It was the Soviets who demanded the continued independence of Mongolia after World War II. China used its veto to prevent Mongolia from becoming a member of the United Nations. China relented on that in 1961.
The Mongols rule under Genghis Khan extended from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic sea - and consisted lands today that are not only all of China, Pakistan and Iran but much of Russia as well. The lands of modern day Russia shown on the map below that were not controlled by the Mongols were populated mostly by reindeer and polar bears.
There's some strong resistance in Mongolia to Russian influence even at this moment.
Push came to shove it definitely would go to the Chinese. The cultures are similar.
Mongolia wants to keep their independence. But make no mistake. China would like to recover lands lost to Russia: whatever the Chinese word is for lebensraum.
Which would NOT be a good thing. A war between Russia and China over Russia's territory could go nuclear very quickly since Russia simply doesn't have the manpower to stop a prolonged invasion.
@beckyromero that's what they want. Yet it would start over Mongolia first. Russia won't start nukes over Mongolia. There's too much resistance already. When China attempts to cross the upper Manchurian border is when nukes will become a possibility. Not over Mongolia....
