Post by Logan on Jun 5, 2016 8:44:28 GMT -6
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (AP) — Cultivating closer ties in this land of Genghis Khan lore and traditional yurts, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday tried his hand at archery, sampled curdled cheese and watched ancient wrestling, all while hailing Mongolia as a modern "oasis of democracy" in its neighborhood.
For Mongolia, sandwiched between undemocratic China and increasingly authoritarian Russia, the desire for deeper relations was mutual.
Kerry's stop in this nation of 3 million people included heaps of praise for its unlikely democratic story. Parliamentary elections next month will be the seventh since 1990, when this vast territory of grassy steppe and nomadic herders shook off its status as a Soviet satellite state.
But the top American diplomat also pushed for greater transparency in Mongolia, a sensitive issue given the foreign scramble for its rich resource deposits and questions about how revenue is being shared among the country's many impoverished citizens.
Read more: siouxcityjournal.com/news/world/in-mongolia-kerry-seeks-closer-ties-with-democracy-oasis/article_c89dccd5-5e6f-55c7-b3b0-61163fd26c4c.html
For Mongolia, sandwiched between undemocratic China and increasingly authoritarian Russia, the desire for deeper relations was mutual.
Kerry's stop in this nation of 3 million people included heaps of praise for its unlikely democratic story. Parliamentary elections next month will be the seventh since 1990, when this vast territory of grassy steppe and nomadic herders shook off its status as a Soviet satellite state.
But the top American diplomat also pushed for greater transparency in Mongolia, a sensitive issue given the foreign scramble for its rich resource deposits and questions about how revenue is being shared among the country's many impoverished citizens.
Read more: siouxcityjournal.com/news/world/in-mongolia-kerry-seeks-closer-ties-with-democracy-oasis/article_c89dccd5-5e6f-55c7-b3b0-61163fd26c4c.html