- China–Russia relations
People's Republic of China-Russian relations refers to the relations between the
People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation. Chinese-Russian relations trace back to the lateMing Dynasty and early Tsarist Russia in Chinese and Russian history, and underwent many changes throughout the centuries, especially during the twentieth century. ThePeople's Republic of China and the Russian Federation currently maintain close and cordial diplomatic relations, stronggeopolitical and regional cooperation, and significant levels oftrade .Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia
Initial contact in the Far East
The first diplomatic contact between Russia and
China began in the 1660s as a result of conflict over theAmur krai region, on the left bank of theAmur River . In 1689, two countries signed theTreaty of Nerchinsk , which awarded the territory to China. A border was established to follow theStanovoi Range and the Argun River, and some limited trade was conducted, with China as the dominant power.Meeting in Central Asia
As the Chinese Empire established its control over
Xinjiang in the 18th century, and the Russian Empire expanded intoKazakhstan in the early and mid-19th century, the two empires' areas of control met in what is today eastern Kazakhstan and Western Xinjiang. The 1851Treaty of Kulja legalized trade between the two countries in this region.Fact|date=December 2007Russian encroachment
In 1858, during the
Second Opium War , China grew increasingly weaker as the "Sick man of Asia ", while Russia strengthened, eventually annexing the left bank of the Amur river, includingOuter Manchuria andSakhalin , in the "Unequal" Treaty of Aigun. By 1899, the ChineseBoxer Rebellion challenged the encroachment by the British, French, and Russians, which was previously ratified in theConvention of Peking of 1860.Xinhai and October Revolutions
Both countries saw their monarchies abolished during the second decade of the Twentieth century, the Qing Dynasty in 1912, following the
Xinhai Revolution , and the RussianTsar ist Dynasty in 1917, following theFebruary Revolution .oviet Union, Republic of China, People's Republic of China
Russian Civil War and Mongolia
The
Beiyang government in north China joined theAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War . They sent forces in Siberia and North Russia beginning in 1918.Mongolia andTuva became contested territories. After being occupied by the Chinese GeneralXu Shuzheng in 1919, and then by the Russian White Guard General turned independent warlord, Ungern von Sternberg in 1920, Soviet troops with support of Mongolian guerrillas led byDamdin Sükhbaatar , defeated the White warlord and established a new pro-Soviet Mongolianclient state , which by 1924 became theMongolian People's Republic .KMT, CPC, and the Chinese Civil War
In 1921, the Soviet Union began supporting the
Kuomintang , and in 1923, theComintern instructed theCommunist Party of China to sign a military treaty with the KMT. But in 1926, KMT leader,Chiang Kai-shek abruptly dismissed his Soviet advisers, and imposed restrictions on CPC participation in the government. By 1927, after the Northern Expedition was concluded, Chiang purged the CPC from the KMT-CPC alliance, resulting in theChinese Civil War which was to last until 1950, a few months after thePeople's Republic of China , led byMao Zedong , was proclaimed. During the war, some Soviet support was given to the CPC, who in 1934 were dealt a crushing blow when the KMT brought an end to the Chinese Soviet Republic, beginning the CPC'sLong March toShaanxi .econd Sino-Japanese War and World War II
In 1931, the
Empire of Japan invadedManchuria and created thepuppet state ofManchukuo (1932), which signalled the beginning of theSecond Sino-Japanese War . In 1937, a month after theMarco Polo Bridge Incident , the Soviet Union established anon-aggression pact with the Republic of China. During theWorld War II -period, the two countries suffered more losses than any other country, with China (in theSecond Sino-Japanese war ) losing over 30 million people and the Soviet Union 40 million.Joint-victory over Imperial Japan
On
August 8 ,1945 , three months afterNazi Germany surrendered, and on the week of the AmericanAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and 9), the Soviet Union launchedOperation August Storm , a massive military operation mobilizing 1.5 million soldiers against one million Kwantung Army troops, the last remaining Japanese military presence. Soviet forces won a decisive victory while the Kwantung suffered massive casualties, with 700,000 having surrendered. The Soviet Union distributed some of the weapons of the captured Kwantung Army to the CPC, who were still battling the KMT in the Chinese Civil War.Independence of Mongolia
was signed by
Soviet andROC ,which stated the possible Independence of Mongolia in the premise of Soviet not supporting the Communist China.War of Liberation and the People's Republic of China
Between 1946 and 1950, the CPC was increasingly enjoying massive support from the Chinese people in the "War of Liberation," effectively implementing a
People's war , while the KMT became increasingly isolated, only belatedly attempting to stem corruption and introduce popular reforms. OnOctober 1 ,1949 the People's Republic of China was proclaimed by Mao Zedong, and by May 1950 the Civil War was brought to an end in theBattle of Kuningtou , which saw the KMT expelled fromMainland China but in control ofTaiwan . With the creation of the People's Republic of China, the supreme political authority in the two countries became centered in two communist parties, both espousing revolutionary,Marxist-Leninist ideology: the Communist Party of China and theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union .From camaraderie to the Sino-Soviet Split
Thus, in the immediate years after the PRC was proclaimed, the
Soviet Union became its closest ally. Soviet design, equipment and skilled labour was set out to help industrialize and modernize the PRC. But the extent of actual support, while not insignificant, fell well below Chinese expectations. In the 1960s, relations became deeply strained following theSino-Soviet Split , culminating in theSino-Soviet border conflict . Increasingly, the PRC began to consider the Soviet Union, which it viewed as Social imperialist, as the greatest threat it faced, more so than even the leading capitalist power, the United States. In turn, overtures were made between the PRC and the US, such as in thePing Pong Diplomacy and the1972 Nixon visit to China .Post-Mao era and stabilizing relations
In September 1976, Mao died. A month later, the
Gang of Four were overthrown by his successor, ChairmanHua Guofeng , with the support ofDeng Xiaoping , who was to soon implement pro-market economic reform. With the PRC no longer espousing theanti-revisionist notion of theantagonistic contradiction between classes, relations between the two countries became gradually normalized. In 1979, however, the PRC launched theSino-Vietnamese War , an invasion ofVietnam (a Soviet ally) in response to Vietnam's invasion and subsequent occupation ofCambodia which overthrew the Dengist government-backedKhmer Rouge from power. Even though Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev went on to criticize the post-Maoist CPC when it allowed for PRC millionaires as having lost thesocialist path, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 90s, Russia itself turned toprivatization .Dissolution of the Soviet Union
But unlike in the PRC, this was a much more extreme, highly unregulated form of privatization which resulted in massive losses to foreign speculators, near-anarchical conditions and economic collapse. Thus, in the post-
Cold War period, while Russia remained vastly more developed (economically and militarily), in a systemic and deep way ("i.e." the PRC in 1949 was less industrialized than Russia in 1914), the PRC emerged in a far more favourable and stable financial position. But whereas the severe Russian shortage of capital was new, Communist Chinese economic and military underdevelopment was not. Nor was the PRC's desperate and ever-growing need for mineral resources, especiallypetroleum fuel , which Russia holds in abundance in suchAsia tic regions as westernSiberia .Russian Federation, People's Republic of China
Refound common interests
After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union , with Russia having been considerably weakened, both countries found common interests and a common free market orientation, and related to these, a common opponent: theUnited States as the solesuperpower . In 1991, the Sino-Russian Border Agreement was signed apportioning territory that became contested during the Sino-Soviet border conflict.ettling the disputes
The Russian government agreed to transfer
Yinlong Island as well as one half ofBolshoy Ussuriysky Island to China in 2004, ending a long-standing border dispute between Russia and China. Both islands are found at the confluence of theAmur andUssuri Rivers, and were until then administered by Russia and claimed by China. The event was meant to foster feelings of reconciliation and cooperation between the two countries by their leaders. The transfer has been ratified by both the ChineseNational People's Congress and the RussianState Duma , but has yet to be carried out to date.A strategic alliance
In 2001, the close relations between the two countries were formalized with the "Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation", a twenty-year strategic, economic, and controversially, (arguably) an implicit military treaty. A month before the treaty was signed, the two countries joined with junior partners
Kazakhstan ,Kyrgyzstan ,Tajikistan andUzbekistan in theShanghai Cooperation Organization . The PRC is currently Russia's largest customer of imports needed to modernize thePeople's Liberation Army , and the foremost benefactor of the under construction RussianEastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean oil pipeline .References
ee also
*
Chinese people in Russia
*Foreign relations of the People's Republic of China
*Foreign relations of Russia
*Russo-United States relations
*BRIC
*Great Power
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