Charges in Mongolia LGBT attack hint at changing attitudes www.aljazeera.com

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Last month, Bosoo Khukh Mongol, a far-right Mongolian nationalist group, teamed up with a local television station to lure a transgender sex worker into a hotel room.

In the room, they threatened her with physical violence and forced her to describe her work on camera.

The video was aired on the evening news and posted on Bosoo Khukh Mongol's Facebook page, alongside incendiary commentary accusing the LGBT community of paedophilia, spreading disease and compromising national security.

Gay and transgender people continue to be the target of harassment and violence in Mongolia, although some progress has been made in recent years.

In 2017, changes were made to the law to provide more protections for the LGBT community as well as better training for law enforcement officials on hate crimes and preventing and prosecuting them.

"Previously, Mongolians had limited knowledge about acceptance of LGBT rights and dignity," said Tamir Chultemsuren, a political sociologist with the Independent Research Institute of Mongolia, "but now, people have more information... and so general public awareness has improved."

Educating authorities on hate crimes
The LGBT Center, a Mongolian NGO, began training the police on hate crimes and the implications of the 2017 criminal code after they failed to take action against an officer who assaulted a detained transgender woman.

They have since trained more than 500 police officers, prosecutors, and judges.

Now, the Mongolian police force has guidelines for processing transgender individuals: In police custody, transgender individuals are treated according to the gender they identify as, regardless of their state-issued identification.

"Compared with 2017, I see an improvement, especially from the Crime and Investigation Division," said Baldangombo Altangerel, the LGBT Center’s legal director who was responsible for overseeing the police training programme.

Following Bosoo Khukh Mongol's harassment of the transgender women last month, the Human Rights Commission of Mongolia submitted a formal request to the police to investigate the incident under the new criminal code.

Mongolian police told Al Jazeera they are investigating the case as a hate crime and, in late September, they brought formal charges against Bosoo Khukh Mongol leader, Gankhuyag Ganzorig. They have not taken action against the TV station.

The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, has worked with the police and is being treated as a victim, a sign of progress as historically, rape and sexual violence against Mongolia’s LGBT community have not been prosecuted.

Growing support
The LGBT Center has been surprised by public reaction to the incident.

Kenna, Youth Programme manager for the LGBT Center, said people had posted messages of support on its social media page.

"I’ve noticed that people speaking up for LGBT rights has increased," Kenna said, "People are starting to know about the criminal code, anti-discrimination."

In October 2018, Kenna launched the Mongolian Queer Podcast, a well-received podcast which recently completed its third season.

The podcast focuses on providing advice and support, profiling those who are already out and proud to highlight their experiences for others in the community as well as non-LGBT people to underline social support and acceptance.

In 2014, Mongolia's first pride parade was held with only 15 participants; in August of this year, an estimated 250 took part.

On the weekends in the capital Ulaanbaatar, D.D./H.Z., Mongolia’s first gay bar, is busy. Zorig Alima, the owner, says his clientele has increased since police raids on the bar stopped after the implementation of the new criminal code.

And his is no longer the only bar in town, with as many as four new places opening in recent years.

Discrimination
While Mongolia’s new criminal code has given gender and sexual minorities more protection from hate crimes, Baldangombo says more needs to be done to help them integrate into society.

A 2014 report from the United Nations Development Programme found that a Mongolian from a gender or sexual minority was more likely to be unemployed and that an LGBT person's perceived risk of falling into poverty doubled when they lived openly.

The situation is even more difficult for Mongolia’s transgender population because they can only change their gender on state-issued identification documents after undergoing gender reassignment surgery, which is not available in the country. As a result, they often risk being discriminated against upon submitting their paperwork for employment.

Many transgender people go into sex work - illegal in Mongolia - when they are unable to access formal employment, putting themselves at risk of being harassed or arrested.

Marta Sukh-Ochir, a transgender woman who once worked alongside the woman attacked by Bosoo Khukh Mongol, told Al Jazeera she took up sex work after her family kicked her out and she couldn’t afford food or a home.

"I actively looked for other jobs, cashier at a supermarket, receptionist at a hotel, shop assistant...I tried many times, she said. I applied to so many jobs. My gender expression, my appearance - how I looked with long hair, nails, being and acting feminine - was a struggle for employers."

Sukh-Ochir fled Mongolia as a refugee but still worries for the safety of her friend and transgender people back in her homeland.

While life is gradually improving for Mongolia's LGBT community, there are still a number of hurdles to overcome.

Foreign trade surplus reaches USD 1 billion 347.2 million www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. As for the first nine months, Mongolian foreign trade had surplus of USD 1 billion 347.2 million according to Mongolian Customs General Administration (MCGA).

CNA's new documentary show explores Mongolia's role on Belt and Road Initiative www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MOTSAME/ Channel News Asia TV (CNA), English language news channel based in Singapore, has recently released a new episode 'Dragon at The Doorstep' of its documentary series titled ‘The New Silk Road: Road to Russia’.

Exploring Mongolia with Snow Leopard Champion Bayarjargal Agvaantseren www.goldmanprize.org

This is a guest blog by Program Officer Lindsey Freedman, who shares series of photos from her visit to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to meet 2019 Prize winner Bayarjargal Agvaantseren. Agvaantseren helped create the 1.8 million-acre Tost Tosonbumba Nature Reserve in the South Gobi Desert—a critical habitat for the vulnerable snow leopard—then succeeded in persuading the Mongolian government to cancel all mining licenses within the reserve.

As a native Californian, my idea of cold is anything below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So, when I stepped off the plane on a cold January night in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, I had to check to make sure my eyeballs hadn’t frozen in their sockets. It was minus 34 degrees. It felt like I was inhaling icy daggers instead of oxygen. I’d been obsessively checking the weather before I left on my trip to meet 2019 Prize winner Bayara Agvaantseren, but had ultimately given up trying to anticipate temperature swings and just packed all of my warm gear. All of it. Which meant that I ended up looking like the Michelin man and abandoned any dreams of making it into the pages of fashion magazines.

Despite the cold, being able to finally meet Bayara and spend time with this amazing activist was one of the highlights of my career. I knew from my research that her steely determination had earned her the nickname “The Iron Lady.” Soft-spoken and polite, at first I didn’t quite understand where the nickname had come from. But after visiting the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation’s office and listening to Bayara explain, in incredible detail, their work and the grave threats that Mongolia’s snow leopards are facing, it became immediately clear to me how she earned such a powerful moniker. I was lucky enough to see camera trap footage of snow leopards and was impressed by how the staff of SLCF could identify individual cats based on their spots (they all looked pretty similar to me!). I also learned that a large mural of a snow leopard painted on the wall outside of the office was not commissioned by Bayara, but instead had just…appeared one day.

Getting to the 1.8 million-acre Tost Tosonbumba Nature Reserve—which Bayara created specifically for snow leopards—in the South Gobi Desert is an arduous, several-day journey by car that unfortunately was impossible to make, due both to weather and time constraints. However, Bayara was an excellent host while I was in Ulaanbaatar, and we had a great time visiting the Genghis Khan museum on the outskirts of the capital. We also rode Bactrian camels, which were surprisingly smooth and not unlike riding atop a big, hairy sofa.

Mongolia is an immense country replete with natural resources, but those same resources are the primary drivers of devastating environmental degradation that directly threatens the snow leopard and its habitat. Bayara’s work to protect the world’s second largest population of snow leopards from extinction is all the more impressive given the challenges she’s facing. It was an honor to spend time with Bayara, and I will definitely return to Mongolia to help SLCF staff set camera traps in the mountains—but, next time, I’m going in the spring.

Mongolia sends samples of processed fuel abroad after six people die www.xinhuanet.com

ULAN BATOR, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has sent samples of the processed fuel abroad for further laboratory tests after a total of six people died and dozens of people have been hospitalized here since last week due to allegedly burning processed coal to keep warm, local officials said.

India offers $ 236 mn additional credit to Mongolia for building oil refinery: Pradhan www.thehindubusinessline.com

India has offered an additional $ 236 million credit to Mongolia for setting up a 1.5 million tonne per annum oil refinery in that country.

France to grant loan of EUR 57.9 million www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. In the course of its session, the Budget standing committee discussed a financial agreement draft of the Government of France.

China tightens grip on Ivanhoe’s massive congo copper project www.mining.com

Zijin, one of China’s largest mining groups, is increasing its stake in Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) to 13.88% from 9.8% by acquiring 35.7 million shares from CITIC Metal and 12.9 million shares from founder Robert Friedland for about C$194 million ($146m).

US imposes China visa restrictions over Uighur issue www.bbc.com

The US has said it will impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials accused of involvement in repression of Muslim populations.

It follows the decision on Monday to blacklist 28 Chinese organisations linked by the US to allegations of abuse in the Xinjiang region.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Chinese government had instituted "a highly repressive campaign".

China has dismissed the allegations as groundless.

In a statement, Mr Pompeo accused the Chinese government of a string of abuses against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz Muslims and other minority Muslim groups.

These included "mass detentions in internment camps; pervasive, high-tech surveillance; draconian controls on expressions of cultural and religious identities; and coercion of individuals to return from abroad to an often perilous fate in China".

China has rebuffed the US moves.

"There is no such thing as these so-called 'human rights issues' as claimed by the United States," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Monday.

"These accusations are nothing more than an excuse for the United States to deliberately interfere in China's internal affairs."

Visa restrictions are to be imposed on Chinese government and Communist Party officials, as well as their family members.

"The United States calls on the People's Republic of China to immediately end its campaign of repression in Xinjiang, release all those arbitrarily detained, and cease efforts to coerce members of Chinese Muslim minority groups residing abroad to return to China to face an uncertain fate," the US statement said.

The US and China are currently embroiled in a trade war, and have sent delegations to Washington for a meeting about the tensions later this week.

China has been carrying out a massive security operation in Xinjiang, in its far west, in recent years.

Human rights groups and the UN say China has rounded up and detained more than a million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in vast detention camps, where they are forced to renounce Islam, speak only in Mandarin Chinese and learn obedience to the communist government.

But China says they are attending "vocational training centres" which are giving them jobs and helping them integrate into Chinese society, in the name of preventing terrorism.

There have been increasingly vocal denunciations from the US and other countries about China's actions in Xinjiang.

Last week, Mr Pompeo alleged that China "demands its citizens worship government, not God" in a press conference in the Vatican.

And in July more than 20 countries at the UN Human Rights Council signed a joint letter criticising China's treatment of the Uighurs and other Muslims.

Who are the Uighurs?
Uighurs are ethnically Turkic Muslims. They make up about 45% of the Xinjiang region's population; 40% are Han Chinese.

China re-established control in 1949 after crushing short-lived state of East Turkestan.

Why is there tension between China and the Uighurs?
Since then, there has been large-scale immigration of Han Chinese and Uighurs fear erosion of their culture.

Xinjiang is officially designated an autonomous region within China, like Tibet to its south.

Chinese tourists spend $128bn overseas, splashing more cash in Belt & Road countries www.rt.com

A new report by the China State Administration of Foreign Exchange shows that the country’s tourists spent $127.5 billion overseas in the first half of 2019. China has held the top position in the global tourism market since 2012.
According to the report, the lion’s share of Chinese tourists’ money was spent in Asia, with 54 percent of the total. The Americas ranked second, accounting for 24 percent, followed by Europe with 13 percent.