The Mongolian government has begun to violate the rights of businesses in the mining sector in an attempt to nationalize resources belonging to privately held companies, resorting to confiscation of private property and the levying of crippling taxes. Despite this, the country continues to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid through the taxpayer-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Unsurprisingly, this assault on private property and democracy has seriously compromised the investment climate in the country. With the Mongolian government orchestrating a deliberate effort to remove Western investors, Russian business interests aligned with the country's leadership are set to take control of large mining projects, including access to some of the world's largest deposits of uranium. This raises significant questions on the U.S.'s efforts to stop the proliferation of weapons and weapons material.
"With the recent election marred by protests and violence, now is the time for the U.S. Government to be engaged in defending the principles of freedom and democracy that Americans value most," said Frontiers of Freedom President George Landrith. "We must immediately urge the leaders of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and Democratic Party as well as other political leaders to embrace free markets and democratic ideals."
Frontiers of Freedom urged that Rice and Danilovich to make a diplomatic visit to Mongolia to offer our nation's assistance to the Mongolian people, and to ask the Mongolian government to revisit and reaffirm its commitment to democracy, rule of law, and free markets.
"It is imperative that the U.S. Government take steps to correct the situation in Mongolia," said Landrith. "The country has been an important ally in our War on Terror, in addition to receiving a significant amount of American taxpayer dollars in foreign aid. In the interest of keeping relations strong between our two countries, it is imperative that the U.S. insist that Mongolia uphold principles and business practices in keeping with democratic ideals."
SOURCE Frontiers of Freedom Institute
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