Some countries provoke wars to expand their territory; Some countries tried their best to defend their territory, which led to most wars in history, and China could do nothing about it.
China used to be so vast that other countries could not reach it. In the heyday of the ancient dynasty, the territory was130,000 square kilometers.
However, in the late Qing dynasty, when the country was closed to the outside world and poor and weak, western powers took advantage of the situation and frequently launched wars of aggression against China. Including Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan Province, carved up and plundered large areas of land with unequal treaties on land division and compensation.
Therefore, after the founding of 1949 New China, the recovery of national territory became one of the main topics of the National Government. Over the years, through diplomatic negotiations, with the continuous improvement of international status and influence, China has successively recovered nine lost lands, and is still making efforts.
China's attitude towards territory is just like the well-known declaration: "We will never allow anyone or any force to invade and split the sacred territory of the motherland. In the event of such a serious situation, the people of China will surely hit hard. "
However, in 20 10, faced with the situation that Tajikistan, a small country in Central Asia, occupied 28,000 square kilometers in China, China chose to give in, only taking back 1 158 square kilometers, and giving away the rest.
So, what is the origin of the territorial dispute between China and Tajikistan? Why did China choose to give in?
This issue of the Historical Literature Society takes you to understand behind the territorial dispute between China and Tajikistan.
199 1 year 65438+February 2 1 day, with the signing of the Almaty Declaration, the Soviet era officially came to an end. 22.4 million square kilometers of land disintegrated into 15 countries, and Tajikistan is one of them.
The huge military and industrial heritage of the Soviet Union was basically inherited by Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. As for Tajikistan, a small border country, not only did it not get a share, but because of its geographical proximity to China, it took on a "mess" called territorial dispute.
Before the October Revolution, the Soviet Union was still Tsarist Russia, which occupied the most territory of China in modern times.
As early as the Ming Dynasty, Russia invaded the Heilongjiang River Basin in China frequently, and acted recklessly against the local people. Until the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi was ruthless. In order to consolidate his power, he captured Ao Bai alive, put down the San Francisco rebellion, and used personal expedition to approve Geer. Tsarist Russia was completely defeated, which ended and fled back to its hometown.
Strangely, it is clear that the Qing army won many victories, and Russia took the lead in raising the white flag. In the Treaty of Nebuchadnezzar Chu, which demarcated the eastern border of China in 1689, the Qing Dynasty not only ceded Nebuchadnezzar Chu, 440,000 square kilometers east of Lake Baikal, to Russia; It also helped Russia determine the legal occupation of Siberia.
You know, Kim Jae-ki, a famous Korean scholar, put forward in recent years that "Siberia, with an ancient area of 1 1 10,000 square kilometers, belonged to ancient China for more than 5,500 years". It also proves that the "Beiye" in Shan Hai Jing is actually Siberia, and Gu Zeng, the leader of a tribe in Siberia, once worshipped Emperor Taizong.
It can be seen that the treaty of Nebuchadnezzar Chu, known as friendship and equality, is actually "spending money to buy peace of mind"
As for the outbreak of the Opium War, after the national strength of the Qing Dynasty plummeted, a number of western powers surged like wolves, tigers and leopards, setting off a frenzy to carve up China. Naturally, Russia was unwilling to lag behind.
From looting during the Second Opium War to sending troops to the Heilongjiang River Basin to "show off muscles"; To 187 1, openly support Agubo's occupation of Xinjiang and take the opportunity to occupy Yili. Tsarist Russia forced the Qing government to sign many unequal treaties, such as "Love Faint Treaty" and "Ili Treaty", and plundered 1.5 million square kilometers of land.
Among these disputed areas, the Pamir Plateau in Tajikistan is also included.
Located at the westernmost tip of China, Pamirs has been the territory of China since ancient times. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty set up the Western Regions Capital Protection House here, and the establishment of the Qianlong Jigong Monument made it clear that China owned the whole Pamirs.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the19th century, Russia, which was frantically expanding its territory, and Britain, the largest colonial empire in the world, were eyeing this natural traffic throat extending in all directions.
The two robbers shared the spoils in front of China. 1895, they formally reached an agreement to divide the Pamirs equally-Russia in the north and British India in the south, leaving a "Wakhan Corridor" in the middle as a buffer zone for Afghanistan.
Although the Qing government once ceded 440,000 square kilometers of land in the western Pamirs to Russia in the book Northwest Boundary Division 1864. But there are still 28,000 square kilometers of land actually occupied by Russia, which China has never acknowledged.
With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the disputed territory of 28,000 square kilometers on the Pamirs was included in the territory of Tajikistan.
Since 199 1 September 9, 2000, Tajikistan declared its independence and formally inherited the disputed Pamirs, and China soon started territorial negotiations with it.
The territorial issue is undoubtedly like a "bomb" left over from the same period of history, which is extremely sensitive and explosive. Looking around the world, there are many cases in which a hot war broke out due to territorial disputes. The Sino-Indian war and the Sino-Vietnamese war are all proofs.
Although China is willing to keep its promise and recognize Tajikistan's sovereignty over most parts of the Pamirs on the basis of the Sino-Russian Border Treaty on Continued Exploration of Kashgar, it only wants to return that part of the territory privately occupied and carved up by Britain and Russia.
Tajikistan, relying on the illegal occupation of Russia, legally inherited the Soviet heritage, but insisted on not recognizing it. As a result, the negotiations reached a deadlock and made no progress.
From an objective point of view, Tajikistan's attitude is actually understandable. After all, Pamir is speechless.
First of all, Tajikistan, as the smallest country in Central Asia, has a land area of only 1.43 million square kilometers, so it is simply whimsical to let it hand over about one-fifth of its land directly.
Secondly, Pamirs has a unique geographical advantage. First, as the "roof of Asia" with an average altitude of more than 4,500 meters, it can be condescending and become a natural barrier against foreign invasion; It can also achieve strategic suppression of surrounding areas.
Secondly, the Pamirs can be called the core hub of the whole Asian continent, with direct access to the hinterland of Central Asia in the north, the South Asian subcontinent in the south, Afghan in the west and China in the east. As in ancient times, it is the only way of the Silk Road.
The reason why China attaches so much importance to this disputed area of 28,000 square kilometers is not only because of the inviolability of China's territory, but also because of the demand for the geographical advantages of Pamirs.
In short, China-Tajikistan has launched several rounds of negotiations on this "battleground for military strategists".
In the 1990s, China took off with the help of the spring breeze of reform and opening up. Industry, economy, military and other aspects are booming, and the comprehensive national strength and international status are different from now.
It is no exaggeration to say that China's recovery of disputed territory from Tajikistan is a piece of cake.
However, the actual situation is just the opposite. After long-term negotiations, the two countries finally formally signed the Protocol on Delimitation of the Border between China and Tajikistan in April 20 10. China successfully recovered the Pamir region 1 158 square kilometers, but this is only 4% of the disputed territory between China and Tajikistan.
With a clear historical affiliation and overwhelming national strength, why did China choose to back down and hand over the disputed territory?
First, as the largest developing country in the world, China has always advocated the principle of "equality, mutual benefit and common development". Actively assume the responsibility of a big country and do our best to help those weak and backward countries.
At the "China International Development Cooperation Achievement Exhibition" held in April, 20021,Foreign Minister Wang Yi clearly pointed out that China has provided various kinds of assistance to more than 60 developing countries.
Obviously, China has always been adhering to the concept of a community of human destiny, and has always shown great country feelings and responsibility. If we really use strength or even force to recover 28,000 square kilometers of disputed land, it is not in line with China's consistent style.
Second, the western development. The gap between the rich and the poor is too large, and the regional economic development is unbalanced, which is a hidden danger that hinders a country's long-term development, and it is also one of the outstanding problems in China at the end of last century.
Therefore, in September 1999, the central government formally adopted the strategy of "developing the western region". Let the economically developed eastern coastal areas drive the development of the western region, so as to realize the coordinated development of the national economy.
However, China is a vast country with a distance of over 5,000 kilometers from east to west. It is beyond our power to rely solely on the support of the East. On the other hand, Central Asia, which is directly adjacent to Xinjiang, is a more suitable partner for win-win cooperation in western China. Not only is the market vast, but the economic level is similar to that of western China at that time.
In other words, good cooperation with the five Central Asian countries is of great significance to China's western development strategy. Therefore, for China, making friends with Tajikistan at a little sacrifice is a better choice than a lonely plateau area.
Third, the demand of economic development. Although Central Asia generally gives people a low sense of existence and backward economy, it has an incomparable advantage-resources.
The oil reserves of the five Central Asian countries account for 18%-25% of the world's total oil reserves, and the proven natural gas reserves reach 7.9 trillion cubic meters. Other mineral resources, such as zinc, tungsten and uranium, are also the best in the world.
As for Tajikistan, as early as the Soviet Union, more than 400 ore belts including gold, silver, precious stones, tungsten, iron, lead and zinc, anthracite and inert substances were excavated in its territory. Among them, uranium reserves rank first in the Commonwealth of Independent States, while lead ore and zinc ore rank first in central Asia.
Although China is rich in mineral resources, as the largest energy consumer in the world, it is difficult for China to achieve self-sufficiency and rely on imports for a long time. Obviously, Central Asia, a resource treasure-house adjacent to China, is of great significance to the security and stability of China's imported energy and the sustainable development of its economy.
In a word, whether it is out of the image of a big country, the position of good neighborliness and friendship, or the needs of practical interests and future development. In order to be a good neighbor, it is a good choice for China to give up part of the land left over for hundreds of years.
It is worth mentioning that apart from Tajikistan, China and two other neighboring Central Asian countries have also successfully resolved their territorial disputes by the same method. In 2008, Kazakhstan returned 30% of the disputed territory to China, while Kyrgyzstan returned about 35% of the disputed territory in 20 14, with an area of over 1 100 square kilometers, which is similar to Tajikistan. This shows China's sincerity in establishing friendly and cooperative relations with the five Central Asian countries.
Of course, the smooth settlement of territorial disputes and the establishment of friendly and cooperative relations between China and Tajikistan are icing on the cake for China, but a timely help for Tajikistan.
Tajikistan is a landlocked country with many mountains. More than half of the territory is above 3000 meters above sea level, and 93% of the territory is covered by plateaus and mountains. Less than 7% of cultivated land resources, coupled with dry climate conditions and serious soil hardening, Tajikistan, which is positioned as an agricultural country, can hardly guarantee food self-sufficiency.
As for the industrial level, it's a long story. Perhaps it stems from the Soviet Union's vigorous development of heavy industry and neglect of light industry, and its industrial and economic centers are concentrated in Western Europe. At the beginning of independence, Tajikistan's manufacturing and industrial base was like a blank. However, due to its generally backward surrounding environment and economic status, Tajikistan has no ability to stand on its own feet from scratch.
It is understood that many basic building materials and daily necessities in Tajikistan have been imported for a long time, such as high-priced cement with a bag of 200 dollars.
The excessively backward infrastructure and industrial strength also make Tajikistan obviously have such rich mineral resources, but it has no ability to mine and excavate, so it can only look helplessly.
To make matters worse, Tajikistan has been deeply involved in civil war for a long time, influenced by the game between big countries and extremist organizations in Afghanistan.
Oppression from all directions, internal troubles and foreign invasion have kept its economy in a state of stagnation, stability and retrogression. 1997, Tajikistan's GDP was only 9 1 100 million dollars. Even if it bottomed out, the GDP in 2000 only increased to about $6543.8+$300 million, and the poverty level was clear at a glance.
It is in this predicament that China and Tajikistan took the first step to resolve the territorial dispute in 1997, and reached an agreement on the Uzbek Pass and the Karazak Pass.
In 2002, Tajik President emomali rakhmon personally visited China, which completely solved the border dispute between China and Tajikistan. As for the official handover ceremony, it will be held on September 20th, 20 1 1, at boundary pillar No.75, China, Pamirs.
In a word, the peaceful settlement of the territorial dispute between China and Tajikistan in 2000 also marked that the cooperation between the two countries was officially on the right track.
In the past 20 years, China has become the largest source of investment in Tajikistan. More than 300 China enterprises, such as PetroChina Zhongta Natural Gas Pipeline Co., Ltd., have successively invested and built a large number of factories and subsidiaries in Tajikistan, involving infrastructure, agriculture, mining, transportation, telecommunications, cement and other fields.
The most intuitive example, as Xu Gang, vice president of huaxin cement, said: "Tajikistan originally needed to import cement from Pakistan and Kazakhstan, but now it can be exported to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, from spending foreign exchange to earning foreign exchange."
In 2007, the two countries also signed the China-Tajikistan Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in areas other than economy and trade, such as jointly cracking down on religious extremist forces, ethnic separatist forces, international terrorist forces and transnational crimes, and safeguarding regional peace, stability and security.
With the great assistance of China, Tajikistan's economy and people's livelihood have improved steadily, and the unemployment rate and inflation rate have also dropped significantly. In the past 20 years, the average annual economic growth rate of Tajikistan has been 7.5%, and the total GDP in 20021year has reached 8.4 billion US dollars, which is expected in the future.
Accordingly, the friendly cooperation with Tajikistan and other five Central Asian countries has not only effectively guaranteed the security and stability of the western region of China, but also contributed to the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, national economy and international influence in China.
It is worth mentioning that in the territory of 1 158 square kilometers returned by Tajikistan, China has also discovered a large number of gold mines and very rare uranium mines, which are of great significance to both military nuclear weapons and civilian nuclear power plants.
The peaceful settlement of territorial disputes between China and Tajikistan is a model of good-neighborliness and win-win cooperation.
As the leaders of the two countries said, China and Tajikistan are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners, and are "hardcore" friends with high mutual trust and interdependence. The friendship and cooperation between the two countries will continue to develop in the future.