Is China seeking to take advantage of the retreat of Russia, which is under international sanctions and embroiled in a war in Ukraine, to take advantage of its several tens of square kilometers of territory? On Monday August 28, the Ministry of Natural Resources released its 2023 edition china national mapan official document which is now a reference in terms of “national sovereignty”. However, in the far northeast of the country, China appears to have made the island of Bolshoi Oussuriisk its own.

Situated at the confluence of the Amur and Ussouri rivers, this approximately 300 square kilometer island has long been a dispute between the two countries. In 1929, Russia occupied the island and banned China from sailing this section of the Amur River, which Beijing has always contested. In 2004, however, the two countries reached a compromise: the western half of the island was returned to China, which could also ford the Amur River, but in return, Beijing accepted that the eastern half was returned to Russia.

If the map published on the ministry’s website is not precise enough to show the borders clearly, the ministry has defined them “scope” : “The confluence of the Heilongjiang River [nom chinois de l’Amour] and Ussuri traced to the east”, it is determined. However, this meeting theoretically took place on Russian territory. Moreover, China’s Baidu Map search engine does not show the border line located in the center of the island, but explicitly writes in Chinese in the eastern part of the island. “Fu Yuan Delta”, the name of a Chinese district administratively attached to the western half of the island. Asked by World, the Ministry of Natural Resources did not respond. Russia doesn’t seem to react.

On the other hand, several other countries bordering China have officially protested the publication of this map: India, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan, which according to this document are an integral part of the People’s Republic of China. .

India has denied that the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin highlands were included in the document. By April, China had given Chinese names to a dozen sites located in Arunachal Pradesh, one of the twenty-eight states that make up India. “Such initiatives by the Chinese side only make it difficult to resolve the border issue”, commented a spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs. It may be because of this disagreement that Chinese President, Xi Jinping, decided not to attend the G20, which was held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, leaving it to his Prime Minister, Li Qiang, to represent China. .

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