Between 1839 and 1949, he suffered the so-called “Century of Humiliation”a period during which the Asian country lost practically all the wars in which it fought. This forced him to have to make important territorial concessions.
Specifically, China had to cede territories to the Russian Empireto Germany, to , to the United Kingdom and Japan. In the case of the Russian Empire, the Asian country handed over Outer Manchuria and parts of northwestern China.
As stated , despite the fact that at the moment Beijing and Moscow are partnerssome measures adopted by China make one suspect that the country has not forgotten the territory lost during the “Century of Humiliation.”
In the year 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Environment decided that the new official maps they had to represent the territory lost to the Russian Far East (like the city of Vladivostok) with its official names.
In addition, the Asian country has also ordered represent as belonging to China an island that is located at the confluence of the Ussuri and Amur riversand which was the subject of a long dispute and a border agreement in 2008.
In fact, Chinese nationalists have publicly called for the return of territory transferred by the Qing dynasty to Tsarist Russia in the 19th century. However, In Beijing they have downplayed that demand and have stressed the importance of the good relations maintained with Russia.
Good proof of this is that the Russian president, Vladimir Putinoccupied, in the month of June, the place of honor next to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Victory Day military parade held in Tiananmen Square.
In that sense, Patrick Cronin, Asia-Pacific Security Chair at the Hudson Institutehe highlighted, in statements to Newsweekwhich “Xi Jinping considers Russia an indispensable strategic partner to build a world order after American leadership.
Despite this, Cronin has warned that China “seems clearly willing to expand its influence across their shared borders through a combination of brazen cyber intrusions and opportunistic moves to gain a foothold in Russia’s increasingly weakened economy.
