October 11, 2010

In the year 1271, the Mongolian Kublai Khan became the emperor of China. 3 years later, he launched an armada of between 500-900 ships to attack Japan. 736 years later, facing another Chinese threat relating to access to raw materials, Japan is joining forces with the Mongolians.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in the beginning of October, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold agreed to cooperate to develop rare earth resources in Mongolia during a meeting in Tokyo.

Development of mine resources in resource-rich Mongolia will benefit both countries. Our country's research team will launch exploration of rare metals this month," Mr. Kan said.