Mineral-rich Mongolia is steeling itself for democratic change

Anti-corruption protests have drawn a stream of European politicians to the country – and the man tasked with cleaning up its act is confident that he can deliver

In December, amid sub-zero temperatures, thousands of Mongolians turned up in Sükhbaatar Square in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, to protest about rampant corruption, and for a moment the Asian democracy, sitting uneasily between China and Russia, looked as though it might crumble.

That this would have mattered to the west is shown by the number of European politicians who since have travelled to the capital, including not just Emmanuel Macron, the French president, but Polish president, Andrzej Duda, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, and her French counterpart, Catherine Colonna.