-old former bookstore owner, who like many Mongolians goes by one name, also vowed to continue to protect a way of life Inner Mongolia has known for centuries. “It’s time to fight, or we will be completely Chinese-ized,” Hada said.

Hada’s charges are disputed by the government of Inner Mongolia. It said it is taking care to preserve Mongolian culture and way of life, including free Mongolian-language education from kindergarten to high school, tradition-based health care covered by insurance, subsidies to herders’ families and regulation of grasslands expropriation.

“The equality of nationalities is the base of our country’s policy on ethnic peoples,” said Feng Renfei, a spokeswoman for the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government, in an unusually lengthy written response to questions from The Globe.

The government also denies Hada was mistreated in prison. “Hada was provided the same food and medical treatment as other prisoners during the time he served out his sentence. There was no issue of being tortured,” Ms. Feng wrote.

The grievances that Hada expresses – and Mongolian activists abroad call him a “national hero” – echo those of minorities in other regions of China such as Tibet and Xinjiang, home to Muslim Uighurs, some of whom Beijing has accused of a string of terror attacks in train stations, markets and Tiananmen Square in recent years. Ethnic Mongolians have also shown signs of unrest, with 59 major protests since 2011, after a grasslands herder was killed by a coal truck. Authorities arrested or detained 300 herders in the past year alone. In January, one herder hung himself outside a government office.

Inner Mongolia is bigger than Ontario and its grasslands are nearly twice as large as the entire Canadian Prairies. (Inner Mongolia, with 24.7 million people, is Chinese territory, politically distinct from the independent country of Mongolia to its north, although Mongolian people on both sides of the border come from similar roots.) It has seen rapid development: From 2000 to 2014, coal production rose 14-fold and oil output more than doubled. But it has come at a cost. Herders accuse Chinese companies of stealing their land, or offering compensation as low as $13.50 per hectare, to make way for the mines and energy development. The expansion of military bases has also caused tensions.

At the same time, Mongolians are outnumbered nearly five to one and they tell stories of sometimes violent clashes with the dominant Han, or Chinese, culture. Saren Gaowa, a 60-year-old herder in Inner Mongolia’s Wulatezhong Qi region, described in an interview how she once tried to stop a gold mining operation from digging up her land. “The miners almost killed me by putting me in a soil mixing machine,” she said.

“The conflict between Mongolian and Han people is serious,” said Ulj Delger, an ethnic Mongolian in Japan who is among the overseas diaspora pressing for change. “In the next few years, it might become what Xinjiang and Tibet is like now.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a visit to the region last year, called on local governments to do more to modernize traditional husbandry and said people of all ethnic groups should unite for the good of economic and social development.

The ethnic Mongolian situation is complicated by history. In recent decades, the proportion of Mongolians in the population has risen, after Communist-run health care helped sustain a baby boom and because minority ethnic groups are largely exempt from China’s one-child policy. Population growth has contributed to overgrazing that has brought major damage to the area’s grasslands; in 2003, 74 per cent were considered degraded and one-third of that is highly damaged. (Communist policies played a role, too, in particular, through efforts to intensively farm grassland; half of the farmed areas have now become barren or turned to desert.)

Some of the current conflict with herders is rooted in China’s efforts to undo the damage, including heavy-handed grazing bans that have been strictly enforced. Governments have sought to move people off the land, too, in part by building local employment.

“That’s what the resource development in the 1990s and 2000s has made possible,” said John Longworth, an Australian agricultural economist who first came to study the region in 1989.

“Only when you have fed yourself and housed yourself, and your family and everyone feels considerably secure, can you afford to spend considerable time to foster your own culture,” he said. “The Mongolians have done relatively well.”

Many ethnic Mongolians, however, fault China for eviction efforts they say are severing their connection to the grasslands and with it, their culture. It is an “unprecedented crisis,” Hada said. “The grassland has almost disappeared out of misuse.”

Hada was president of the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance, a group that directly challenged the authority of the Communist Party and talked openly of Mongolian independence, when he was arrested two decades ago. A Chinese court convicted him of “splitting” the nation, essentially separatism, and espionage – counter-revolutionary crimes. Few other political dissidents in modern China have emerged from so long in prison on such charges.

In prison his health and eyesight deteriorated. He lost teeth. He was released from the regular prison system after 15 years, then transferred to an extra-judicial “black jail.” The treatment was friendlier. He was promised a comfortable life if he would just agree to stop advocating for ethnic Mongolians. He refused. He was kept behind bars for another four years.

Enghebatu Togochog, director of the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center, an advocacy group, calls him “a national hero to the Mongolian people.”

He is also a potential lighting rod for anti-government protests – a rare dissident with leadership potential inside China’s borders.

Soon after his release on Dec. 9, 2014, he released a photo of himself holding a handwritten sign that said: “I firmly support the herders’ activities to defend their legal rights under the law.” The photo quickly circulated through Chinese social media.

He is an “idol,” his wife, Xinna, said, “which is why they have tried so hard to beat him down.”

He is out of prison but his phone is tapped and frequently cut off, his family said. Officials have offered him enticements such as a job if he will just sign a confession of guilt. Hada said he has refused because that would mean “giving up my ideas and becoming the underling of the government – selling out my nationality’s benefit, and selling out my soul. I would rather die by starvation than sign.”

Still he wonders whether he might be of best use operating from outside China. Authorities recently returned his national identification card to him, and he said he plans to apply for a passport to seek treatment for health issues abroad, and because he would be more free to advocate away from the reach of Chinese security. He said the world should support his cause. “Mongolians must be free.”

Source:theglobeandmail.com

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Mongolia must accept blame over Rio Tinto mine dispute - PM

(Reuters) - Mongolia must take much of the blame for a dispute with Rio Tinto that has delayed the expansion of a $6.5 billion copper mine and disrupted economic growth, the country's prime minister said.

The construction of the second underground phase of the Oyu Tolgoi project has been on hold since August, 2013, amid complaints about cost overruns and a dispute over tax.

"Much of the blame (for the delay) goes to us," said Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg, who was appointed late last year with the task of kickstarting an economy rattled by falling commodity prices and a 74-percent slump in foreign investment last year.

Amid concerns about the growing role played by foreign firms in its mineral-dependenteconomy, Mongolia passed a series of laws and regulations designed to raise tax revenue and impose greater domestic control over "strategic" mining assets.

Parliamentarians even sought to renegotiate the terms of the 2009 Oyu Tolgoi agreement, which granted 66 percent of the project to Ivanhoe Mines, now known as Turquoise Hill Resources and majority owned by Rio Tinto.

But Saikhanbileg, speaking at the annual Mongolian Economic Forum, said that some of the regulations had been badly conceived and implemented, and that Mongolia had "lost credibility".

"We need that credibility at this time when we move ahead with the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine project," he said, according to a transcript published by the Business Council of Mongolia on Friday.

He pointed to a decision to impose a "progressive royalty" without even informing Rio Tinto, which led to the closure of the project's domestic bank account, diverting all the mine's cash flows overseas and undermining trust in Mongolia itself.

"That happened some time ago, but it was a key problem element in the long-term negotiations between Oyu Tolgoi and the government," said Jim Dwyer, the executive director of the Business Council of Mongolia.

The two sides have also been in dispute over a claim by Mongolia for unpaid tax. An official said earlier this week that there has now been a breakthrough and that "misunderstandings" surrounding the tax regime had now been resolved.

"They're making a lot of progress," Dwyer said about current negotiations between the government and Rio Tinto. The Business Council of Mongolia has 225 local and international members, including Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi. (Reporting by Terrence Edwards; Editing by David Stanway and Ed Davies)

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Mongolia set to join China in WWII anniversary events

Mongolia wants to join hands with China to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, the country's Foreign Minister Lundeg Purevsuren said when he met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday evening in Beijing.

Mongolia made a significant contribution to the fight against fascism during World War II, he said, and both countries should hold commemorative activities together, such as producing TV programs on the war and organizing veterans to revisit the battlefields together.

Wang welcomed Mongolian participation and said the anniversary was a good opportunity to remind people of the contribution and sacrifice of generations past and show the resolution of Asia to protect global peace.

Relations between the two countries have entered a fruitful period, Wang said, and have been upgraded to "comprehensive strategic partnership" since President Xi Jinping's visit to Mongolia in August. The foreign ministers discussed the concrete achievements from the consensus made by the leaders of both countries.

Saying the Chinese proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21 Century Maritime Silk Road could be combined with Mongolia's national infrastructure "Prairie Road" program, Wang believed that the construction of a Eurasian high-speed transport corridor linking Beijing and Moscow will boost regional connectivity and growth.

Wang also said both countries had started the establishment of a cross-border trade zone and Mongolia had played an active role in financial cooperation with China, for example, as a co-founder of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

According to Xinhua, China and Mongolia agreed on March 27 to dedicate nine square km on either side of their border to a joint economic zone.

Purevsuren echoed Wang by saying that Mongolia is willing to cooperate with China in the Road and Belt Initiative and could become a "bridge" connecting Asia and Europe.

Gao Shumao, a former Chinese ambassador to Mongolia said the cooperation between China and Mongolia could be strengthened in mining, infrastructure and financial sectors.

Mongolia has been an active partner of China since President Xi Jinping's visit last year. It was one of the first countries to apply to join the AIIB, it quickly supported the Road and Belt Initiative of China and a mining cooperation agreement concerning the massive Tavan Tolgoi coalmine, which involves Chinese companies, is under negotiation, Gao said.

Viewing the cross-border trade zone as part of the Belt and Road Initiative which will focus on jointly building a new Eurasian Land Bridge and developing the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor, Gao believed that further cooperation between China and Mongolia will be of significant benefit to various sectors in both countries.

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China proposed Wednesday to build an economic corridor linking China, Mongolia and Russia

Foreign Minister Wang Yi floated the idea during a meeting in Beijing with his Mongolian counterpart Lundeg Purevsuren.

"There is a huge area for cooperation existing between China, Russia and Mongolia. The construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor would connect China’s Silk Road Economic Belt to Russia's transcontinental rail plan and Mongolia's Prairie Road program,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During the meeting Wang Yi held out hope for mutually beneficial interaction with Russia and Mongolia on the three-way “new corridor for cooperation” running across the entire Eurasian continent as a “new platform for the economic development of our three countries.”
China will be working closely with Russia and Mongolia in drawing up a pertinent roadmap and will do whatever it takes to make the project happening.

"We are confident that this would bring economic benefit to our three countries and serve as a major boost to the economic advancement of Eurasia as a whole,” Wang Yi added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping initially proposed the idea of a new Silk Way to link China with Europe and boost the country’s economic ties with Asia and Africa when meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj on the sidelines of the 14th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2014.

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