Two Mongolian women who assaulted foreign workers of an oil exploration company have been charged with criminal offenses and detained for 30 days, stated Mongolian police official today.

The police issued a statement today regarding the case of "...named citizens opposing oil exploration activities in Sukhbaatar province."

In this regard, the head of the Investigation Department of the Central Investigation Department, Police Colonel B. Batdelger, stated that the Sukhbaatar aimag police department received information that the “Mongolia Foison Energy” company's temporary workers' accommodation camp in the territory of Sukhbaatar soum of Sukhbaatar province had been raided with protesters without permission who tried to stop their exploration. The Sukhbaatar province police department is conducting an investigation. They live-streamed the event, with social media footage showing the two women dumping items belonging to Chinese workers onto the ground.

Chinese chargé d’affaires Cao Li raised “serious security concern” over the incident with B.Dashpurev, state secretary of Mongolia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, during a meeting on Tuesday, according to the embassy.

“We urge the Mongolian side to continue taking concrete measures to protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and the personal and property safety of Chinese employees, and prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the embassy said.

According to the embassy, Dashpurev apologised over the incident and said Mongolia would not tolerate interference with the lawful operations of Chinese companies.

Dashpurev described such acts as damaging to Mongolia’s national interests and economic security, adding that police had opened an investigation and that those involved had been detained, it said.

The Chinese-invested Mongolia Foison Energy company, owned by Hong Kong-registered Foison Energy Holdings Limited, has been granted a license to conduct exploration  works for crude oil in Bayantumen, Bulgan, Matad, Khulunbuir of Dornod province and Sukhbaatar soum of Sukhbaatar province, and began oil exploration activities on July 4, 2026. It signed a production-sharing agreement with the Mongolian government for the Kherlen Tohoi XXVIII block in 2024, with plans to spend about US$50 million on exploration over eight years.