The inauguration of Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States, is bringing back the memories of his 2011 visit to Mongolia, a young Asian democracy, during which he met with Sukhbaatar Batbold, the then Prime Minister, now a possible candidate for Mongolia’s presidency in the 2021 campaign.
“It’s time for America to recover,” Biden said after winning the US presidential election. I promise not to be divided, but to be a president who wants to unite.” Former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and current Vice President Mike Pence attended the swearing-in ceremony. President Donald Trump, who has ruled the United States for the past four years, did not attend, which made him the first president in nearly 150 years not to show up at his successor’s inauguration.
This year, Mongolia is celebrating the 34th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States. In 2011, when President Joe Biden was Vice President, the then Prime Minister of Mongolia, Sukhbaatar Batbold hosted him during Biden’s official visit to Mongolia. During the visit, the sides discussed the development of a comprehensive partnership based on the common values and mutual interests of the two countries. On that occasion, Joe Biden stressed that Mongolia was demonstrating to the world that a peaceful transition to democracy and a market economy was indeed possible. The visit was seen at the time as a milestone in strengthening cooperation between the United States and Mongolia. He also pointed out during the visit that Mongolia was one of the true democracies in Asia, which may be America’s natural partner in US efforts to keep China in check.
The US Democratic Party to which Joe Biden belongs has similar center-left political views that the Mongolian People’s Party, MPP, advocates, and of which Batbold used to be the chairman and currently serves on its Executive Board. MPP is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Also, Mongolia will elect its president this year and Batbold Sukhbataar has been announced by MPP’s secretary-general as one of the potential candidates from his party.