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Mongolian–Taiwanese relations
Diplomatic mission
Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office, Ulaanbaatar	Ulaanbaatar Trade and Economic Representative Office, Taipei

At its establishment in 1912, the Republic of China claimed to be the successor state to the entirety of the Qing empire, which included Outer Mongolia. The Republic of China did not recognize Mongolia's independence until 1945; the two never exchanged diplomats. When the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, Mongolia recognized the People's Republic of China; the Republic of China continued to show Mongolia as part of its territory on official maps until 2002 when they recognized Mongolia as an independent country and established informal relations.

In the absence of formal diplomatic relations between Mongolia and the Republic of China on Taiwan, the two countries have trade and economic representative offices, which function as de facto embassies: Taiwan is represented by an office in Ulaanbaatar,^[1] and Mongolia is represented by an office in Taipei.^[2]

History

Before 1949

Throughout history, regimes on the Mongolian steppe and China have waged war on numerous occasions. China's Great Wall was constructed to ward off invading hordes from the Mongolian steppe and Central Asia. For example, the Mongols under Kublai Khan conquered much of China and established the Yuan dynasty, and Mongolia later fell under the control of the Qing dynasty.

During the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Outer Mongolia declared independence from the Qing dynasty and formed the Bogd Khanate. In 1912, the Republic of China was established. Although many people of Inner Mongolia sought to accede to the new state, China retained its control over the area and reasserted control over Outer Mongolia in 1919.^[3]^[4] Consequently, Mongolia sought Soviet Russian support to reclaim its independence. In 1921, both Chinese and White Russian forces were driven out by the Red Army of the Soviet Union and pro-Soviet Mongolian forces. In 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was formed.^[3]

The Republic of China that ruled mainland China at the time claimed Outer Mongolia as part of its territory until 1946. Under the terms of the 1945 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, the Republic of China was to recognize both Mongolian sovereignty and independence.^[5]^[6] The Nationalist government of China officially recognized the independence of Mongolia in January 1946 after the 1945 Mongolian independence referendum which voted for independence.^[7] However, due to a border conflict on the Khovd/Sinkiang border, no diplomatic relations were established between 1946 and 1949.^[8]

After 1949

In 1952, three years after the Republic of China's retreat to the island of Taiwan (which was retroceded from Japan in 1945), the ROC government accused the Soviet Union of violating the 1946 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship (see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 505). The following year, the Legislative Yuan voted to abrogate the treaty.^[9] The Republic of China continued to represent China at the United Nations (UN) until 1971 and used its position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to block the admission of the Mongolian People's Republic into the UN throughout the 1950s.^[10]^[11] The only veto cast by the ROC during its membership in the UN was in 1955, against the admission of Mongolia.^[12] Thus, Mongolia was excluded from the UN until 1960, when the Soviet Union announced that unless Mongolia was admitted, it would block the admission of all of the newly independent African states. Faced with this pressure, the ROC relented under protest.

The Legislative Yuan applied for a constitutional interpretation on 12 April 1993 to ask what the boundaries of the ROC national territory would be, while considering Outer Mongolia not included in the ROC territory.^[13] However, the Judicial Yuan in its Interpretation 328 on 26 November 1993, called the constitutional territory beyond the reach of judicial review and thus avoided the question as whether Mongolia should be considered the constitutional territory of the Republic of China.^[14]

In 1996, Taiwan's Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Office director said "The island's National Assembly does not necessarily have to make a constitutional amendment because Outer Mongolia's independence is well established."^[15]

Relations changed in 2002, 91 years after Mongolia's first declaration of independence. At the time, the Republic of China still did not recognize Mongolia as an independent country; official maps of the Republic still showed Mongolia as its territory. When the Executive Yuan under the Democratic Progressive Party administration announced that Mongolian nationals would be entitled to visas rather than entry permits when traveling to Taiwan, the same as individuals from foreign countries, the Kuomintang-controlled Legislative Yuan criticized the implementation of the decision, as they had not been consulted in this regard.^[16] Later, representatives of the two governments agreed to open offices in each other's capitals; ROC's office in Ulaanbaatar was opened in September of that year. ROC's Ministry of the Interior then decided to discontinue including Mongolia on its official maps of ROC territory, and on 3 October 2002, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that ROC recognizes Mongolia as an independent country.^[17] As of 2002, the ROC government recognized Mongolia as an independent country,^[18] excludes Mongolia from maps of the Republic of China and requires Mongolian citizens visiting Taiwan to produce passports.^[19]^[20] In 2006, old laws regulating the formation of banners and monasteries in Outer Mongolia were repealed.^[21]^[22]

Education

There are approximately 1,400 Mongolian students in Taiwan, as of 2019.^[23]

Trade

In 2017, bilateral trade between Taiwan and Mongolia was valued at US$44.84 million.^[23]

References

^ "Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
^ Ulaanbaatar Trade and Economic Representative Office Archived 23 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Republic of China)
^ ^a ^b "China-Mongolia Boundary" (PDF). International Boundary Study (173). The Geographer, Bureau of Intelligence and Research: 2–6. August 1984. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
^ "Chinese Look To Their Neighbors For New Opportunities To Trade". International Herald Tribune. 4 August 1998. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
^ Clark, Keith Allan II (3 September 2018). "Imagined Territory: The Republic of China's 1955 Veto of Mongolian Membership in the United Nations". Journal of American-East Asian Relations. 25 (3): 263–295. doi:10.1163/18765610-02503003. S2CID 240274376.
^ "Onward to Mongolia", Taiwan Review, 1 January 2003, archived from the original on 7 February 2018, retrieved 6 February 2018
^ "蒙古不是中華民國固有之疆域". Liberty Times 自由時報. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
^ Dashtseren, Dashdavaa (September 2006). "BORDER PROTECTION AND NATIONAL SECURITY OF MONGOLIA" (PDF). NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
^ Liu, Weiling (15 August 1997), "Mongolian visitors draw attention to border debate"^{[dead link‍]}, Taiwan Journal, retrieved 4 January 2010
^ "Taipei Sources Hint Veto on Outer Mongolia", The Washington Post, 20 November 1955, archived from the original on 24 May 2011, retrieved 5 February 2008
^ "Taiwan Veto Likely; Taipei Regime May Again Bar Outer Mongolia From U.N.", The New York Times, 22 April 1961, archived from the original on 22 July 2018, retrieved 5 February 2008
^ Han Cheung (25 August 2024). "Taiwan in Time: When Taiwan claimed Mongolia". Taipei Times. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ Legislative Yuan Constitutional Interpretation Application (in Chinese), Judicial Yuan, 12 April 1993, retrieved 22 December 2008
^ Judicial Yuan Interpretation 328 translated by Professor J. P. Fa, Judicial Yuan, 26 November 1993, archived from the original on 26 January 2009, retrieved 22 December 2008
^ "Taiwan recognizes Outer Mongolia". United Press International. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
^ "Major Taipei decision alters Mongolia's status", China Post, 27 February 2002, archived from the original on 21 January 2021, retrieved 5 February 2008
^ "Mongolian office to ride into Taipei by end of the year", Taipei Times, 11 October 2002, archived from the original on 10 February 2009, retrieved 5 February 2008
^ "Mongolian office to ride into Taipei by end of the year". Taipei Times. 11 October 2002. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009. In October 1945, the people of Outer Mongolia voted for independence, gaining the recognition of many countries, including the Republic of China. (...) Due to a souring of relations with the Soviet Union in the early 1950s, however, the ROC revoked recognition of Outer Mongolia, reclaiming it as ROC territory. {...} Long a province of China, Mongolia declared its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. After the Ministry of the Interior's recent decision to exclude Mongolia from the official ROC map, on 3 Oct, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Taiwan recognizes Mongolia as an independent country -- 81 years after Mongolia declared its independence.
^ "Taiwan 'embassy' changes anger China". BBC News. 26 February 2002. Archived from the original on 26 May 2004. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
^ "Taiwan-Mongolia ties move on". Taipei Times. 10 September 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
^ "廢止蒙古盟部旗組織法". Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan) (in Chinese). 27 January 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^ "蒙古盟部旗組織法". Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^ ^a ^b Hsu, Stacy (30 January 2019). "Mongolian trade office to have new representative". The Taipei Times. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.