President Chen Shui-bian (
Mongolia has, however, undergone political changes recently. The former communist party, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), won an absolute majority in the July election, taking 72 out of 76 seats in the parliament. The democratic coalition, to which Narantsatsralt belonged, became a very minor party. This change has inevitably triggered worries about the future of relations with Mongolia.
Chen warmly expressed his appreciation of Narantsatsralt's friendship by treating him as an official visitor, despite his lack of official status. While Taipei mayor, Chen had successfully pushed for sister-city relations between Taipei and Ulan Bator. He even made a visit to Mongolia before this year's presidential election. Narantsatsralt, then prime minister, gave him a warm reception. Over a cup of fermented horse milk, the two discussed future Taiwan-Mongolian cooperation. To this day, Chen talks about having enjoyed good luck, with everything going his way since he rode the "celestial horse" presented to him during the visit.
Narantsatsralt visited Taiwan at the invitation of the Taiwan-Mongolian Association, a private organization headed by DPP legislator Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏). The visit was low-key, because of his election defeat.
The right-wing coalition formed by the Mongolian National Democratic Party and the Mongolian Social Democratic Party suffered almost complete defeat despite its abundant administrative resources. The MPRP won another victory in local elections in early October -- an indication that a stable foundation has been set up for communist rule.
Scholars studying Outer Mongolia say the democratic coalition did not handle the economy well while in power, creating a nostalgia for the relatively more stable, if less affluent, days of communist rule. Taiwan's local media did not mention anything about the failures of Narantsatsralt's government. Obviously, the Taiwanese know very little about Mongolia.
With the communist party in power, Mongolia will have more room to develop its relations with China, thereby lessening the chances of an exchange of representative offices between Taiwan and Mongolia. However, Mongolia is now a member of the Asian Development Bank and an associate member of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC). Taiwan is a member of both. In the future, Taiwan could also promote its relations with Mongolia through the frameworks of the ADB and PECC.
Wu Fu-cheng is an associate research fellow at the division of international affairs of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
Translated by Francis Huang
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