Mongolia and China have never exactly gotten along. For the past millennium the two countries invaded and ruled each other in turn. In the thirteenth century, Kublai Khan swept into China and founded the Yuan dynasty, putting Mongolians on the Chinese throne for nearly a century. Then in the 17th century Mongolia was conquered by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty.
Both have gone their own way for the past hundred years, but the history lesson is worth remembering, because Mongolia’s mining development today is dependent on its giant, resources-hungry neighbour.
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