The Annexation of National Territory
National Territory of the Ch’ing Dynasty. Photograph courtesy Mr. Li T’ien-ming
China declined in the later part of the Ch’ing Dynasty and the Powers partitioned her land piecemeal. The principal Powers are Britain, Russia, France, Portugal, Germany and Japan. Russia annexed the largest amount of land from China, a total area of 34.5 multiplications of the land area of Taiwan. Till this day, these territories have not been recovered. If Chinese do not dare to demand the return of Chinese territories, how can Chinese territories be recovered?
Remembering the 8th year of the Republic (1919), students and citizens from all walks of life demanded the return of Tsingtao from Japan. In history, it is known as the May Fourth Movement. The self-empowerment of the past, the degeneration of the present, is it not cause for grief? Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Father of the Republic, propagated The Three Principles of the People. Nationalism is ranked first out of The Three Principles. Dr. Sun composed his will in the 14th year of the Republic (1925). The last sentence is:
“It has been recently suggested that the National Assembly is to be convened to annul the unequal treaties. We must realize this in the shortest time span. This is my adamant request!”
To recover annexed Chinese territories from Russia is the ordained mission of The Three Principles of the People.
Convention of Peking between China and Russia signed in 1860. Photograph courtesy Ambassador Shen Lyu-shun and Director Feng Ming-chu
A list of Chinese territories that Russia annexed are:
1) In the 2nd year of the Hsien-feng reign (1852), Russia seized K’u-yeh-tao (庫頁島), now known as Sakhalin Island.
2) In the 8th year of the Hsien-feng reign (1858), Britain and France attacked Tientsin. Russia took advantage of the situation and coerced I-shan (奕山 1790-1878), military general of Hei-lung-chiang, to sign the Treaty of Aigun (璦琿條約). Chinese territory north of Hei-lung-chiang was ceded to Russia.
3) In the 10th year of the Hsien-feng reign (1860), Russia coerced the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin at the Convention of Peking (中俄北京條約). Chinese territory east of Ussuri River (烏蘇里江) was ceded to Russia.
4) In the 3rd year of the T’ung-chih reign (1864), Russia coerced the signing of the Protocol of Chuguchak (中俄勘分西北界約記，又稱塔城條約). Chinese territories from Uriankhai-shih-zur-ling-ti (烏梁海十佐領地) of Tannu Uriankhai (唐努烏梁海) to Ile River (伊犁河), T’e-mu-erh-t’u-nao-erh (特穆爾圖淖爾，又稱伊斯色克湖), Ch’u-ho (楚河), Talas River (塔拉斯河) were ceded to Russia.
5) In the 7th year of the Kuang-hsü reign (1881), Russia coerced the signing of the Treaty of Ili (伊犁條約). Chinese territory west of Huo-erh-kuo-ssu-ho (霍爾果斯河) and Ko-teng-shan (格登山) was ceded to Russia.
6) In the 8th year of the Kuang-hsü reign (1882), Russia seized the territory around A-k’ei-su-ho (阿克蘇河).
7) In the 9th year of the Kuang-hsü reign (1883), Russia seized the territory east of Ch’i-sang-po (齊桑泊) around O-erh-ch’i-ssu (額爾齊斯).
8) In the 10th year of the Kuang-hsü reign (1884), Russia seized the territory around A-k’ei-sai-ho (阿克賽河) and Ho-shen-k’u-chu-k’ei-p’a (和什庫珠克帕).
9) In the 21st year of the Kuang-hsü reign (1896), Russia and Britain seized P’a-mi-erh (帕米爾), also known as Pamir Mountains. Russia occupied northern and central P’a-mi-erh.
10) In the 26th year of the Kuang-hsü reign (1900), Russia seized the territory of Sixty-Four Villages East of the River (江東六十四屯).
11) In the 3rd year of the Hsüan-t’ung reign (1911), the Wuchang Uprising (武昌起義) broke out. Russia instigated Outer Mongolia to declare independence. In the 4th year of the Republic (1915), China and Russia came to a mutual agreement for Outer Mongolia to revoke independence and switched the status to an autonomous region, but in reality the territory was still under the control of Russia. In the 6th year of the Republic (1917), the Russian Revolution broke out. In the 8th year of the Republic (1919), the government of the Republic of China recovered Outer Mongolia. In the 10th year of the Republic (1921), the Russian Soviet Republic seized Outer Mongolia and set up a puppet government. In the 13th year of the Republic (1924), the puppet government, supported by the Soviet Union, proclaimed the Mongolian People’s Republic (蒙古人民共和國). In the 34th year of the Republic (1945), the government of the Republic of China signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance (中蘇友好同盟條約) and agreed to a referendum in Outer Mongolia to decide its political status. This was manipulated by the Soviet Union, and in the 35th year of the Republic (1946), the government was compelled to accept the independence of Outer Mongolia. The Chinese communists, with the military support of the Soviet Union, occupied mainland China in the 38th year of the Republic (1949). The central government of the Republic of China withdrew to Taiwan, and in the 42nd year of the Republic (1953), annulled the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, and simultaneously declared that Outer Mongolia is the national territory of the Republic of China.
National Territory of north-west China annexed by Russia at the end of Ch’ing Dynasty. Photograph courtesy Mr. Li T’ien-ming
The Recovery of National Territory
National Territory of the Republic of China. Photograph courtesy Mr. Li T’ien-ming
From 7 July in the 26th year of the Republic (1937), the government of the Republic of China led the whole country in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (抗日戰爭). On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, the United States declared war on Japan the following day, China and the United States then became allies. Subsequently on 11 January 1943, the Republic of China signed two separate treaties with the United States and Britain: Treaty between the Republic of China and the United States of America for the Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China and the Regulation of Related Matters (中美平等新約), and Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China (中英平等新約). Their privileges in China were revoked and the unequal treaties from Ch’ing Dynasty were annulled. Within a few years, by the 36 year of the Republic (1947), new treaties were signed with the following nine countries to annul the unequal treaties of the past: Belgium, Norway, Canada, Sweden, Holland, France, Switzerland, Denmark and Portugal. The unequal treaties were annulled by the sacrificial deaths of over twenty three million Chinese military personnel and civilians in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. These martyrs had paved the road for the reinvigoration of China.
Treaty between the Republic of China and the United States for the Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China and the Regulation of Related Matters (Sino-American New Equal Treaty) signed on 11 January 1943. Photograph courtesy Ambassador Shen Lyu-shun and Director Feng Ming-chu
The Betrayal of National Territory
After the communist occupation of mainland China, they reversed the foreign policy of the Republic of China, who has not recognized any unequal treaties for over a century.
In May 1991, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Sino-Soviet Border Agreement (中蘇國界東段協定), giving up Chinese territories north of Hei-lung-chiang, east of Ussuri River and K’u-yeh-tao (Sakhalin Island). On 10 December 1999, the Chinese Communist Party signed the Sino-Russian Border Depiction Agreement (中華人民共和國政府和俄羅斯聯邦政府關於中俄國界線東西兩段的敘述議定書), whereby 1,250,000 square kilometers of Chinese territory were given away unconditionally to Russia. This amount of land is the equivalent of 34.5 multiplications of the area of Taiwan! Such complete betrayal of China has been condemned by all Chinese with conscience.
Citizens of the Republic of China, with Righteousness at heart, champion the mission to reinvigorate China, vow the recovery of the 1,250,000 square kilometers of Chinese territory given to Russia by the communists. Failing to recover National Territory, is disgrace for all Chinese.
National Territory of the Republic of China to be recovered
