Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island (russian: Большо́й Уссури́йский о́стров Bol'shoy Ussuriyskiy Ostrov), or Heixiazi Island (; lit. "black blind island"), is a sedimentary island at the confluence of the
Ussuri
The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the Si ...
and
Amur
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
rivers. It is divided between the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(PRC) and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. It has an area of about 327 to 350 km
2 and is bounded closely by Yinlong Island (
Tarabarov Island
Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island (russian: Большо́й Уссури́йский о́стров Bol'shoy Ussuriyskiy Ostrov), or Heixiazi Island (; lit. "black blind island"), is a sedimentary island at the confluence of the Ussuri and ...
), and over ninety islets (in Chinese, Heixiazi may refer only to the large island or to the island group collectively). Its position at the confluence of the Amur and the Ussuri and right next to the major Russian city of
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
, has given it great strategic importance.
History
![Txu-oclc-6614368-nm53-11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Txu-oclc-6614368-nm53-11.jpg)
The Convention of Peking 1860 stipulated that the boundary between Russia and China 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 forcefully occupied Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy and Yinlong Islands in 1929 in the wake of a Russo/Manchurian conflict, but this was not accepted by China. While Russia governed the islands as a part of
Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...
, China claimed them as a part of
Fuyuan County,
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
province; the easternmost part of China.
The difficulty in settling this dispute involved competing interests between Russia and China. 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 their control of the island Russia refused navigational access to the Amur and Ussuri to Chinese ships.
On October 14, 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 will remain in 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.
Agreement between Russia and People's Republic of China
![Bolshoy Ussuriysky and Tarabarov EN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Bolshoy_Ussuriysky_and_Tarabarov_EN.svg)
In 2005, the Russian
Federal Assembly and the Chinese
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
approved the agreement. On July 21, 2008, an agreement was signed in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
by the Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers, that finalized the border demarcation and formally ended negotiations. Under the agreement, Russia would transfer approximately 174 km
2 of territory to China. The transfer took place on October 14, 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 () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
, China's easternmost county.
Controversy
The agreement has met with controversy on both sides of the border. In May 2005,
Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
in
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
demonstrated against the loss of half of Bolshoy Ussuriysky. In return, some Chinese commentators, especially the media in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, Taiwan and overseas which are outside the control of PRC government, criticized the PRC government for signing the agreement, which they regarded as sealing as permanent the loss of former Chinese territory, such as
Outer Manchuria
Outer Manchuria (russian: Приаму́рье, translit=Priamurye; zh, s=外满洲, t=外滿洲, p=Wài Mǎnzhōu), or Outer Northeast China ( zh, s=外东北, t=外東北, p=Wài Dōngběi), refers to a territory in Northeast Asia that is now ...
, to Russia.
The government of the
Republic of China in Taiwan (ROC) has never recognized border treaties signed by the PRC with other countries. Therefore, the ROC still formally claims all parts of the Heixiazi Islands.
According to a 2002 study by Akihiro Iwashita, 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".
Geography
![Amur and Ussuri - P1040668](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Amur_and_Ussuri_-_P1040668.JPG)
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
Fuyuan (; Russian: Фуюань) is a county-level city of the province of Heilongjiang, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Jiamusi.
Geography
Fuyuan is located in the lowlands at the confluence of the Heilongji ...
. The Russian section is part of
Khabarovsky District
Khabarovsky District (russian: Хаба́ровский райо́н) is an administrativeResolution #143-pr and municipalLaw #194 district (raion), one of the seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It consists of two unconnected segments separa ...
of
Khabarovsk Krai
Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...
.
Nature Reserve
In 2015, PRC registered the island as a nature reserve to protect biodiversity to host 505 species of flora and 351 species of fauna, 44 of those are nationally protected species, including
siberian tiger
The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies ''Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabit ...
. There is a "bear park" to contain
black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
s on the island.
See also
*
1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement
The 1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement was a treaty signed between China and the Soviet Union on May 16, 1991. It set up demarcation work to resolve most of the border disputes between the two states. Initially signed by China and the Soviet Union, ...
*
List of divided islands
This is a list of islands whose land is divided by one or more border, international borders.
Sea islands
Lake islands
*''De facto'' between Russia (Crimea) (''Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, disputed'') and Ukraine
**Syvas ...
*
Abagaitu Islet
Abagaitu Islet (; , Bolshoy Ostrov) is an islet in the Argun River (Asia) divided between the People's Republic of China ( Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) and Russia (Chita Oblast). Its area is .
The island was occupied by the Soviet Union in ...
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
Divided regions
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