(the upper reaches of the Argun River in the Chita region) and two sections in the area of the Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuri islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers. The main part of these territories was the western tip of the Big Ussuri Island on the Amur River opposite the mouth of the Ussuri River. The island has an area of 327 to 350 km² depending on the season.
On October 14, 2004, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao signed an amendment to the agreement on the Russian-Chinese state border, according to which the transfer took place.
On September 20, 1924, a new border agreement was concluded between the USSR and the government of the three autonomous eastern provinces of the Republic of China (to replace the agreement between China and the Tsar of Russia, which, like other agreements with the Tsarist government, was canceled earlier). According to this agreement (Article 3), the parties agreed to re-demarcate the border, but until then adhere to the old borders.
During the Japanese occupation of China, the USSR took control of many islands on the Chinese side of the channel on the Amur and Ussuri.
The problem of the disputed islands of Tarabarov and Bolshoy Ussuriysky arose in 1964, when a new draft agreement on the border was developed, but the document was not signed.
Chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Chinese Committee of Friendship, Peace and Development Leonid Drachevsky said that the transfer of the islands would resolve “the last moment darkening relations between Russia and China.” According to Natalya Narochnitskaya, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, “the concession of territory is very small, and the importance of strategic relations with China is obvious.”
Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev noted that there were two alternatives to signing the agreement: demand all disputed territories from China or leave the situation unchanged and with no prospects for an agreement in the foreseeable future (which, in his opinion, is extremely dangerous for Russia, since carries the risk of conflict). Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that we are not talking about territorial concessions: the islands legally and in the international legal sense did not belong to anyone, and when the agreement on the border between the USSR and the PRC was concluded in 1991, the ownership of the three islands was also not determined.
Representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation opposed the agreement. In particular, Viktor Ilyukhin said: “They are giving away 337 square kilometers! This is a very large territory, on it there are summer cottages of Russian citizens, for whom no one says anything about compensation.” The Khabarovsk regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation organized a rally against the transfer of the islands.
With this publication we remind readers of the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the first stage of demarcation of the Eastern section of the Russian-Chinese border on the border rivers Amur and Ussuri. Interest in the results of the demarcation of this section of the border, especially its second stage with the transfer of part of the islands of the Amur archipelago near Khabarovsk to the neighboring side, is periodically fueled by certain Japanese circles.
They also dream of dividing the Kuril Islands with Russia 50/50, as the Chinese achieved near Khabarovsk. But this is a separate topic, so let's go back to the 1990s.
At the turn of 2000, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Russia and China agreed on the entry into legal force of the final documents signed on December 9, 1999 on the completion of the demarcation of the joint border. IN In this connection, it is of some interest to remember how it was carried out.
Implementation of the Agreement of May 16, 1991 during 1993-1997. in the zone of responsibility of the Far Eastern Border District, field demarcation work was carried out on the border rivers Amur and Ussuri with a length of 2281 km from the confluence of the Shilka and Argun rivers (Chita region) to the confluence of the river. Sungach in the river. Ussuri (Primorsky Territory).
Border demarcation provided for hydrographic work to determine the line of the middle of the main fairway of the border rivers, along which a new line of the state border should be drawn, ground work to install boundary markers, as well as the distribution of islands. In this area, this was done for the first time in the entire history of Russian-Chinese relations.
By mutual agreement, each party formed the required number of hydrographic groups to work in the waters of border rivers and demarcation groups for land work.
On our side, hydrographic work was carried out by two hydrographic groups, consisting mainly of military hydrographers of the Pacific Fleet. Four demarcation working groups, consisting of border guards of the district and military topographers of the Far Eastern Military District, installed border markers on the Russian bank of the border rivers.
In accordance with the Agreement of May 16, 1991, border demarcation was not carried out in the Kazakevichev (Amur) channel, as will be discussed below. This area was generally removed from the demarcation framework.
During the delimitation of the border, the parties did not come to a consensus on drawing the border in other sections of the river. Amur. Therefore, an agreement was reached to carry out double measurements in the areas: o. Poludenny vs. Poyarkovo (Amur region), the mouths of the Sungari and Bira rivers, the islands of Evrasikha - Lugovskoy (Jewish Autonomous Region). Russian and Chinese hydrographers simultaneously worked in these areas, checking the results of measurements.
In 1993, the district's demarcation groups carried out a large amount of planned work on concreting the bases of border markers and determining their coordinates. Back in the fall of 1992, reconnaissance of the installation sites for border markers and some other preparatory work were carried out. It was possible to resolve the issue of manufacturing reinforced concrete border posts at one of the enterprises in Khabarovsk. The first 11 border posts in the district (and the entire Eastern part) were installed along the banks of the river. Ussuri. But for various reasons, hydrographic work was not carried out here, and on the river. Amur, the bulk of the work was carried out only by Chinese hydrographers. Russian hydrographers measured only 120 km.
The following year, demarcation work began at a good pace. By July 10, 107 border posts had been installed. With a plan of 120, by the end of the season 142 were installed, and taking into account the previously established - 153. Hydrographic work by our specialists also began in a more organized manner, although with some delay. They carried out measurements on 400 km of river. Amur and 224 km river. Ussuri. This provided the opportunity to hold working meetings with the Chinese side to prepare all the required documentation.
The successful work was also facilitated by the working meeting of the joint Russian-Chinese demarcation commission that took place on May 5-17, 1994 in Khabarovsk, as well as the availability of almost all regulatory documents by our hydrographers and topographers.
But the influence of objective and subjective factors had a negative impact. Three successive rises of water on the Ussuri seriously complicated hydrographic work. A special position of the Chinese part in relation to Fr. Midday. Only after the end of joint measurements in this area, when it became clear that the island would remain Russian, did the Chinese change their minds. Subsequently, under various pretexts, they prevented the installation of border sign No. 208 here.
1995 is characterized by the special position of the Chinese side, aimed at delaying field demarcation work. Working meetings of three DRGs took place in June instead of March, and the sixth DRG only in October. Chinese hydrographers-observers were 15-20 days late in arriving on Russian ships to carry out hydrographic measurements. The time for high water levels was missed. If on the Amur it was possible to carry out hydrographic work, then on the Ussuri they were completed ahead of schedule on September 30 due to a sharp drop in water level. It was not possible to take measurements on a section of 55 km in the upper reaches of the river.
Problematic issues were not resolved at the 6th session of the Joint Russian-Chinese Demarcation Commission, held in Chita. The session worked against the backdrop of unresolved issues of border demarcation in three areas in Primorye and the officially announced position of the Jewish Autonomous Region on drawing the border in the area of some islands on the river. Amur. Back in March, the Legislative Assembly of the Jewish Autonomous Region adopted an appeal to the Government of the Russian Federation to resume negotiations with China to revise the future border line in the area of the islands of Popov, Sazaniy, Sukhoi, Na Svorakh, Evrasikha, Lugovskoy, Nizhnepetrovsky. The Chinese side, interpreting the contractual provisions of the Agreement of May 16, 1991 on the passage of the line of the middle of the main fairway with an emphasis on depth and considering two other indicators (width and radius of curvature of the shipping channel) to be secondary, drew on their tablets the line of the middle of the main fairway in the channels nearby. zi of the Russian coast, attributing these islands (with the water area around them) to China. This problem will remain a stumbling block almost until the end of demarcation. The leadership of the Jewish Autonomous Region, and even more so its population, will demand new measurements, and therefore a new border line.
During the session, Chinese demarcators refused to check the tablets of the hydrographic works of 1994, which did not allow work to mark the border on the ground. Only on the last day such work was carried out, but there was no time left for their final coordination and approval. Ultimately, this meant delaying the entire demarcation process for at least one year.
In the same field season, diametrically opposed approaches of the parties’ demarcators to drawing the border line in the area of the Venyukovsky and Sheremetyevsky islands on the river were revealed. Ussuri. Then, for about two more years, the Chinese were looking for various arguments in order to “take” the Sheremetyevsky hay island beyond the new border line. As a result of demarcation, this island remained on our side, and Venyukovsky went to China.
Despite this position of the Chinese side, in the third field season the district successfully completed 94% of its planned targets. At the end of October, Russian and Chinese demarcators from the fourth DRG signed a package of documents for 792 km of the new border (border markers No. 133-182). This is the only DRG that completed the planned task on time. But 11 border posts could not be installed in the areas of double measurements, where Chinese demarcators never agreed on a new border line.
In 1996, the district's main effort was to complete all field work. The order of the President of the Russian Federation dated February 21, 1996 required “... to complete demarcation work on the Eastern part of the Russian-Chinese border, including on sections of the border in the Ussuriysk and Khasansky districts of Primorsky Krai and in the Jewish Autonomous Region, in particular, in the area of the islands Popov, Savelyev, Sazaniy, Sukhoi, Na Svorakh, Evrasikha, Nizhnepetrovsky on the Amur River... and without serious deviations from the established deadlines. Issues arising during further demarcation work should be resolved on the basis of compliance with the Agreement.”
This task was successfully completed. At the end of June, hydrographic work on the river was completed. Ussuri. By the beginning of October, all 168 border signs - 179 border posts - had been installed. The fourth and fifth DRGs completed the entire scope of work and were subject to disbandment.
The sixth and seventh DRGs in 1997 continued the work of painting the pillars and handing them over to the commanders of the outposts. Work continued on drawing up documentation and coordinating it with the Chinese side at the site of the fifth DRG. But the largest amount of work was carried out by the seventh DRG. Due to the fact that only one short-term working meeting took place in 1996, it was necessary, simultaneously with field work to eliminate the consequences of the large flood of the previous year, to draw up documentation for 452 km of the border together with the Chinese side.
In November, the President of Russia and the Chairman of the People's Republic of China in Beijing announced the completion of field demarcation work on the eastern part of the border. All issues related to its demarcation have been resolved. In December, at a working meeting of the Joint Russian-Chinese Demarcation Commission, the main results of field demarcation work carried out since 1993 were summed up. On a section of the border with a length of 4204 km, 1182 border posts were installed, of which 599 were Russian, 24 buoys and 2 alignment signs -ka. 179 border pillars were installed in the district's area of responsibility.
A great contribution to the organization and conduct of demarcation work was made by the district command, the heads of many departments and direct executors: the leaders of the operational group (Colonel A.M. Filonov, Lieutenant Colonel V.K. Pavlov) and demarcation groups (Majors L. S. Generalov, A.G. Laskov, A.L. Polkovnikov, A.V. Rudko), who for many years combined the performance of functional duties with painstaking work on demarcation. Good assistants to the leaders of the DRG for several field seasons were Art. Ensign A.V. Savchenko and warrant officer V.A. Muslimov. In addition to those named, other officers also participated in the demarcation work.
The activities of the district's border demarcation structures were constantly under the radar of the Russian part of the Joint Russian-Chinese Demarcation Commission. Ambassador at Large, Chairman of the Russian delegation to the Joint Demarcation Commission G.V. Kireev, his deputies art. Advisor I YES Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Yu.A. Arkharov, Colonels B.A. Fomin and A.G. Ryzhenko, chief hydrographer of the delegation, captain II rank G.A. The Vanyukovs visited the border more than once, studying problems that had accumulated over the years and resolving difficult issues of drawing a new border line.
The situation in our border area contributed to the implementation of demarcation work. The administrations of the Khabarovsk Territory, Amur Region, Jewish Autonomous Okrug, and many border regions provided various assistance. Deputy heads of administrations of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and border regions participated in working meetings of the SRKDK and DRG. Only thanks to the constant assistance of the administrations were protocol events ensured during working joint meetings of the DRG. The most effective assistance was provided by representatives of the following districts: Shimanovsky (Amur region), Oktyabrsky and Leninsky (Jewish Autonomous Region), Khabarovsky (rural), Bikinsky (Khabarovsk Territory), Pozharsky and Dalnerechensky (Primorsky Territory).
In 1998, only the work of the Joint Russian-Chinese Demarcation Commission on processing documentation continued. Work meetings were characterized as dynamic and intense. Two work processes were going on in parallel: completion of the development of demarcation materials for the Eastern part of the Russian-Chinese border and preparation for carrying out demarcation work on its Western part. In November, the parties stated that field demarcation work on the western part of the common border had also been completed. Thus, for the first time in the history of relations between the two countries, the entire demarcated border was clearly marked on the ground.
In April 1999, the parties announced that as a result of seven years of work by the Russian-Chinese demarcation commission, all documents on the Eastern and Western parts of the border between the two countries had been finally agreed upon. Both sides highly appreciated the work done. On December 9, these important documents were signed in Beijing. The causes of many conflicts have been eliminated.
But this did not provide a solution to all problems. Two important areas remained outside the demarcation: o. Big on the river Argun and a group of Amur islands near Khabarovsk.
The most acute problem was in the Khabarovsk direction. Over the previous 20 years, the border channel of the Amur (Kazakevicheva) slowly died out. Given the continued position of the Chinese side and disagreement with dredging, one could expect that there would be a land section of the state border with consequences unpredictable for the Russian side.
The parties agreed to continue negotiations to resolve the issues of the border line in the area of the Amur Islands, but the Chinese had great claims, which did not bring the positions of the parties closer together. To understand the situation, let us briefly recall the history of the establishment of the border near Khabarovsk.
The group of Amur islands near Khabarovsk, among them the islands of Bolshoy Ussuriysky and Tarabarov (the Chinese call this area the “Fuyuan Triangle”), have been the object of Chinese territorial claims since 1906
Article 1 of the Beijing Additional Treaty of 1860 delimited the passage of the boundary line between Russian and Chinese possessions along the Amur and Us-Suri rivers, with the mouth of the Ussuri defined as the point at which the boundary line turns from the latitudinal to the meridional direction. When demarcating the border in 1861 along the Ussuri and Sungach rivers, on the initiative of the Chinese side, it was decided “not to erect border pillars ... with the exception of the mouth of the river. Ussuri and the source of the Sungachi, where they will be placed on the left solid bank (Chinese - A.F.) of these rivers under the letters “E” and “I”.
The wooden pillar “E”, erected in 1861 at the mouth of the Ussuri, was replaced with a stone one in 1886 during the re-demarcation of the border, about which a separate protocol was drawn up, signed by representatives of Russia and China. In 1906, this pillar, located on the left bank of the river. Ussuri, opposite the village of Kazakevichevskaya, threatened to collapse into the water due to the erosion of the shore and for this reason was taken some distance from the shore by the Russian border authorities. This unilateral act was immediately used by the Chinese authorities to challenge the compliance of the location of the pillar with the treaty provisions.
In December 1919, the Russian border guard discovered that pillar “E” opposite the village of Kazakevichevskaya had been destroyed. So the issue of crossing the border in the Khabarovsk direction in the Chinese interpretation has a long history.
At the Beijing border consultations in 1964, Chinese diplomats confirmed their claims to these islands and unequivocally insisted on drawing a state border near the city of Khabarovsk. Without receiving the consent of the Soviet side, they broke off the negotiations. It was noted above that the parties did not reach an agreement on this area in the negotiations preceding the signing of the agreement in 1991.
As we see, even successful border demarcation could not solve a number of problems. If earlier problems of military confrontation prevailed in this region, then in the 90s. economic, environmental, legal, social, etc. came first.
By additional agreement of the parties in 2004-2008. Border demarcation was carried out in the two undemarcated areas mentioned above.
Reports periodically appear in the media about the preparatory work of the Chinese side for a new stage of border demarcation. On this issue, I advise you to contact our Foreign Ministry.
A.M. Filonov - scientific secretary of Khabarovsk
regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society
Flood and state border
The media reported about the consequences of the devastating flood in its scale and damage about its destructive impact on the border infrastructure on the border rivers Amur and Ussuri.
It's a pity that the border posts were destroyed. But they will be restored. But border markers, islands, and destroyed shores washed away by untamed lava require a different approach to their restoration. Each border pillar has its own coordinates on the map. The distance between the Russian and Chinese border posts is recorded in documents as the basis for drawing the border line on the water surface. And now it turns out that not only the border posts are missing, but also the places (islands and parts of the coast) on which they stood.
As you can see, in the fall you have to count not only the chickens, but also, first of all, the border signs. Their loss is a sure path to redermatization of the state border, and this is not an easy process. I take the liberty of asserting that the neighboring side will not miss out on its benefits. This catastrophic flood is an excellent reason to shift the border line in our direction. Six seriously eroded areas were identified.
It’s too early to talk about measures to eliminate all the consequences of flooding on border rivers; let me just remind you that the service life of our reinforced concrete border posts was designed for 20 years. In the bad memory of the 1990s, we chased cheap border posts (see photos No. 5 - 6 and compare), and now we will pay with lands.
A.M. Filonov
The Russian-Chinese border is more than 130 years old. It was in 1860, when signing the Beijing Treaty, that the Governor of Eastern Siberia, Muravyov-Amursky, together with the Chinese side, recorded that from now on this was the border of two great empires. From now on and forever. That’s exactly what the diplomats wrote down – “forever”.However, what was done “forever” in the 19th century, then in our days it was decided to review it. At the same time, reconsider in favor of the Chinese side. Work has actually already been carried out to consolidate the transfer of 960 hectares of Russian territory in the Ussuri region on the site of the so-called letter P. It is planned to soon move the border in the area of Lake Khasan. Move it so that Russia will lose another three hundred hectares of its previously considered “eternal” territories here. Why else?
This is how Russian and Chinese diplomats first defined the border in the Agreement on the demarcation of the Eastern section of the Soviet-Chinese border of May 16, 1991. Russia must transfer more than 1000 hectares of its territories to China.
In general, “demarcation” is nothing more than a clarification of boundaries where they have already been established in connection with changes in the soil, river beds, and so on that have occurred over the course of a number of years. In this case, demarcation refers to the revision and revision of an existing border. There is about a month left before the completion of this work on the almost 4,000-kilometer Russian-Chinese border. Such deadlines are provided for in the Russian-Chinese Agreement.
I’ll say right away that the demarcation work on our border was indeed caused by a certain necessity. For example, the same Tumannaya River, along the watershed of which part of the Russian-Chinese border passed, has changed its course over 130 years and has now crawled into Russia. In other cases, the corresponding border markers installed by both the Chinese and Russian sides were not always accurately documented.
Therefore, one could say that during the demarcation some areas up to several meters wide will be revised. After all, I repeat once again, the border in its main parameters was established for centuries back in the 19th century.
But when preparing and signing the Agreement in May 1991, Russian diplomats for some reason ceded not meters, which would be understandable from the point of view of pure border demarcation, but hundreds of hectares of Russian territories. Unfortunately, the same point of view prevailed later during the work on the ground. However, not all Russian specialists decided to meekly support the already signed Agreement. Thus, the adviser to the demarcation commission, Major General Valery Rozov, resigned in April 1996 in protest against this decision. The Russian hereditary border guard (third generation) did not want to go down in Russian history, as he himself says, “a traitor to the interests of the Russian State.”
What is really happening today on the Russian-Chinese border. Both the Chinese and Russian sides are showing particular interest, first of all, in moving the border near the Tumannaya River, where, in accordance with the Agreement, two sections with a total area of more than 300 hectares of primordially Russian territories should be transferred to China.
The transfer of these areas disrupts the established balance of economic and political forces in the Asia-Pacific region. Because it is precisely these two areas, which are still within Russian borders, that will not allow China to build a large port here. The territory for the port itself is wedged into the junction of the borders of three states: Russia, Korea and China. The creation of a port today is hampered by one thing - the lack of territory for the construction of access roads to it. The site for the construction of the port is located on the territory of China, but those areas through which roads and railways can be laid are on the territory of Russia. With the transfer of two Russian-owned sites on the banks of the Tumannaya River to China, the last obstacle to the creation of a powerful port facility here is removed.
Meanwhile, the Agreement not only assigns the historical territories of Russia to China, but also unilaterally grants China the right of navigation along the Tumannaya River (Tumenjiang) below the thirty-third border point to the Sea of Japan and back.
This was how China's access to the Sea of Japan was legally secured along the 17 kilometers of the Tumannaya River remaining from the site of the proposed port construction, which is the border between Russia and North Korea.
- The estimated cargo turnover of the port is 100 million tons per year. Thus China gets:
- firstly, access to the Sea of Japan with the subsequent development of trade sea routes to the USA, Japan, Singapore, etc.;
Now, via the railway available in China, cargo from the Asia-Pacific region will flow not through the ports of Vladivostok and Nakhodka along the Russian BAM, but through the port of Tumandzyan along the Chinese Eastern Railway. This route is almost 2000 km shorter than the Russian one, and therefore, naturally, more attractive for business. For the Russian side, this means that the ports operating in Primorye, and after them the BAM, will die, and the Chinese ones will flourish.
And such an opportunity, i.e. the revision of agreements already reached is provided for by the Agreement itself, which states that during the work of the joint Russian-Chinese commission on border demarcation, all controversial issues will be resolved. In those areas that are mentioned here, unfortunately, boundaries have already been defined that infringe on the interests of Russia. This, I am convinced, must be decisively stopped.
The inheritance that we inherited from our ancestors - and this is, first of all, the territory of our Motherland, the territory of Russia - must be passed on to our descendants in the same unchanged form.
MOSCOW, June 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia proceeds from the fact that Ukraine has committed itself to demarcating the border within the framework of the existing bilateral agreement, and unilateral steps will not be legally binding for Moscow. This was stated by official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Lukashevich. According to him, Russia expects Ukraine to abandon unilateral border demarcation.
“This topic is actively circulating in the media, according to established international practice, state border demarcation is a mutual process between neighboring states, therefore unilateral demarcation cannot be legally binding for the other side,” Lukashevich noted. “In accordance with the bilateral agreement with Ukraine dated May 17, 2010 "a joint demarcation commission was established." “This also fits into the norms and principles that states should follow when carrying out demarcation work,” the diplomat said. “We proceed from the fact that Ukraine has assumed obligations to carry out demarcation within the framework of this mechanism.”
The Russian part of the commission “has always demonstrated a readiness for dialogue and teamwork; members of the commission traveled to Kyiv.” “But, unfortunately, it was not possible to hold full-fledged negotiations due to the fault of the Ukrainian side,” Lukashevich added. “We hope that the Ukrainian authorities will refuse to take practical steps to unilaterally demarcate the border in violation of existing international obligations,” emphasized the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to the Federal Agency for the Development of the State Border of the Russian Federation, the delimitation of the land state border between Russia and Ukraine has been completed.
On April 23, 2004, the State Border Treaty between Russia and Ukraine came into force. The appendices to the Treaty include a description of the Russian-Ukrainian state border and an album of maps at a scale of 1:50,000 with a marked border line. The agreement did not provide for demarcation. In accordance with the Russia-Ukraine Action Plan approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, preparatory work was carried out to demarcate the state border until 2009. Based on the Russian-Ukrainian Agreement on Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, which entered into force on April 23, 2004, negotiations were also held on delimitation in the Sea of Azov. On May 17, 2010, an Agreement was signed between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the demarcation of the Russian-Ukrainian state border. Russia has completed all internal state procedures necessary for this document to enter into force.
Continuation
Border Initiatives
On June 16, the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine instructed the government to carry out unilateral demarcation of the Ukrainian-Russian state border. This was stated by NSDC Secretary Andriy Parubiy after a Security Council meeting chaired by President Petro Poroshenko.
On June 17, the Verkhovna Rada, when voting again, recommended that the Ukrainian government, within a month, “make a decision to suspend the operation of checkpoints across the state border along the land section with Russia.” This draft resolution was approved by 261 deputies, with the minimum required 226. The Ukrainian parliament also recommended that the government “immediately approve the documents necessary for the unilateral demarcation of the land section of the border with the Russian Federation, which will be arranged following the example of the external borders of the European Union.”
The Cabinet of Ministers was also given a recommendation to immediately suspend the operation of checkpoints and strengthen control on the border with Moldova “in areas neighboring the Transnistrian Republic.” In addition, parliamentarians decided to allocate the necessary funds to improve the land border with Russia and increase the staff of the State Border Service.
