An event not widely reported has been the formal end of all territorial disputes between China and Russia, so I thought I would cover it here!
During the Cold War period in the Soviet era, Russia felt threatened not only by the Western Alliance, but also by its former ideological partner China. Whilst there were several close calls, other than very occasional and plausibly deniable special forces clashes in the 'proxy wars' Russian Ground Forces and NATO Alliance Ground Forces never met in combat.
The same could not be said of China, where a historical and often bitter Border Dispute dating back to the late 1920's, which after the ideological rift in the 1960's resulted in both sides stationing Armies along the disputed border. Hardly reported in the Western press, these occasionally resulted in armed clashes, in some cases involving major formations and desperate fighting.
Since the end of the Soviet Union things have changed both in Russia and China, so gradually each disputed part of the 4,300 Kilometer (2,672 Mile) Border has been resolved by diplomatic negotiation, starting with the Eastern Border in 1991, Western Border 1994 and a supplementary to the Eastern Border Agreement in 2004.
It is this 2004 Supplement to the 1991 agreement which has paved the way for resolving the last remaining disputed territory the island of Heixiazi Island (Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island) and associated islets and Yinlong Island (Tarabarov Island) both situated at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuir Rivers. This dispute has been the most difficult to resolve due to the Islands and Islets being so close to the major Russian City of Khabarovsk.
Whilst the 2004 Supplement set down in principle how this would be resolved, with Russia returning Yinlog and half Heixiazi, this did not sit well with the citizens of Khabarovsk and in May this year as the proposals were being brought to the Russian Parliament, there was a major demonstration by Cossacks in the City., However high local feeling, the Russian Parliament ratified the proposals in June. This led to the formal signing of the treaty in Beijing on the 21st July 2008. This in turn led to critical comment in the Chinese non-government controlled media about some of the already agreed borders, most notably that Outer Manchuria (Priamurye) is Russian Sovereign Terrority.
Signing a piece of paper and actually changing the situation on the Ground are two very different things. The handover of Territory, Manning of the new Border Posts and the new Border Markers ceremonially being unveiled on the 14 October.
China in particular is trumpeting this agreement and its implementation as an example of how Border Disputes can be resolved peaceably. But actually this is a primary example of two countries interests outweighing their territorial disagreement. China needs Russian raw Materials, Oil, Gas and Nuclear Power. Also their interests coincide on a number of World issues notably Iran and North Korea.
Therefore as an example, this agreement has little relevance to most other territorial disputes, where joint interests are outweighed by sovereignty.
For thos who may be interested Wikipedia has a list of Territorial Disputes Worldwide
During the Cold War period in the Soviet era, Russia felt threatened not only by the Western Alliance, but also by its former ideological partner China. Whilst there were several close calls, other than very occasional and plausibly deniable special forces clashes in the 'proxy wars' Russian Ground Forces and NATO Alliance Ground Forces never met in combat.
The same could not be said of China, where a historical and often bitter Border Dispute dating back to the late 1920's, which after the ideological rift in the 1960's resulted in both sides stationing Armies along the disputed border. Hardly reported in the Western press, these occasionally resulted in armed clashes, in some cases involving major formations and desperate fighting.
Since the end of the Soviet Union things have changed both in Russia and China, so gradually each disputed part of the 4,300 Kilometer (2,672 Mile) Border has been resolved by diplomatic negotiation, starting with the Eastern Border in 1991, Western Border 1994 and a supplementary to the Eastern Border Agreement in 2004.
It is this 2004 Supplement to the 1991 agreement which has paved the way for resolving the last remaining disputed territory the island of Heixiazi Island (Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island) and associated islets and Yinlong Island (Tarabarov Island) both situated at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuir Rivers. This dispute has been the most difficult to resolve due to the Islands and Islets being so close to the major Russian City of Khabarovsk.
Whilst the 2004 Supplement set down in principle how this would be resolved, with Russia returning Yinlog and half Heixiazi, this did not sit well with the citizens of Khabarovsk and in May this year as the proposals were being brought to the Russian Parliament, there was a major demonstration by Cossacks in the City., However high local feeling, the Russian Parliament ratified the proposals in June. This led to the formal signing of the treaty in Beijing on the 21st July 2008. This in turn led to critical comment in the Chinese non-government controlled media about some of the already agreed borders, most notably that Outer Manchuria (Priamurye) is Russian Sovereign Terrority.
Signing a piece of paper and actually changing the situation on the Ground are two very different things. The handover of Territory, Manning of the new Border Posts and the new Border Markers ceremonially being unveiled on the 14 October.
China in particular is trumpeting this agreement and its implementation as an example of how Border Disputes can be resolved peaceably. But actually this is a primary example of two countries interests outweighing their territorial disagreement. China needs Russian raw Materials, Oil, Gas and Nuclear Power. Also their interests coincide on a number of World issues notably Iran and North Korea.
Therefore as an example, this agreement has little relevance to most other territorial disputes, where joint interests are outweighed by sovereignty.
For thos who may be interested Wikipedia has a list of Territorial Disputes Worldwide
No comments:
Post a Comment