China–Tajikistan border explained

The China–Tajikistan border is 477km (296miles)[1] in length and runs from the tripoint with Kyrgyzstan following a roughly north–south line across various mountain ridges and peaks of the Pamir range down to the tripoint with Afghanistan. The border divides Murghob District, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan from Akto County, Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture (to the north) and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture (to the south) in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.

History

The origins of the border date from the mid-19th century, when the Russian empire expanded into Central Asia and established control over the Lake Zaysan region. The establishment of the border between the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire, not too different from today's Sino-Kazakh/Kyrgyz/Tajik border was provided for in the Convention of Peking of 1860;[2] the actual border line pursuant to the convention was drawn by the Treaty of Tarbagatai (1864) and the Treaty of Uliassuhai (1870), leaving Lake Zaysan on the Russian side.[3] [4] The Qing Empire's military presence in the Irtysh basin crumbled during the Dungan revolt (1862–1877). After the failure of the rebellion and the reconquest of Xinjiang by Zuo Zongtang, the border between the Russian and the Qing empires in the Ili River basin was further slightly readjusted, in Russia's favour, by the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881) and a series of later protocols. In 1915 an agreement was signed more precisely delimiting the border between the Ili Valley and the Dzungarian Alatau region.The southernmost section of the frontier (i.e. roughly the southern half of the modern China–Tajikistan border) remained undemarcated, owing partly to the ongoing rivalry between Britain and Russia for dominance in Central Asia known as the Great Game; eventually the two agreed that Afghanistan would remain an independent buffer state between them, with Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor being created in 1895. China was not a party to these agreements and hence the southernmost section of the China-Russia boundary remained undefined.[5] When Tajikistan became independent in 1991 it inherited a section of the China-USSR frontier. That boundary followed the drainage basin divide between the Amu Darya and the Yarkand River until reaching Markansu.

In 2011, Tajikistan ratified a 1999 deal (and a 2002 supplementary agreement) to cede 200and respectively[6] of land in the Pamir Mountains to the People's Republic of China, ending a 130-year dispute. In the treaty, China also relinquished claims to over 28000km2 of Tajikistani territory.[7] [8] The Republic of China had historically made similar claims in the area.[9] [10] Tajik attitudes toward the boundary treaty varied significantly among different interest groups, ranging from overt opposition to overt support.[11]

Geography

A point north of the Markansu River (Chinese: 瑪爾坎蘇河) on the China–Tajikistan border is the westernmost point of China.

The border's southern terminus is found at the Afghanistan-China-Tajikistan tripoint on Povalo-Shveikovskogo Peak[12] [13] / Kokrash Kol Peak (Kekelaqukaole Peak;)[14] which is also the eastern end of the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border and the northern end of the Afghanistan-China border as well as the easternmost point of Afghanistan.

Border crossings

The Karasu Port of Entry at the Kulma Pass (4362.7m (14,313.3feet)) is the only modern day border crossing between China and Tajikistan. Historically, two passes further south along the border, Nezatash Pass and Beyik Pass, have also been traversed. Northwest of Kulma Pass is the Uzbel/Kyzyl-Dzhiik Pass (also known as Uzbel Shankou,[15] Pereval Kyzyl-Dzhiik,[16] [17] Wuzibieli Pass[14] (Chinese: {{linktext|乌孜别里|山口[18]), Kizil Jik Dawan, Kizöl-jiik Pass, K'o-tse-lo-chi-k'o Shan-k'ou, Qizil Jik Dāwan, Utzupieli Pass and Wu-tzu-pieh-li Shan-k'ou[17]).[14]

Historical maps

Historical English-language maps of the China-USSR (Tajik SSR) border area, mid to late 20th century, and historical maps including the pre-2011 China–Tajikistan border:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: FIELD LISTING :: LAND BOUNDARIES. The World Factbook. 30 January 2020. China total: 22,457 km border countries (15):Tajikistan 477 km, Tajikistan total: 4,130 km border countries (4): China 477 km, .
  2. Articles 2 and 3 in the Russian text of the treaty
  3. (See the map)
  4. http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh98/frontier/en2.html The Lost Frontier: the treaty maps that changed Qing's northwestern boundaries
  5. Web site: China Oil Production Prospects. 1977. CIA. CIA. 2. Internet Archive. (Note: In the map, the southern part of the border is drawn with a dotted line, whereas the northern part of the border is drawn with a solid line.)
  6. Eurasia Daily Monitor. 8. 16. Tajikistan cedes disputed land to China. 24 January 2011. 23 September 2018. Alex Sodiqov. Alex Sodiqov. Jamestown Foundation. On January 12, the lower house of the Tajik parliament voted to ratify the 2002 border demarcation agreement, handing over 1122abbr=offNaNabbr=off of mountainous land in the remote Pamir Mountains (www.asiaplus.tj, January 12). The ceded land represents about 0.8 percent of the country's total area of 143100abbr=offNaNabbr=off.At the time of independence, Tajikistan inherited three disputed border segments, constituting about 28500abbr=offNaNabbr=off, which China and the Soviet Union had been unable to resolve. In 1999, Tajikistan and China signed a border demarcation agreement, defining the border in two of the three segments. Under the 1999 deal, Dushanbe ceded about 200abbr=offNaNabbr=off of land to Beijing (http://www.ca-oasis.info/oasis/?jrn=109&id=817)..
  7. News: Tajikistan cedes land to China. 3 May 2016. BBC News. 13 January 2011.
  8. News: China's area increases by 1000 sq km. 3 May 2016. Times of India. 12 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110116030345/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/Chinas-area-increases-by-1000-sq-km/articleshow/7269616.cms. 2011-01-16.
  9. Book: zh:臺灣歷史地圖 增訂版 . Taiwan Historical Maps, Expanded and Revised Edition. February 2018. zh-tw. National Museum of Taiwan History. 978-986-05-5274-4. 165. Taipei. (In the map Chinese: 外省來源地分布圖1966年, the border of Sinkiang (Xinjiang; Chinese: 新疆省) includes an area approximately similar to the Pamir area in the map China-USSR: Border Western Sector.)
  10. Web site: Tajikistan: Another Victim of Chinese Belligerence in Central Asia . 12 August 2020 .
  11. Eurasia Border Review. Contested Views of Contested Territories: How Tajik Society Views the Tajik-Chinese Border Settlement. Assel Bitabarova. 21 January 2020. January 2015.
  12. Book: Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan. Kamoludin Abdullaev. 3. Rowman & Littlefield. 2018. 9781538102527. 92. CHINA-TAJIK BORDER.This mountainous boundary runs along the Sarikol mountain range in eastern Tajikistan, reaching in Pamir the Afghan border at the Povalo-Shveikovskogo peak (5,543 meters above sea level).. Google Books.
  13. Web site: Washington, D. C.. NJ 43 Su-fu [U.S.S.R., China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, State of Jammu and Kashmir] Series 1301, Edition 5-AMS]. en. March 1967. Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection. Army Map Service. Pik Povalo-Shveikovskogo.
  14. Web site: China Report Political, Sociological and Military Affairs No. 363. https://web.archive.org/web/20200111103014/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a356057.pdf. live. January 11, 2020. 18 November 1982. 11 January 2020. 1. United States Joint Publications Research Service. Defense Technical Information Center. If we open up the Atlas of the People's Republic of China we will find that the region of the Pamir, the western extremity of Xinjiang, from the Wuzibieli [Uzbel] Pass1 to the south down to the Kekelaqukaole Peak (which the Soviet Russians call "Pavel Shveikovsky Peak") is designated as a not limited area..
  15. , United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  16. , United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
  17. Web site: China-USSR border, western sector.. Library of Congress. Wu-tzu-pieh-li Shan-k'ou (Pereval Kyzyl-Dzhiik).
  18. Book: 夏征农. 陈至立. zh:辞海：第六版彩图本 . Cihai (Sixth Edition in Color) . September 2009. 上海. Shanghai. 上海辞书出版社. Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House.. 9787532628599. zh. 2187. Chinese: 乌孜别里山口.

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