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Before the president made a big gesture, the islands belonged to the Khabarovsk Territory. Its inhabitants were wary of the fact that now their islands will be inhabited by the Chinese.
The islands of Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky have long been considered disputed territory... In 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a border treaty with China, and the border was drawn along the Amur fairway. Thus, China got its own, "Khabarovsk Kuriles" on the Amur.
In front of Khabarovsk, along the Kazakevichev channel, passes the only undemarked section on the Amur. There is not so much from Khabarovsk to the border - 25 kilometers. Today. Now, after the transfer of the islands, the border will run along the city itself, along its coastal line, and in the most developed and populated part of it - in the Industrial District.
The islands became controversial thanks to the long-term efforts of the Chinese side to change the course of the Amur, which defines the line of the state border. "In recent years, the Chinese have erected about three hundred kilometers of dams on their banks in order to artificially direct the Amur in the direction they need, to shallow the Kazakevichev channel, along the fairway of which the border is determined on this section," says the governor Khabarovsk Territory Victor Ishaev.
For many years on the island of Bolshoy Ussuriysky there are Russian border posts and 16 thousand summer cottages for residents of Khabarovsk. New frontier will pass near the chapel of the Martyr Warrior Victor and divide the island in half. Dachas of Khabarovsk residents will remain on Russian territory, the rest will go to the Chinese. The island of Tarabarov, where only a few buildings of private companies are located, will be given to China in full. In total, the Chinese will get about 337 sq. kilometers of Russian territory.
The news of the transfer of the islands for the authorities of the Khabarovsk Territory was unexpected. According to a high-ranking official of the regional administration, no one consulted with the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory before signing the documents. "Governor Ishayev has not yet returned from China. He fought for these islands for 12 years," the official said.
Governor Ishaev had his own plans for the island of Bolshoy Ussuriysky. It was on this island that Khabarovsk was supposed to "step over". For rapid development, the city lacked only a capital bridge.
According to the Far Eastern economists, the transfer of the Bolshoi Ussuriisky and Tarabarov Islands to the PRC overnight caused damage of 3-4 billion dollars, taking into account the loss of already invested funds, the transfer Khabarovsk airport, as well as arrangement of the border in new areas. However, according to Moscow economists, after the transfer of the islands to Russia, opportunities opened up to conclude billions of dollars in deals with China, so that possible profits will more than cover all losses.
The islands donated by Putin are rich in natural resources
Natural resources the islands are rich and varied. Land resources are of significant value. Up to 70% of the area can be used as arable land, hayfields or pastures. However, in a part of the area, due to economic activities (use of heavy equipment, depletion of meadows), the lands have become less productive and require agrotechnical measures. Floodplains, provided they are protected from flooding, are capable of producing high yields of potatoes, vegetables and forage grasses, writes "Nezavisimaya Gazeta".
Valuable fur-bearing species of animals, ungulates, upland and waterfowl live on the territory of the islands. There are species listed in the Red Data Books of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the USSR and Russia: Far Eastern and black storks, black and Japanese cranes, mandarin duck, dry-borer, Far Eastern leatherback turtle and others.
There are many fish in the Amur, its channels and floodplain lakes. Among them are protected species - black carp and Chinese perch-auha. There are more fish species in the vicinity of the islands than in the entire Volga basin. The migration of autumn chum salmon and lampreys takes place near the islands.
The islands are of great recreational importance. Already, there are about 16 thousand garden plots here, which are visited by tens of thousands of city residents.
The modern economic development of the islands is uneven. More mastered them East End, adjacent directly to the city. On an area of 61 sq. km, a polder was built, protected from flooding by a closed high dam. More than 4 thousand tons of potatoes are grown here, up to 1500 heads of cattle are kept in summer, up to 1700 tons of milk are produced per year. There are projects to expand the polder area.
On an area of 168 sq. km, five agricultural enterprises are harvesting hay, collecting 12-13 thousand tons of hay annually. Currently there are 10 islands farms, as well as several tourist centers of a number of industrial enterprises of the city. There are two villages with permanent residents on the island of Bolshoy Ussuriisky.
The first Russian-Chinese border agreement can be considered the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, when the Russians, under pressure from the Chinese troops, were forced to recognize China's sovereignty over the right bank of the Amur (before that, it was also mastered by the Russians) and Primorye.
But in the middle of the 19th century, the strengthened Russia bloodlessly annexed 165.9 thousand square kilometers of Primorye, which until then were under joint control. As a result, China, weak at the time, lost access to the Sea of Japan.
This acquisition was established by the Tianjin Treaty of June 1, 1858, and confirmed by the Peking Treaty on November 2, 1860. "After the decree of boundary markers, - said in it, - the boundary line must not be changed forever".
However, it was soon noticed that the lines did not pass as it was established. We agreed to make changes, which was done (very roughly) in 1886.
When discussing the border issue in 1926, it was again noted: “The border line between the USSR and China was repeatedly moved arbitrarily by both the local population and the local authorities of both sides. agreements, protocols, etc. regarding the Russian-Chinese border. "
During the occupation of China by Japan, the Soviet Union took control of a large number of islands on the Chinese side of the fairway on the Amur and Ussuri, writes Ogonyok.
In 1964, the parties developed a draft agreement. Then a "window" appeared in the form of the Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky islands. But the document was not signed, which is why the Chinese later considered it fair enough to attack Damansky Island, which they always considered their own.
In the end, on May 16, 1991, an agreement was signed on the Soviet-Chinese border in its eastern part, which specified the border on the basis of existing treaties. In development of this document, all subsequent Russian-Chinese agreements on the border were accepted.
After a series of honest and not entirely honest actions of both sides, the border was nevertheless secured along the Amur and Ussuri. The trouble is that it was not properly demarcated, but the main thing is that rivers quite often change the outlines of their banks, islands and fairways, which is why many purely geometric errors have accumulated in the course of border life. They were almost never corrected or even discussed - as long as China was weak or an ally of Russia, this was not considered a problem at all.
After Mikhail Gorbachev signed an agreement in 1991 that the border with China should pass along the Amur fairway, the Chinese had the opportunity to challenge the ownership of the Bolshoy Ussuriisky and Tarabarov islands in the Khabarovsk region to Russia.
The most intriguing thing is that the channel, along which the border actually runs now, is quickly washed away (and not without the help of the Chinese, who once flooded a barge here) and soon instead of disputed island The Bolshoi Ussuriysk will create a much less controversial peninsula that will merge with Chinese territory. At the same time, the Russian coast is eroded by a couple of meters every year, that is, it moves away.
After the decision of Vladimir Putin, the border between the countries will actually pass through Khabarovsk, right along the city beach. Plus, on Bolshoy Ussuriysk, there is a frontier post with fortifications, there are hayfields of four collective farms that provide all of Khabarovsk with meat and milk - in a word, it is inconvenient and pitiful to give it away.
In addition, there is also a problem near Vladivostok. Here, the Chinese must retreat the territory along the left swampy bank of the Tumannaya River, and on this occasion there is a lot of talk that nothing will prevent them from building a port here and making it a competitor to the Russian Far Eastern harbors.
I have a difficult position. Today, while collecting material for a completely non-political post, I came across information that changed my attitude towards life. Two years ago, I was very concerned about overcoming the crisis and maintaining salaries for my employees, and this information passed me by.
This isn't shocking, it's just killer information. On October 14, 2008, our government under the leadership of V.V. Putin "transferred" part of our territory to China! More on that later, but now about me. Recently, I vowed not to criticize our leadership, but after reading this information, I have no choice but to take my words back. This does not characterize me on the good side, but there is no other way out.
Our grandfathers, great-grandfathers and ancestors shed blood and sacrificed their lives for the growth of our territory. The tsars understood very well that they had to not only rule a strong power, but also leave it to their children, grandchildren, and so on. And these bitches squander the land, watered with the blood of our ancestors.
On October 14, 2008, the ceremony of transferring OUR TERRITORY to China was held. Tarabarov Island and half of the Bolshoy Ussuriisky Island near Khabarovsk, as well as Bolshoi Island on the Argun River in the Chita Region, are withdrawn to China in addition to the agreement on the Russian-Chinese state border. The document was signed in Beijing between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the PRC leadership on October 14, 2004. The transfer of the islands near Khabarovsk to China took place exactly four years after the signing of an agreement between the leaderships of the two countries. In the Khabarovsk region of the PRC, about 174 square kilometers of land were transferred. With the transfer of the islands on the Amur, China has become 50 kilometers closer to Khabarovsk. The ceremony on the Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island began with the performance of Anthems and the raising of the national flags of Russia and China. After a short rally on the Bolshoi Ussuriisky Island, in the place where the new line of the Russian-Chinese state border passes, the border posts of the two countries were erected.
In Soviet times, when relations between the PRC and the USSR were strained, the islands - Tarabarova and Bolshoy Ussuriisky were of strategic importance, they covered Khabarovsk in the event of a military attack. A powerful fortified area was located on Bolshoy Ussuriysk. Now the Russian island of Tarabarova, which has completely ceded to the PRC, will turn into the Chinese Yinlungdao - the island of the Silver Dragon, the western part of the Bolshoi Ussuriysk will be called Heisyatszydao - the island of the Black Bear. On the Russian part of the Bolshoy Ussuriisky Island there are the Orthodox chapel of St. Victor, the Zarya agricultural enterprise, hayfields, and dachas for the residents of Khabarovsk.
By the way, I wonder if at least one person received any compensation?
The most interesting thing is that he knew exactly the opinion of the Russian people about his act. Here's the proof.
On October 1, 2008, the National Bolsheviks held a series of protests against the transfer to China of the Russian islands Bolshoy (Chita region), Bolshoy Ussuriisky and Tarabarov (Khabarovsk region, on the Amur River). At the closing of the Far Eastern International Economic Forum in Khabarovsk, Igor Shchuka and Kharlamova Tatyana chained themselves to the doors of the Khabarovsk Regional Musical Theater, where the plenary sessions of the forum were held and scattered leaflets. The case against them was initiated under Article 282 Part 1 "Incitement to hatred or enmity" (up to 2 years in prison). In February 2009, two more articles were added to political prisoners Shchuka and Kharlamova: 282.2 part 2 - "Participation in the activities of an extremist community" and 319 "Insulting a representative of the authorities." At the moment they are in a pre-trial detention center in the city of Khabarovsk.
Residents of the Amur Region continued to protest against the transfer of the islands to China and Japan. On November 23, 2008, the For Holy Russia party held a rally near the presidential office in Blagoveshchensk. On December 1, members of the All-Russian Communist Party of the Future took the same place. According to the picketers, the authorities will not draw conclusions from such rallies, but at least they will pay attention. The protest was expressed by both aged people and young people.
I think there were quite a few speeches, but our authorities did not find anything else but to declare these honest people criminals. Here is the opinion of one of them.
Russian politicians and economists called the transfer of the islands historical. The former governor of the Amur Region, Vladimir Polevanov, also spoke about this. “This will affect strategic relations with China in the direction of their improvement, since we have closed a problem that has dragged on for the past 30 years and has even led to local military conflicts twice,” he told RBC daily his opinion. - These islands have no super-fundamental importance - this is not the South Kuril ridge. If we had given those islands, God forbid, to Japan, we would, in fact, have lost the Sea of Okhotsk and super-rich fish stocks of the shelf ”. But finally, the border issue with the country that Polevanov now considers "the most powerful state in the world" has been settled: the United States, in his opinion, is as weak as ever.
Why would we have lost the Sea of Okhotsk? We no longer have an army to defend our territorial integrity? Not surprisingly, with such a minister of defense, the army will soon be gone. In the place of the commander of the Ryazan school, I would have hit him in the face for insulting God and the honor of a Russian officer. And the court of officer's honor would most likely acquit me.
And what do they say about this official documents? Comprehensive information is kindly posted on the Internet.
ADDITIONAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA. BEIJING. 2/14 NOVEMBER 1860
ARTICLE 1
In confirmation and explanation of the first article of the agreement concluded in the city of Aygun, 1858, on May 16th day (Xiang-fyn of the VIII year, IV of the moon, on the 21st), and in pursuance of the ninth article of the agreement concluded in the same year, June 1st day (V moon, 3rd day), in the city of Tien Jin, it is determined: from now on, the eastern border between the two states, starting from the confluence of the Shilka and Argun rivers, will go downstream of the Amur River to the confluence of this the last river with the Usuri river. The lands on the left bank (to the north) of the Amur River belong to the Russian state, and the lands on the right bank (to the south), up to the mouth of the Usuri River, belong to the Chinese state. Further, from the mouth of the Usuri River to Lake Khinkai, the boundary line runs along the Usuri and Sun'gacha rivers. The lands lying along the eastern (right) banks of these rivers belong to the Russian state, and along the western (left) banks to the Chinese state. Then the line bordering between the two states, from the source of the Sun'gach River, crosses Lake Khinkai and goes to the Belen-he (Tur) river, from the mouth of this latter, along the mountain ridge, to the mouth of the Khubit (Khubtu) river, and from here along the mountains , lying between the Hunchun River and the sea, to the Tu-myn-dzyan river. Here, too, the lands lying in the east belong to the Russian state, and to the west - to the Chinese state. The boundary line abuts against the Tu-myn-dzyan River at twenty Chinese versts (li), above its confluence with the sea.
That is, as we can see, this treaty, which is the basis for determining our border with China, does not in any way define territorial affiliation islands on the Amur and Ussuri, incl. and the Bol islands. Ussuriisky and Tarabarov. It so happened that up to the present time this issue has not remained fully resolved. Russia, and then the USSR, always drew a border along the Chinese banks of the Amur and Ussuri, however, China never recognized this alignment, and on the maps published both in the PRC and in Taiwan, these islands were depicted as Chinese. I must say that Russia, and then the USSR, missed two wonderful moments to secure the islands on the Amur and Ussuri for themselves. The first was at the turn of the century, when all the ropes were forged from the Qing Empire, and the second - in the first years of the existence of the PRC, when these islands could be exchanged for military and technical assistance, and at least for the Port Arthur bargained from Chiang Kai-shek, which and so they returned to the PRC in 1954. Years passed, China was gaining power, and the USSR, on the contrary, was losing it, so it became impossible to ignore the border issue, as it was before. And in the end, Gorbachev signs the next document.
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS AND THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON THE SOVIET-CHINESE BORDER IN ITS EASTERN PART.
Article 2.
From the ninth border point, the state border line goes down the Amur River (on the Chinese map - the Heilongjiang River) in the middle of its main fairway to the tenth
border point. This border point is located in the middle of the main fairway of the Amur River (on the Chinese map - the Heilongjiang River) at a distance of approximately 6.3 km southeast of the elevation at 41.1 (on the Chinese map - 41.2) and approximately 2 , 5 km south-south-west of the height at mark 39.9 (on the Chinese map - 40.4), located on the territory of the USSR, and approximately 9.0 km east-north-east of Mount Iligashan at mark 266 , 5 (on the Chinese map - height with a mark of 266.5), located on the territory of the PRC. The eleventh border point is located in the middle of the main fairway of the Ussuri River (on the Chinese map - the Usulijiang River) at a distance of approximately 5.6 km west-north-west of Mount Trehglavaya at elevation 353.5 (on the Chinese map - elevation with elevation 366, 1) and approximately 7.5 km north-west of Mount Bolshoi Khekhtsir at an elevation of 949.4 (on the Chinese map - an altitude with an elevation of 950.0), located in the USSR, and approximately 18.3 km to the north east of the height with a mark of 58.6, located on the territory of the PRC.
As you can see, the section from 10 to 11 of the border point remains undescribed. This is just the area opposite Tarabarov and Bol. Ussuriysky. In the next, third article, the parties agreed to continue negotiations on this site.
Article 5.
The Contracting Parties agreed that the line of the state border between the USSR and the PRC, described in Article 2 of this Agreement, runs on navigable rivers in the middle of the main channel of the river, and on non-navigable rivers - in the middle of the river or in the middle of its main branch.
Those. The USSR agreed to use the main fairway as general principle when determining the boundaries of navigable rivers. The main fairways of the Amur and Ussuri, I note, respectively, run to the north and east of the islands and connect exactly opposite the center of Khabarovsk.
Article 8.
The Contracting Parties agreed that vessels of various types, including military ones, can freely navigate from the Ussuri (Usulijiang) River to the Amur (Heilongjiang) River past the city of Khabarovsk and back. The sailing rules will be developed by the competent authorities of the Parties.
Those. This article gave the PRC the right of unhindered passage of foreign military vessels through its (de facto) territory, and also separately signed that the main fairway runs north and east of the Tarabarov and Bol islands. Ussuriysk. Thus, the claims of the Chinese to both islands have completely become (with the consent of the USSR!) Even more weighty. This agreement was ratified by the Supreme Soviet on February 13, 1992 - after the collapse of the USSR.
Further, during Yeltsin's visit to Beijing in December 1992, the following document was signed.
JOINT DECLARATION ON THE BASIS OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. BEIJING. 12/18/1992.
Article 12.
The parties will continue negotiations on the not yet agreed sections of the border between the Russian Federation and China. People's Republic on the basis of treaties on the current Russian-Chinese border in accordance with generally accepted norms of international law, in the spirit of equal consultations, mutual understanding and mutual compliance in order to fairly and rationally resolve border issues.
Here Russia once again admits that a) the two islands are controversial and b) during the border division, it is ready to be guided by the generally accepted norms of international law. And the generally accepted norms of international law establish in such cases the main fairway as a dividing line.
It can be seen from the documents cited that Gorbachev, a traitor to Russia, laid a mine under Russia's extremely weak position on the disputed territories. This once again indirectly proves my opinion that there is someone over our government, whose will they unquestioningly fulfill. They did not cause warm feelings in me before, and now even more so. "Mr. President" swore to the Russians to respect the territorial integrity of the state. He wanted to spit on his own promises.
Putin continues to give the Chinese territory to Far East under patriotic incantations about the "Russian world" and the victories of Russian bombers over "terrorists" in Syria.
This time, the Kremlin presented Beijing with a piece of land with an area of 4.7 square meters. km in the Far East in the region of the Khubutu River, which is 60 km from Ussuriysk. Despite the fact that the plot given to the Chinese is not so large, commentators are inclined to see in what is happening an inexorable tendency to expand China at the expense of the lands occupied by Russia.
This is far from Putin's first transfer of territories to China: in the 15 years of Putin's rule, only according to official data, an area of 337 square kilometers has already been transferred to China. At the same time, the informal expansion of the Chinese is spreading over much larger territories, and their number has long been determined by the millions.
Commentators also point to important point that must be taken into account. In China, the official point of view is that according to which the territory of the present Far East went to Russia in violation of previously concluded border treaties.
Formally recognizing the existing status quo, the Chinese have never hidden the fact that they intend, sooner or later, to return these lands to themselves.
Thus, having received from Russia by 2004 a large chunk of territory, including the notorious Damansky Island, where 58 Soviet border guards were killed, the Chinese side announced that the border relations between Russia and China were settled. However, already in 2012, China again, put forward claims to Russia, this time in Altai.
Characteristically, after the last transfer of territory to China, the China Daily called the process of installing Chinese border posts on the former Russian land as nothing less than "restoring control over previously lost lands."
And this is not just a play on words - the Chinese consider these lands their own, lost by China after the defeat of this country in the Second Opium War (which, by the way, is rightfully viewed in China as an aggressive and plundering campaign of European powers against China). Russia's role in these wars was far from plausible.
In Chinese historiography, it is noted that Russia, which lost the Crimean War to the British and French in the west, during the first and second Opium Wars, acted as their allies, taking part in the joint robbery of China with these countries, at times playing the role of a mediator who actually acted in the interests of France and England.
So, at the end of the second Opium War, only yielding to the pressure of the Russian envoy Ignatiev, who promised to stop the plunder of the Chinese capital by the Anglo-French troops, the Chinese ruler Gong agreed to sign humiliating and predatory peace treaties with England and France, having paid off Russia with huge territorial concessions.
In total, from 1858 to 1915, according to the Chinese press, thanks to the policy of twisting the arm of direct military blackmail, Russia managed to force the representatives of the Qing dynasty to transfer about 1.5 million square kilometers of Chinese territory to Russia.
In total, several agreements were concluded, each of which expanded the borders of Russia at the expense of China. The official English-language Chinese newspaper China Daily called all these agreements unequal.
China considers all the lands that were previously part of China during the Qing Dynasty so-called. "Lost territories". In total, this is more than 10 million square meters. km. In our time, these claims are not declared in the foreign policy arena, but are regularly voiced inside China, and this approach to history has been preserved.
Considering all these facts and the fact that it is not customary in China to rush, Beijing is busy with the fact that slowly, biting off one small piece of Russia, after another, closely monitoring the health of its northern neighbor, which throughout its history has never refused himself in the opportunity to chop off a hefty chunk of Chinese territory, taking advantage of its humiliated and weakened position.
From the same point of view, it is necessary to consider Putin's scandalous intentions to lease to China huge territories in the east of Russia within the framework of the so-called laws on "territories of advanced development."
Recall that on December 29, 2015, Putin signed the law "On territories of advanced socio-economic development in Russian Federation". This law allows foreign companies that intend to invest in the development of Siberia to attract labor migrants to work without any quotas and permits from the Migration Service of the Russian Federation.
According to the document, migrants are actually not subject to any control and accounting by the Russian authorities. This may mean that in a couple of decades, somewhere in Transbaikalia, Chinese cities with a population of one million may grow.
The idea of leasing the Russian-occupied Chinese territories to China was first voiced on May 23, 2014, when Putin met with the head of the Chinese delegation at the St. Petersburg economic forum, Vice Premier of the Chinese government, Li Yuanchao.
The very next day, inspired by the results of the meeting, speaking at the forum before members of the Russian government, Li Yuanchao made the following unambiguous statement:
“… Russia has a vast territory, and China has the most hardworking people in the world. If we can combine these factors, then we will receive significant development. In Russia, there is a large territory and few people, in China - on the contrary. "
Today, the Chinese do not hide their satisfaction with the situation: they understand perfectly well that the chances of Russia to get out of the dragging foreign policy and economic loop without territorial losses, as long as Putin and his corrupt clique are in power, are equal to zero.
The Chinese media are actively discussing what other Russian lands China should return to itself. The following territories are listed - Tuva, Sakhalin and Vladivostok.
A special hashtag has even appeared in the Chinese blogosphere, which can be translated as #RussiaReturnsChinese Earth.
Meanwhile, in Russia itself, Kremlin propaganda is trying to hide the next act of transferring land to China. Moreover, representatives of the FSB declared this news a fake.
However, what is happening is actually not a fake, but a harsh reality. To fanfare about the construction of the "Russian world", the seizure of Crimea and the fight against "terrorism" in distant Syria, Putin meticulously fulfills the obligations to Beijing that he assumed back in 2004 (under an agreement with the then leader of the PRC Hu Jintao), giving "Rent", or simply for free huge chunks of territory in the east of the country.
Recall that the border between Russia and China was first fixed in 1689 by the Russian-Chinese "Nerchinsk agreement". If these agreements were valid to this day, then at present almost all of Transbaikalia, Khabarovsk Territory, Amur Region and Sakhalin Island would belong to China (
They ask the question, what is the highest state expediency of the ongoing transfer to the Chinese of the islands on the Amur, including the key strategic island of Bolshoy Ussuriisky opposite Khabarovsk. I answer - there is no higher expediency, one harm, and what other expediency - ask Putin. When he gave the islands to China during his visit to Beijing, the Khabarovsk governor Ishaev was also included in the delegation, but they did not discuss this issue with him about the transfer of the islands and presented them with a fact. This is the style of Putin's rule - to make decisions autocraticly, to the jubilation of the prokhanovs and others who are thirsty for an autocratic "firm hand" (they say, with us, vile cattle, there is no other way!).
And Putin consulted with someone when he single-handedly made the decision to please the Americans to abandon our strategic geopolitical footholds in the Western Hemisphere (Lourdes is close to the United States in Cuba) and in South Seas(Cam Ran in Vietnam)? Oh, yes, to the jubilation of the "patriots" he made the Munich speech, where he denounced the imperial ambitions of the United States, and on the screens of Russian TV all sorts of "intellectual analysts" are still filled with enthusiasm and simply scoff about this "Russia is getting up from its knees." However, empty words do not hang on the collar, the barker does not bite a lot, serious (subjective) people judge by their deeds and reckon with them - and they speak for themselves.
He was a witness and participant in the fight against the murder of the "Russian Cosmos" - the flooding of the fully serviceable space station "Mir". They say, why keep the domestic sovereign foothold in near-earth space, when the Americans take a share in the International Space Station (ISS). The other day the Americans announced that the ISS will soon be liquidated. "Where are we going to go?" cried the Russian "partners". It is clear where. It was easy to foresee such a turn of events when, in the first three months of 2001, the decision was made to surrender to the Americans. And here in front of me is a filing of my weekly newspaper Vozrozhdenie for January-April 2001 (the newspaper was distributed in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, in the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation and in a number of other places significant for political shuffling) - and in each issue there are collective letters of deputies, scientists, engineers with an appeal to Putin to save our orbital space station "Mir", this masterpiece of Russian scientific and technical thought. And where is she now? In the same place as the brilliant space shuttle "Buran" and much, much more. I remember that our headquarters met in the State Duma of the Russian Federation almost every plenary day, deputies from all factions, academicians, luminaries of space breakthroughs - and called, and conducted round tables and parliamentary hearings, and sent deputy inquiries. But Putin gave the order - and they flooded our space pride and hope! I still can't come to my senses.
From the same news feed, I am citing material from October 19, 2004, Putin gave China one and a half islands: in the Far East, losses are calculated:
“Vladimir Putin’s visit to China has removed one of the main controversial issues in Russian-Chinese relations. The parties managed to resolve the issue of the section of the Russian-Chinese border on the Amur. Everything rested on several small disputed islands, washed up by water in the riverbed - Tarabarova Island and part of the Bolshoi Ussuriisky Island.
During his visit to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a document on the voluntary transfer of the Tarabarov Island and part of the Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island to the PRC. From now on, the question of the border has been finally resolved, and this border of more than 4 thousand kilometers will become calm. The Chinese breathed a sigh of relief, since they managed to "save face", and Russia was given the opportunity to conclude billions of dollars in deals with China, quite corresponding to the gigantic potential of our southern neighbor, writes " TVNZ".
History of Russian borders in the Far East
Before the president made a big gesture, the islands belonged to the Khabarovsk Territory. Its inhabitants were wary of the fact that now their islands will be inhabited by the Chinese.
The islands of Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky have long been considered a disputed territory. In 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a border treaty with China, and the border was drawn along the Amur fairway. Thus, China got its own, "Khabarovsk Kuriles" on the Amur.
In front of Khabarovsk, along the Kazakevichev channel, passes the only undemarked section on the Amur. There is not so much from Khabarovsk to the border - 25 kilometers. Today. Now, after the transfer of the islands, the border will run along the city itself, along its coastal line, and in the most developed and populated part of it - in the Industrial District.
The islands became controversial thanks to the long-term efforts of the Chinese side to change the course of the Amur, which defines the line of the state border. "In recent years, the Chinese have erected about three hundred kilometers of dams on their banks in order to artificially direct the Amur in the direction they need, shallow the Kazakevichev channel, along the fairway of which the border is determined on this section," says the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory Viktor Ishaev.
For many years on the island of Bolshoy Ussuriysky there are Russian border posts and 16 thousand summer cottages for residents of Khabarovsk. The new border will pass near the chapel of the Martyr Warrior Victor and will divide the island in half. The dachas of the residents of Khabarovsk will remain on Russian territory, the rest will go to the Chinese. The island of Tarabarov, where only a few buildings of private companies are located, will be given to China in full. In total, the Chinese will get about 337 sq. kilometers of Russian territory.
The news of the transfer of the islands for the authorities of the Khabarovsk Territory was unexpected. According to a high-ranking official of the regional administration, no one consulted with the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory before signing the documents. "Governor Ishayev has not yet returned from China. He fought for these islands for 12 years," the official said.
Governor Ishaev had his own plans for the island of Bolshoy Ussuriysky. It was on this island that Khabarovsk was supposed to "step over". For rapid development, the city lacked only a capital bridge.
Far Eastern economists are convinced that the transfer of the Bolshoy Ussuriisky and Tarabarov Islands to the PRC overnight caused damage of 3-4 billion dollars, taking into account the loss of already invested funds, the transfer of the Khabarovsk airport, as well as the arrangement of the border in new sections. However, according to Moscow economists, after the transfer of the islands to Russia, opportunities opened up to conclude billions of dollars in deals with China, so that possible profits will more than cover all losses.
The islands donated by Putin are rich in natural resources
The natural resources of the islands are rich and varied. Land resources are of significant value. Up to 70% of the area can be used as arable land, hayfields or pastures. However, in a part of the area, due to economic activities (use of heavy equipment, depletion of meadows), the lands have become less productive and require agrotechnical measures. Floodplains, provided they are protected from flooding, are capable of producing high yields of potatoes, vegetables and forage grasses, writes "Nezavisimaya Gazeta".
Valuable fur-bearing species of animals, ungulates, upland and waterfowl live on the territory of the islands. There are species listed in the Red Data Books of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the USSR and Russia: Far Eastern and black storks, black and Japanese cranes, mandarin duck, dry-borer, Far Eastern leatherback turtle and others.
There are many fish in the Amur, its channels and floodplain lakes. Among them are protected species - black carp and Chinese perch-auha. There are more fish species in the vicinity of the islands than in the entire Volga basin. The migration of autumn chum salmon and lampreys takes place near the islands.
The islands are of great recreational importance. Already, there are about 16 thousand garden plots here, which are visited by tens of thousands of city residents.
The modern economic development of the islands is uneven. Their eastern part, adjacent directly to the city, is more developed. On an area of 61 sq. km, a polder was built, protected from flooding by a closed high dam. More than 4 thousand tons of potatoes are grown here, up to 1500 heads of cattle are kept in summer, up to 1700 tons of milk are produced per year. There are projects to expand the polder area.
On an area of 168 sq. km, five agricultural enterprises are harvesting hay, collecting 12-13 thousand tons of hay annually. Currently, there are 10 farms on the islands, as well as several camp sites of a number of industrial enterprises of the city. There are two villages with permanent residents on the island of Bolshoy Ussuriisky.
History of Russian borders in the Far East
The first Russian-Chinese border agreement can be considered the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689, when the Russians, under pressure from the Chinese troops, were forced to recognize China's sovereignty over the right bank of the Amur (before that, it was also mastered by the Russians) and Primorye.
But in the middle of the 19th century, the strengthened Russia bloodlessly annexed 165.9 thousand square kilometers of Primorye, which until then were under joint control. As a result, China, weak at the time, lost access to the Sea of Japan.
This acquisition was established by the Tianjin Treaty of June 1, 1858, and confirmed by the Peking Treaty on November 2, 1860. "After the decree of boundary markers, - said in it, - the boundary line must not be changed forever".
However, it was soon noticed that the lines did not pass as it was established. We agreed to make changes, which was done (very roughly) in 1886.
When discussing the border issue in 1926, it was again noted: “The border line between the USSR and China was repeatedly moved arbitrarily by both the local population and the local authorities of both sides. agreements, protocols, etc. regarding the Russian-Chinese border. "
During the occupation of China by Japan, the Soviet Union, in the interests of defense, placed under its control a large number of islands on the Chinese side of the channel on the Amur and Ussuri, writes Ogonyok.
In 1964, the parties developed a draft agreement. Then a "window" appeared in the form of the Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky islands. But the document was not signed, which is why the Chinese later considered it fair enough to attack Damansky Island, which they always considered their own.
In the end, on May 16, 1991, an agreement was signed on the Soviet-Chinese border in its eastern part, which specified the border on the basis of existing treaties. In development of this document, all subsequent Russian-Chinese agreements on the border were accepted.
After a series of honest and not entirely honest actions of both sides, the border was nevertheless secured along the Amur and Ussuri. The trouble is that it was not properly demarcated, but the main thing is that rivers quite often change the outlines of their banks, islands and fairways, which is why many purely geometric errors have accumulated in the course of border life. They were almost never corrected or even discussed - as long as China was weak or an ally of Russia, this was not considered a problem at all.
After Mikhail Gorbachev signed an agreement in 1991 that the border with China should pass along the Amur fairway, the Chinese had the opportunity to challenge the ownership of the Bolshoy Ussuriisky and Tarabarov islands in the Khabarovsk region to Russia.
The most intriguing thing is that the channel, along which the border now actually runs, is quickly washed away (and not without the help of the Chinese, who once flooded a barge here) and soon instead of the disputed island of Bolshoi Ussuriysky, a much less controversial peninsula will emerge, fused with Chinese territory. At the same time, the Russian coast is eroded by a couple of meters every year, that is, it moves away.
After the decision of Vladimir Putin, the border between the countries will actually pass through Khabarovsk, right along the city beach. Plus, on Bolshoy Ussuriysk, there is a frontier post with fortifications, there are hayfields of four collective farms that provide all of Khabarovsk with meat and milk - in a word, it is inconvenient and pitiful to give it away.
In addition, there is also a problem near Vladivostok. Here the Chinese should retreat the territory along the left swampy bank of the Tumannaya River, and on this occasion there is a lot of talk that nothing will prevent them from building a port here and making it a competitor to the Russian Far Eastern harbors. "
I can imagine what hatred I incite by communicating all this unsightly truth among all kinds of pro-Putin right and left "patriots" who want to smack and grunt at the government trough. But I try to be an "honest broker" of history and judge what is happening by real deeds, and not by crafty demagoguery. And let everyone draw a conclusion for himself - state or what other motives-interests are guided by the quite clever current "national leader", making autocraticly the aforementioned more than strange decisions.
In a solemn atmosphere, border posts were opened on the land section of the border, and the parties exchanged notes confirming the completion of the determination of the line of the Russian-Chinese border along its entire length. The Russian Foreign Ministry, having reduced the presence of the media, limited the publicity of the ceremony, the Kommersant newspaper writes.
According to eyewitnesses to the transfer of the islands, who wished to remain anonymous, about a hundred representatives of the PRC and 30 Russian officials and security officials took part in the event. The Chinese delegation arrived at the scene of the event (the coast of the Bolshoi Ussuriysk Island closest to the PRC) by boats, setting up a temporary tent camp nearby.
Near the border posts covered with cloth (stone Chinese and wooden Russian), the ceremony participants were greeted by four girls in national costumes of both countries. After the solemn raising of state flags, the veils from the border posts were removed, the representatives of the parties exchanged notes confirming the entry into force of an additional protocol describing the border line (signed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing in July 2008), and short speeches in which the method of settling the border dispute was set as an example to the world community as “conflict-free”. After that, the members of the Russian delegation left the place of the ceremony.
Let us remind you that the nationality of the Amur Islands has been undefined for over forty years. According to the Beijing Treaty of 1860, the Russian-Chinese border in the Khabarovsk region passed along south coast Amura and Ussuri, and, accordingly, Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky islands were Russian. In 1991, an intergovernmental agreement was concluded, according to which the Soviet-Chinese border was drawn mainly along the main channel of the Amur. Thus, part of the islands that previously belonged to the USSR went to China (for example, Damansky Island, the border conflict over which occurred in 1969). The Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky Islands, as well as the Bolshoi Island on the Argun River were removed from the agreement. China continued to view these islands as controversial.
In October 2004, during Vladimir Putin's visit to China, an additional agreement on the Russian-Chinese border was signed, providing for the transfer of the Bolshoi and Tarabarov islands to China, as well as the division of the Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island into the Russian and Chinese parts. The federal law on the approval of the additional agreement was ratified by both chambers of the Russian parliament and signed by the president in 2005. On July 21, 2008, the heads of the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries, following the provisions of the agreement, signed an "Additional Protocol-Description of the Russian-Chinese State Border Line on its Eastern Part", which determined the border line in the area of the Bolshoi, Tarabarov and Bolshoi Ussuriisky Islands. The Chinese side seized the entire territory of Tarabarov Island (in the Chinese version - Yinglungdao, Silver Dragon Island) and half of the Big Ussuri Island (Heisyatszydao, Black Bear Island). The total area of the territory transferred under the control of Beijing was 174 square meters. km.
The decision to transfer the islands on the Amur to China was negatively received by a number of public organizations and opposition parties in the Khabarovsk Territory. In particular, the deputies of the Khabarovsk Duma insisted on the extreme importance of the fortified area on the Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island, designed to hold back the onslaught in the event of aggression from China. In addition, the takeoff trajectory of air force and air defense combat aircraft runs over the island of Tarabarov. Residents of Khabarovsk were extremely unhappy in 2004 with the prospect of transferring the islands. Representatives of public and political associations made harsh statements.
In 2005, "tens of thousands of signatures against the transfer of the islands" were collected and sent to Moscow, but this did not change Moscow's decision in any way.
Meanwhile, the ombudsman for human rights in the Khabarovsk Territory, Yuri Berezutsky, believes that the final transfer of the islands to the PRC opens up great prospects for the residents of the region. “We have a unique opportunity, which is not found anywhere else in the country, to activate not only trade, but also cultural interaction,” said Mr. Berezutsky.
Recall that the government of the Khabarovsk Territory, having resigned itself to the transfer of the islands to the PRC, over the past years has been developing a project to create a joint Russian-Chinese trade zone on the Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island, providing for the construction of a customs-border crossing and a permanent bridge on the island instead of the existing pontoon. In the future, it is planned to create a new cross-border corridor between China and Russia on this territory.
