Namwan Assigned Tract, also known as Meng-Mao Triangular Area, is a area situated at the junction of the

Shweli River Shweli River ( my, ရွှေလီမြစ်; zh, 瑞丽江) is a river in China and Myanmar (Burma). Also known as Nam Mao ( shn, ၼမ်ႉမၢဝ်း; ) in Shan or Dai, and Ruili River or Longchuan River (龙川江) in Chinese, it ...

and

Namwan River Namwan River ( zh, 南宛河; tdd, ᥘᥛᥳ ᥝᥢᥰ) is a river in China and Myanmar. Namwan River rises in the mountain called Ganya Liangzi at the northern section of Longchuan County, Yunnan. It through the Longchuan county, as the major ir ...

in the southern

Kachin State Kachin State ( my, ကချင်ပြည်နယ်; Kachin: ), also known by the endonym Kachinland, is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet and Yunnan, specifically and respectively); Sh ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. It was the territory 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 ...

but "perpetual lease" to

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in 1897, and legally became the territory of Burma in 1961.

History

The British built a road through Namwan Assigned Tract to connect

Bhamo Bhamo ( my, ဗန်းမော်မြို့ ''ban: mau mrui.'', also spelt Banmaw; shn, မၢၼ်ႈမူဝ်ႇ; tdd, ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ᥛᥨᥝᥱ; zh, 新街, Hsinkai) is a city in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, south of the ...

and Namhkam before communicating with China, this road became the major road connecting the Kachin State with the

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. ...

. And

Xue Fucheng Xue Fucheng or Hsieh Fucheng (12 April 1838 – 21 July 1894) was a Chinese diplomat of the Qing dynasty in the late 19th century. Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu to a literati family. Late Qing dynasty writer/essayist, diplomat to England, France, Be ...

, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, request the British to return the road and the area in the meetings during 1892 and 1893. The British refused to return the road, but had to admit the area is part of China. Then UK signed a convention with

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

in 1894, claimed the area is part of China, but the road was to remain open for British "travellers, commerce and administrative purpose", and Britain had the right to improve the road, as well as, within certain restrictions, to move troops along it. In 1897, UK signed another convention with Qing dynasty, the Namwan Assigned Tract was recognized "as belonging to China" but "the whole of this area China shall not exercise any jurisdiction or authority whatsoever. The administration and control will be entirely conducted by the British Government, who will hold it on a perpetual lease from China, paying a rent for it, the amount of which shall be fixed hereafter." Britain and China settled the rent at 1,000

Rupee Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

a year in 1901, as compensation for the loss territory of Mengmao Chiefdom. In 1945, after the Japanese troops retreated to Burma, Ruili Administrative Bureau, the direct control local government of

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, founded "Guangfu (recovery) Township" in Namwan Assigned Tract. Britain protested soon after, and then China's central government command the Ruili bureau to retreat. In 1948, the Republic of China's government refused to accept the annual rent from the new sovereign state,

Union of Burma Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, and later, the People's Republic of China also refused this rent. Because the existence of a "perpetual lease" is contrary to the dignity of a sovereign state, China and Burma strove to abrogate the "perpetual lease". After series of negotiations, China and Burma signed ''Sino - Burmese Boundary Agreement'' on 28 January 1960, two sides agreed the Namwan Assigned Tract was to became part of Burma, in exchange for the transfer of Panghung and Panglao which located at west of "1941 line" to China. China and Burma appointed joint commission to demarcate the boundary on the transferred area, and the actual size of transferred area was also decided by the joint commission. Finally, ''Sino-Burmese Boundary Treaty'' was signed on 1 October 1960, it confirmed that China giving up all claims to the area of the Namwan Assigned Tract, in exchange for received of Panghung and Panglao. ''Sino-Burmese Boundary Treaty'' entry into force on 4 January 1961, Namwan Assigned Tract became the territory of Burma legally.

References

{{reflist China–Myanmar border Territorial disputes of China Populated places in Kachin State British rule in Burma

History

See also

References