A senior Mongolian official has apologised after the Chinese embassy raised concern that Mongolians “harassed the camp” of a Chinese-invested oil exploration company.
According to Mongolian media reports, protesters went to the Kherlen Tohoi XXVIII oil exploration area and tried to stop exploration work by Mongolia Foison Energy last Friday.

They live-streamed the event, with social media footage showing two women dumping items belonging to Chinese workers onto the ground.

Two Mongolian citizens involved in the incident have been detained, according to local authorities.

Chinese chargé d’affaires Cao Li raised “serious concern” over the incident with Buriad Dashpurev, state secretary of Mongolia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, during a meeting on Tuesday, according to the embassy.

“We urge the Mongolian side to continue taking concrete measures to protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and the personal and property safety of Chinese employees, and prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the embassy said.

According to the embassy, Dashpurev apologised over the incident and said Mongolia would not tolerate interference with the lawful operations of Chinese companies.

Dashpurev described such acts as damaging to Mongolia’s national interests and economic security, adding that police had opened an investigation and that those involved had been detained, it said.

Mongolia Foison Energy is registered in Mongolia as a foreign-invested company and is owned by Hong Kong-registered Foison Energy Holdings Limited. It signed a production-sharing agreement with the Mongolian government for the Kherlen Tohoi XXVIII block in 2024, with plans to spend about US$50 million on exploration over eight years.

The incident came two months after another resources-related protest disrupted exports to China.

In June, members of a group called Mongolia’s Radical Reform Movement blocked a road used to transport copper concentrate from the Rio Tinto-controlled Oyu Tolgoi mine towards the Chinese border, demanding a greater share of mining revenues for Mongolians.

The landlocked country relies heavily on oil imports, exporting nearly all its crude to China while sourcing more than 95 per cent of its refined oil from Russia.

It has sought to balance the influence of China and Russia through a “third neighbour” policy of cultivating closer ties with other countries, including the United States, Japan and India.

China and Mongolia have been pushing to boost transport links and mineral extraction in recent years but with mixed success.

Construction of the Gashuun Sukhait-Ganqimaodu cross-border railway began in May 2025, making it the first new rail connection between the countries since 1956.
But the proposed Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which would carry Russian gas to China through Mongolia, has remained stalled despite two decades of discussion.

By Alcott Wei 

Alcott Wei joined the Post to report on China in 2025, after working as an intern for the Beijing bureau in 2024 and has long had a keen interest in Chinese politics. He graduated from the Hong Kong Baptist University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and communication.

Published Date:2026-08-19