The 14th Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom China sees as a “dangerous separatist,” appears to have outsmarted the communist-ruled country by quietly announcing the new head of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, a position for which China wanted Mongolia to seek its consent.

The announcement happened on March 8 during an event in India, and the media picked up the news on March 23. However, as of March 28, there has been no response from China, which in 2017 had warned Mongolia against allowing the Dalai Lama to meddle in the identification of the heir to the highest position in Mongolia’s Buddhist hierarchy. There has been no official response from Mongolia either.

“We have the reincarnation of Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché of Mongolia with us today,” the Dalai Lama said, indicating a small boy sitting next to him, while addressing a gathering of about 5,000 monks and nuns and 600 Mongolians on March 8.

The place was Dharamshala, a north Indian Himalayan town where the Dalai Lama has been based since 1960, a year after fleeing China and entering India in exile. The Tibetan Parliament in Exile and the Central Tibetan Administration operate out of Dharamshala.

Tibetan Buddhists make up the largest chunk of the population in Mongolia. However, identifying the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu (also spelled as Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché) importance beyond Mongolia, and even beyond China-Mongolia relations. The Jebtsundamba is also considered the third-highest spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism globally — only after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. Because of this, he can play a crucial role in the Dharamshala-backed institutional search for the next Dalai Lama – itself a major bone of contention between the Dalai Lama and China.

The search for the 10th reincarnation of the Jebtsundamba began after the ninth reincarnation died in 2012. However, after the Dalai Lama, during a 2016 visit to Mongolia, revealed that the 10th reincarnation of the Jebtsundamba had been identified, China asked Mongolia not to allow him to visit the country again.

“Considering the significance of his reincarnation and bearing in mind that he (the late ninth incarnation) is a personal friend, I feel I have a responsibility to look after his reincarnation,” the Dalai Lama had said. He added, “I am convinced that his reincarnation has been born in Mongolia. However, the boy is very young right now, so there is no need for haste in making an announcement. When he is 3, 4, or 5 years old, we’ll see how things are.”

Now that the Dalai Lama has introduced the 10th Jebtsundamba before the public, and also “met briefly with a significant contingent of Mongolians” after the event, a rebuke from China could be in the offing. China does not want the Dalai Lama to have anything to do with identifying the reincarnations of Tibetan Buddhist Lamas, including the Dalai Lama. They claim there is a long-existing system for identifying such reincarnations and those must be adhered to.

In 1995, when the 14th Dalai Lama named a Tibetan boy as the 11th Panchen Lama, the child was allegedly abducted by the Chinese authorities soon after and has not been seen or heard from since. China also announced its own choice of the Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama has not recognized the Chinese choice.

China had, in 2007, legalized the need for governmental approval before announcing any reincarnation of Buddhist Lamas. Even though Mongolia is not Chinese territory, China always wanted to have a say on matters involving Tibetan Buddhism. In a Global Times article from 2021, titled “Qing government’s administration over Tibet, authority over reincarnation of living Buddhas indisputable,” Zhang Yun, director of the Institute for Historical Studies at the China Tibetology Research Center, cited a 1793 ordinance of the Qing empire in support of the practice that China wants to uphold.

“Emperor Qianlong… issued a golden urn to the Jokhang Monastery, ordering that at the death of any Dalai Lama, Panchen Lama, Jetsun Dampa Hutuktu and other Hutuktus and lamas in Tibet and Mongolia, the names and birthdays of the Khuvilgaan candidates would be announced, and put into the golden urn. With the lamas chanting and the Resident Ministers in Tibet supervising, a name shall be drawn from the urn and that would be the name of the Khuvilgaan,” he wrote.

This is how the 11th Panchen Lama was selected, China claims. This is how they want to pick the next Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Parliament in Exile have ruled this out.

In 2010, the Dalai Lama said in an interview, “If the present situation regarding Tibet remains the same, I will be born outside Tibet away from the control of the Chinese authorities. This is logical. The very purpose of a reincarnation is to continue the unfinished work of the previous incarnation. Thus if the Tibetan situation still remains unsolved it is logical I will be born in exile to continue my unfinished work.”

The Central Tibetan Administration has since then repeatedly maintained that the Dalai Lama alone is responsible for his reincarnation.

However, in case the 87-year-old dies without naming his successor, the role or opinion of the Jebtsundamba can emerge crucial, as a large number of Tibetan Buddhists do not acknowledge the China-recognized Panchen Lama.

Therefore, having the 10th Jebtsundamba chosen by the Dalai Lama gives the Tibetan government in exile an edge over Chinese authorities on affairs relating to Tibetan Buddhism.

“Since the death of his ninth reincarnation in 2012, Mongolia has walked a geopolitical tightrope with China on one side and Dharamsala on the other. When and how the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu reincarnates will give one side much more power over the future of Tibetan Buddhism, with significant geopolitical consequences,” wrote Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva, an Ulaanbaatar-based geopolitical analyst who has served at the National Security Council of Mongolia, in a 2022 article.

Earlier this month, an article in The Diplomat pointed out that Mongolia’s pursuit of its next spiritual leader had become “a high-stakes game of power and influence behind the scenes, with China’s growing sway casting a shadow over the nation’s religious affairs.” China was “seemingly nudging Mongolia to seek its approval before acknowledging a new leader.”

Whether or how Mongolia recognizes the reincarnation remains to be seen, as they would have to do it at the cost of irking their superpower neighbor. In 2016, after the Dalai Lama’s visit, China blocked a crucial border entry point and imposed new fees on commodity exports from Mongolia, prompting the landlocked country to announce that they would not host the Dalai Lama again. China hoped Mongolia had learned a lesson.

Besides, the 10th Jebtsundamba will still have to be formally enthroned by the Mongolian clergy. In 2016, Mongolian foreign minister at the time, Munkh-Orgil Tsend, had said that he hoped the Mongolian clergy would deal with the reincarnation “without the influence or involvement of any outsiders.” Now that the Dalai Lama has already introduced him, when and how the Mongolian clergy responds will play a key role in determining the future course of Tibetan Buddhism that guides the spiritual lives of millions of people in Asia.

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR

Snigdhendu Bhattacharya

Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, the author of two non-fiction books on India’s ultra-Left and the Hindu right, writes and comments on India’s politics, environment, human rights and culture.

Mongolia's economy can grow 7 percent this year on the condition that China achieves its target for a 5 percent expansion in gross domestic product, according to Mongolia's vice prime minister.

China's rapid economic growth is very beneficial for Mongolia as it promotes the country’s exports, which are crucial for the economy, Chimed Khürelbaatar, who is also economy and development minister, told Yicai Global yesterday on the sidelines of the annual Boao Forum for Asia that began the same day.

China is Mongolia's biggest trading partner. Mongolia’s trade with its neighbor jumped to a record USD13.6 billion in the 12 months ended Dec. 31 from the year before, data from its National Statistics Office showed, making up 64 percent of its total foreign trade last year.

The fast recovery of China's economy leads the country to buy more of Mongolia's products and increase investment, Khürelbaatar said, adding that Mongolia will keep exporting coal products to China.

In the decade since China first proposed the Belt and Road initiative -- a huge infrastructure project spanning the world -- Mongolia’s international trade more than doubled to USD21.2 billion in 2022, Khürelbaatar pointed out. The BRI is a path toward common prosperity and greatly helps Mongolia, the vice prime minister said.

Thanks to the BRI, Mongolia's trading relations have progressed significantly and now include over 100 nations, Khürelbaatar said, noting that Mongolia's economy has constantly developed, with a big increase in its per capita GDP. And Mongolia has constructed about 500 kilometers of rail links to connect its provincial capitals, and has also extended its highways network, he noted.

The Boao Forum for Asia is being held in China’s Hainan province through March 31. This year's annual conference is the first in-person since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Editors: Xu Wei, Martin Kadiev

Companies that have issued shares and bonds must report to the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) the spending of their capital, raised through selling their shares, on an annual and semi-annual basis. In the event that the spending is not on the intended or planned purpose, they are held accountable in accordance with relevant regulations.

D. Nyamdorj, a Capital Market Analyst, presented how the companies, that participate in the capital market and have issued their shares and bonds, are spending their raised capital. According to him, the spending can vary, depending on the nature of their products, services, and operations.

For instance, the MSE is spending MNT 11.9 billion, which was raised during its IPO in January 2023, mainly on its technological improvements, digitalization of the operations, and training and service center updates.

“Invescore” Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) is planning to spend the capital of MNT 50 billion, which will be raised through the issuance of its bond, on financing its loan portfolio.

While “Sendly NBFI” JSC has issued 85,000 units of debt instruments worth MNT 8.5 billion, each with a par value of 100,000 and an annual coupon rate of 19.2%. According to their bond prospectus, they are planning to spend the capital as a financial resource for their main business activity.

The net profits of the banks listed in the MSE have increased by 87-355 percent.

The State bank issued an IPO in Q4 2022 and became the first systematically influential bank that went public. According to “Mandal Asset Management,” their net profit has reached MNT 96 billion, up 87% over the previous year, which shows a record-high rate in recent years’ performance of this bank. Their ROI (return on investment) is 22%.

The “Golomt Capital” informed that the net profit of the Golomt bank had reached MNT 100 billion as of the end of Q4 2022, an increase of 355% compared to the same period last year, which was the record high growth for this bank as well. While their equity has reached MNT 844 billion, a growth of 42%. Their ROI is 14%.

As stated in the report by ‘BDSec’ JSC, Bogd Bank’s equity and the number of loans issued by the bank have reached MNT 116.7 billion and MNT 208.1 billion, up 15% and 42 % over last year, respectively. In 2022, the abovementioned three banks were listed in the MSE Top 20 Index by their number of securities traded. Since the IPOs, their per-share prices have slightly decreased.

“Increase in net profits allow businesses to disburse dividends for their shareholders. On the other hand, the dividend disbursement is, indeed, a kind of capital spending.” B. Ulziibayar, Chair of the Board of Directors, Mongolian Association of Securities Dealers said.

In recent years, share prices of enterprises of the food sector have been increasing. For example, share prices of “Talkh Chikher” JSC, “Monos” JSC, “Tumen Shuvuut” JSC, “APU” JSC, and “SUU” JSC have shown average annual increases of 30 percent.

Also, the sales and net profit of the "Gazar Shim" LLC, which issued an IPO, have shown relatively high growth in the last 5 years. “Gazar Shim" LLC has publicly offered 16.54 percent of its total shares, or 198 million shares valued at MNT 53 each. They intend to raise a total of MNT 10.5 billion from the market with the purpose of increasing their market share, entering a new market, and increasing the volume of their exports.

As of today, 1.1 million children from 993,725 households are receiving children allowance.

The Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour has digitized 110 services out of 160 services in the sector and connected 18 services to the E-Mongolia electronic system.

The main systems of the industry such as ehalamj, ejob, ezuvshuurul and etuslamj have been presented during the meeting. E.Batshugar, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Parliament, emphasized the "ejob" platform, which provides employment mediation services of public and private sector employers.

E.Batshugar also mentioned that citizens are able to check their information and apply through the e-mongolia and e-halamj systems.

The Ministry of Social Welfare and Labour plays an important role in forming human resources in the field of information technology. Therefore, the operations at the policy level of the ministry have been presented.

Mongolia, a country with a relatively small population of three million people who maintain very close relations, has a vibrant LGBTQ+ community. Yet, for them, living an openly queer life can be so challenging that many consider exile the only viable solution.

As several reports indicate, queer Mongolians who step out of a hidden, often underground life and come out to their families, or publicly at work and in public spaces face rejection, abuse, verbal and physical violence in a vast majority of cases. To unpack the reasons for homophobia and transphobia, Global Voices spoke to Otgonbaatar Tsedendemberel, who is a co-founder and former executive director of the LGBT Center of Mongolia. Currently, he is a PhD candidate at Doctoral School of Sociology of Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary, exploring the notion of shame and how it characterizes the lived experiences of contemporary Mongolian queers. The interview has been edited for clarity.

Filip Noubel (FN): What are the roots of homophobia and transphobia in Mongolia? What factors contribute to it?

Otgonbaatar Tsedendemberel (OT): The root causes of hatred against LGBTQ+ people in Mongolia are a mix of different factors. Making it a taboo topic during socialism led to lack of knowledge and understanding of sexuality; also, the patriarchy perpetuating strict gender norms and roles alienates LGBTQ+ people as it condemns them for not conforming to the stereotypical masculine and feminine binary. Finally, nationalists and conservatives view the community as a threat to national security in the context of reproduction and accuse it of ‘perversion’ and ‘unnaturalness.’ Given that one third of the population lives under the poverty line, that there is a corrupt government and consequent deteriorating educational and health systems, understanding and respecting LGBTQ+ Mongolians is not a priority, sadly. Whereas Buddhist teachings preach tolerance and sympathy towards individual beings, and shamanism implies and practices two-spiritedness, such concepts are not fully embraced by the public in terms of accepting sexual and gender minorities. On a positive note, religion is not used as a weapon to demonize queer Mongolians.

FN: Most if not all Mongolian queers seem to experience shame due to rejection, and also erasure or invisibility. Can you describe the legal status of queer people in Mongolia and the availability of supportive and safer spaces?

OT: In my opinion, consciously or subconsciously, most Mongolian queers experience some level of shame of being born and living as belonging to sexual and gender minorities. The Mongolian Constitution implicitly protects queer Mongolians, and our Criminal Code prohibits hate crime and speech against LGBTQ+ people. The younger generation, civil society, and human rights NGOs discussing minority issues, intersectionality, feminism, and other controversial issues, and most importantly the hard work of Ulaanbaatar's LGBT Center, have been driving forces in advancing queer rights. Pride has been held since 2013.

Promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion through queer art and literature not only by media, but also by queer community members does help improve public awareness. Although there are some progressive media outlets, art projects, and emerging queer literature that shed light on acceptance and understanding of queer Mongolians, certain mainstream media, plays, movies, and other insensitive, old-fashioned artists still portray LGBTQ+ roles as subjects and objects of joke, slapstick, and outright insult. All of this turns into a source of shaming in return.

FN: In your recent academic research, you point out that both families who reject LGBTQ+ members and queer people seem to consider exile a “solution.” Why?

OT: Through this research and interviews with Mongolian queer diaspora, I realized how many of us have left Mongolia to seek better lives free from discrimination, hatred and violence. First, laws can’t protect us. Even if laws have SOGIESC-friendly [friendly to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics] provisions, judges are not doing their jobs to implement them. I heard from a respondent that a judge shamed her for bringing her family member to court for physical assault and violence because of her sexuality. In addition, going through these procedures is expensive for victims. That is why most queer Mongolians do not bother to report cases to the police and to go to court.

Secondly, relatives and others from intimate circles directly and indirectly insult and verbally abuse queers so that their family members are in the difficult position of living, with the fact that there is someone labeled as ‘pervert’ in the family. For the sake of safety and the ability to live free from all these problems, Mongolian queers are in both forced and self-imposed ‘exile.’ Mongolia's population is small — a little over 3 million people — and about half lives in the capital city Ulaanbaatar, thus there is hardly any degree of separation. As a result, people know no boundaries and limits when it comes to privacy. Once you are out, your laundry will be done openly; and it is unbearable for most queers to put up with it.

FN: Do you see a change in acceptance of queer Mongolians within Mongolia among certain groups — youth, artists, global Mongolians?

OT: In the past ten years, it has been changing a lot for the better. We have an androgynous-then-transgender model, who struts her stuff for major fashion shows, which indicates open-mindedness, tolerance, and inclusivity of the fashion industry of Mongolia. Playtime Festival, an annual summer music festival, featured a solo drag show last year. Most Mongolian expats are exposed to foreign societies with progressive understanding of and respect for LGBTQ+ people all around the world, so they tend to understand and sympathize with queer Mongolians at home.

Nevertheless, there is a long road towards truly genuine social and gender justice for LGBTQ+ Mongolians. Naturally, we should dismantle patriarchal norms and systemic barriers that prevent Mongolian queers to be and live as they are. More importantly, it is an attitudinal issue that Mongolians should learn about and get accustomed to sexual diversity, gender equality, and sexual and gender fluidity from their early years through comprehensive sexuality education at schools and through honest and enabling dialogues at home with empathetic and kind-hearted parents, friends, siblings, caregivers, and guardians.

BY Filip Noubel

Mongolia is intensifying plans to upgrade public toilets at tourism destinations nationwide to bolster its travel sector and prevent soil pollution, the country's Ministry of Environment and Tourism said Wednesday.

Over 900 pit latrines or traditional wooden toilets in tourism areas across the country have been removed, the ministry said in a statement.

More than 1,600 pit latrines remain in tourist spots across the country's 21 provinces, the ministry said, adding that these pit latrines will be removed or replaced by modern standard toilets as soon as possible.

The Mongolian government has been taking measures to revive the pandemic-hit tourism sector. The country has declared 2023, 2024 and 2025 as "Years to Visit Mongolia" under the official motto "Welcome to Mongolia." It has set a goal of welcoming at least 1 million foreign tourists in the coming years.

The proportion of new energy has exceeded 20% of total power generation in northern China's Inner Mongolia for the first time, local official statistics showed.

In the first two months, Inner Mongolia's new energy generation totaled 22.68 TWh, an increase of 28.2% year on year, accounting for 20.6% of the total generation, reaching the highest level in history.

Wind generation was 20.03 TWh during this period, up 32.8% year on year, the main driver behind the growth of new energy generation in the region.

As of the end of February, the region's installed capacity of new energy has reached 63.8 GW, an increase of 9.62 GW from a year earlier and accounting for 36.6% of the region's total installed capacity, an increase of 1.5 percentage points year on year.

Wind, solar, garbage incineration, and biomass power generation installed capacity increased by 7.62 GW, 1.95 GW, 18 MW and 35 MW respectively.

Inner Mongolia is undergoing significant development in new energy sources, with the central government having put in place a three-phase plan to create a "giant wind and solar base" in the region with a total capacity of 450 GW. Currently, the first batch of projects, totaling 95 GW, is underway.