Resource extraction and national anxieties: China’s economic presence in Mongolia

Abstract

Over the last two decades and particularly in the last 10 years, Chinese investment in Mongolia has skyrocketed, with the vast majority of the country’s exports now flowing to China. As foreign investment has grown in Mongolia, particularly in the mining sector, apprehension circulates about the extension and meaning of increased Chinese power. We argue that contemporary anxieties about China’s economic influence in Mongolia go beyond recent and contemporary political economic issues and are tied to memories of the Qing Dynasty. Controversies surrounding Mongolia’s flagship mine, the Oyu Tolgoi copper–gold mine in South Gobi province, demonstrate how even non-Chinese foreign mining operations are intertwined with Mongolia’s past and future relationships with China. Rather than acting simply as resource nationalists, the people and government of Mongolia often see contemporary Chinese economic power through a historical lens, with fears of declining sovereignty and becoming Chinese through control over land and resources. This paper draws on fieldwork conducted by the authors in Mongolia from 2009 to 2015 and contributes to discussions about fears of Chinese influence, extractive industry development, and resource nationalism in Mongolia.     

The stepping test: a step back in history

The stepping test is a valuable part of the neurological examination that is used to localize labyrinthine pathology. The test is known by two eponyms: the "Fukuda Test" in the United States and Asia and the "Unterberger Test" in Europe. Some controversy exists as to which name is correct. Siegfried Unterberger was an Austrian otolaryngologist who initially described the test in 1939. It was modified in 1959 by Tadashi Fukuda, a Japanese otolaryngologist, who introduced a method to better quantify the test results. Thus, the test should be called the "Unterberger Test," unless Fukuda's methods for measurement are used.     

‘Traditional Birth Attendants’ and Reproductive Expertise in Postcolonial Mali

Over the twentieth century, Malian families turned to older women reproductive specialists like excisers (who initiated young women into adulthood), nuptial counsellors (who educated women for sex within marriage) and popular midwives. Their work reflected an expansive understanding of health and fertility. In the 1970s, Mali's government sought to incorporate ‘traditional medicine’ into the health system. State health workers trained popular midwives as ‘Traditional Birth Attendants’ (TBA). The same health workers defined nuptial counselling and excision as un-therapeutic and outdated cultural practices. Comparing these responses reveals the role of gender and social status in the making of an African health system.