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Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island (), or Heixiazi Island ( zh, s=黑瞎子岛, t=黑瞎子島, p=Hēixiāzi Dǎo, l=black bear island), is a sedimentary island at the confluence of the
Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...
and Ussuri rivers. Since the Sino-Russian Border Agreement that was fully implemented in 2008, Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island was divided between China and Russia. China was given control over part of the island, and Russia retained the rest. Since then, the issue has been peacefully settled, and China no longer claims the entire island. It has an area of about 327 to 350 km2 and is bounded closely by Yinlong/Tarabarov Island, and over 90 islets. Its position at the confluence of the Amur and the Ussuri, and right next to the major Russian city of
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...
, has given it great strategic importance.


History

The 1860
Convention of Peking The Convention of Peking or First Convention of Peking is an agreement comprising three distinct unequal treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire in 1860. Background On 18 October ...
stipulated that the boundary between
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
lay along the Amur and Ussuri rivers. As such, the island at the confluence of the two rivers was Chinese. Until 2004, Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy Island was the site of a territorial dispute between China and Russia. The
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
forcefully occupied Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy and Yinlong Islands in 1929 in the wake of a Russo-Manchurian conflict, but this was not accepted by
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. While
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
governed the islands as a part of
Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is located in the Russian Far East and is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. The administrative centre of the krai is the types of ...
, China claimed them as a part of Fuyuan County,
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...
province, the easternmost part of China. The difficulty in settling this dispute involved competing interests between China and Russia. To settle the boundary along the lines claimed by China would have subjected settled parts of the city of Khabarovsk to the range of artillery emplaced on Heixiazi. However, by occupying the entire island, Russia controlled the entire Amur and Ussuri waterway and gave Khabarovsk a comfortable buffer zone. During its control of the island, Russia refused navigational access to the Amur and Ussuri to Chinese ships. On 14 October 2004, the Complementary Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on the Eastern Section of the China-Russia Boundary was signed, in which Russia agreed to relinquish control over Yinlong Island and around half of Bolshoy Ussuriysky. About 170 square kilometres of Bolshoy Ussuriysky was transferred to China, while the rest remained under Russia's jurisdiction. In return, China agreed to drop all territorial claims to the remainder of Bolshoy Ussuriysky kept by Russia and received the right to navigate ships along the main channel of the Amur.


Border agreements between China and Russia

In 2005, the Russian Federal Assembly and the Chinese
National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...
approved the Sino-Russian Border Agreement. On 21 July 2008, an agreement was signed in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
by the Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers that finalized the border demarcation and formally ended negotiations. Under the agreement, Russia would transfer approximately 174 km2 of territory to China. The transfer took place on 14 October 2008. The area transferred to China is largely uninhabited. The Chinese part of the island is situated in the district of Fuyuan City in the province of
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...
, China's easternmost county.


Controversy

The agreement was met with controversy on both sides of the border. In May 2005,
Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...
in
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...
demonstrated against the loss of half of Bolshoy Ussuriysky. In return, some Chinese media commentators in
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
and along with
overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese people are Chinese people, people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 milli ...
groups criticized China for signing the agreement, which they regarded as sealing as permanent the loss of former Chinese territory such as
Outer Manchuria Outer Manchuria, sometimes called Russian Manchuria, refers to a region in Northeast Asia that is now part of the Russian Far East but historically formed part of Manchuria (until the mid-19th century). While Manchuria now more normatively refer ...
to the Russian Federation. The
Government of the Republic of China The Government of the Republic of China is the central government, national authority whose actual-controlled territory consists of Taiwan (island), main island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu Islands, Matsu, and list of islands of ...
(ROC) in Taipei has never recognized the sovereignty of the PRC government in Beijing. Therefore, the ROC still formally claims all parts of the Heixiazi Islands, as it does not consider border treaties signed by the PRC with other countries to be valid. According to a 2002 study by Iwashita Akihiro, a Japanese specialist on Slavic relations, "Most of Khabarovsk's local elites, in particular military, considered the islands of strategic importance since they fenced off Khabarovsk from China. If the border was drawn, relying upon the 'main channel principle', the two islands would have passed to China. This is why the Soviet Union insisted on the legal exceptionality of the two islands in its negotiations with China during the late 1980s, while strengthening its de facto control of these islands". In 2023, the ''Chinese Global Times'' published the "2023 edition of China's standard map" that appeared to include all of the island's territory as China's. The map's publication led to some controversy in Japan and states in the South China Sea, while the Russian government made various statements since, claiming that "the border issue between our countries has been finally resolved", and signing a roadmap for the "joint development" of the island with the People's Republic of China in May 2024. Analysts have pointed out the issue is complex; while the Kremlin is keen to emphasise its sovereignty over its half of the island in theory, it seems to acknowledge its increased economic and strategic dependence on Beijing (which has heavily invested in developing its part of the island), and not so much interested in developing its share of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island in practice.


Geography

The total area of these territories in the Khabarovsk region is approximately 340 square kilometres. The Chinese section of the island is part of Fuyuan, Heilongjiang. The Russian section is part of Khabarovsky District of
Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is located in the Russian Far East and is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. The administrative centre of the krai is the types of ...
.


Nature reserve

In 2015, the PRC registered the island as a nature reserve to protect biodiversity. The island hosts 505 species of flora and 351 species of fauna, 44 of which are nationally protected species, including the
Siberian tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to Northeast China, the Russian Far East, and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korea, Korean Peninsula, but currently ...
. There is a "bear park" to contain black bears on the island.


See also

* Sino-Russian border conflicts *
Treaty of Nerchinsk The Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689 was the first treaty between the Tsardom of Russia and the Qing dynasty of China after the defeat of Russia by Qing China at the Siege of Albazin in 1686. The Russians gave up the area north of the Amur River as ...
* 1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement *
List of divided islands This is a list of islands whose land is divided by one or more border, international borders. Sea islands Island country, Island countries Non-island countries Both island countries and non-island countries Lake islands *Amon ...
* Abagaitu Islet


Notes


References


External links


Google Maps satellite image of Heixiazi/Bolshoy Ussuriysky and Yinlong islands黑瞎子島紅太陽升起處 一個島兩個國 中國進行式 20170514
{{coord, 48, 21, 41, N, 134, 48, 50, E, type:isle_scale:1000000_region:RU_source:nlwiki, display=title River islands of China River islands of Russia Geography of Northeast Asia China–Soviet Union relations International islands China–Russia border Islands of Khabarovsk Krai Islands of Heilongjiang Former disputed islands Territorial disputes of the Soviet Union Territorial disputes of China Nature reserves in China Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)