Paul Goble
Staunton,
November 6 – Chinese media are celebrating what has passed “almost unnoticed”
in Russia: Moscow’s handing over of some 4.7 square kilometers of what had been
Russian land to China, with Beijing viewing this as the first step toward the
return of larger portions of the Russian Far East to Chinese control, according
to Newsru agency.
The
outlet cited a story in yesterday’s “China Daily” which reported the return of
the land, noting that it is but a small part of the 1,500,000 square kilometers
“the declining Qing Dynasty gave up” to the Russians between 1858 and 1915” in
a series of “’unequal treaties’” (newsru.com/world/06nov2015/chland.html?nr and chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015-11/05/content_22380291.htm).
Another
Chinese publication, “Global Times,” acknowledged that Russians are unhappy to
be handing over any parcel of land but suggested that now that Beijing and
Moscow are cooperating, it is easier for the Russian authorities to recognize
Chinese territorial claims (globaltimes.cn/content/951156.shtml).
The
handover of this small parcel to China is the result of the October 2004
agreement between Vladimir Putin and Hu Tsingtao; but as Newsru.com reported, “residents
of China do not consider the issue closed.” It noted that the BBC’s Russian
Service had recently done a story on Chinese aspirations (bbc.com/russian/international/2015/11/151105_china_russia_land).
According
to the BBC, some Chinese bloggers have suggested that Russia must “return
Vladivostok, Blagoveshchenks, and Tanu-Uryankhai [Tyva] to China, and one has
offered an intriguing explanation for what is going on far from the Chinese
border in Ukraine as a result of the transfer of even a small portion of land
from Russia to China.
‘I
finally know why Russia annexed Crimea,” one Chinese blogger wrote. “Putin
doesn’t want that Russia will become smaller during his administration.” By annexing Crimea, the Kremlin leader can
ensure that doesn’t happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment