 Until as recently as 1990, Mongolia was a one-party communist state. And although there's an electorate of only about two million in this election, there are 23 political parties vying for votes. And the Japanese embassy in Beijing has flown its flag at half-mast to honour a Chinese woman who was fatally stabbed while defending a Japanese woman and her child. China's Public Security Bureau praised the 55-year-old as brave and righteous.