A geographer asked a seventh-grader how China has expanded recently, but we have brilliantly prepared for the lesson. Bashny.Net

China, whose territory (9,598,962 square kilometers) is already second only to Russia and Canada, continues to acquire new possessions. What lands have passed under the control of the Celestial Empire over the past 30 years, you will learn in our article.



With the collapse of the USSR, China was one of the first to recognize the independence of the new states of Central Asia. The payment for this was substantial territorial claims. So in the case of Kazakhstan, we were talking about lands that were once part of the Dzungar Khanate. This is a large part of Eastern Kazakhstan.



Over time, the Chinese authorities have somewhat tempered their appetite. However, during the demarcation of the Kazakh-Chinese border, 407 square kilometers of disputed possessions passed to the PRC.

The civil war in Tajikistan led to the fact that territorial issues were left for later. As a result, Dushanbe had to give China much more land than neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.



Great economic dependence on Beijing also played a role. In 2011, Tajikistan transferred more than 1,100 square kilometers to China in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, which is 0.77% of the country’s territory.

But the story didn't end there. Tajik authorities have accumulated huge loans in China, which turned out to be nothing. As a result, we have to pay for natural resources. Chinese companies have already been given the gold and coal deposits of Tajikistan for long-term development. In the future, this may turn into new territorial claims.

Nepal

Sandwiched between China and India, Nepal is forced to balance between its powerful neighbors. Under these conditions, Beijing has chosen the tactic of creeping annexation. The Chinese build buildings in the disputed territories and secure them with military force. From 2009 to 2020, this tactic took more than 150 hectares of land from Nepal.

Portugal

The Macau Special Administrative Region was established on 21 December 1999 as a result of the liquidation of the Portuguese colony of Macau. In addition to an area of 32.9 square kilometers with a population of 683,000 people, China received a major port, a vibrant financial and economic center.

UK

Like Portugal, Britain handed over its former colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997. The territory of 1100 square kilometers is one of the world's largest financial centers. According to the joint Sino-British Declaration and the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the territory is granted broad autonomy until 2047.

Philippines

The fish-and-oil-rich Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea was administered by the Philippines until 2012, when China introduced warships there. Protests by the UN and the Philippine authorities, as well as the decisions of international courts, Beijing defiantly rejects, continuing to build up its military presence.

Kyrgyzstan

Negotiations on the delimitation of the border between Kyrgyzstan and China began in 1992. The most difficult was to come to an agreement on the ownership of the strategic gorge Uzongu-Kush. As a result, only 30 percent of the territory of the Uzongu-Kush gorge (161 square kilometers) passed to China, and 70 percent remained under the jurisdiction of Kyrgyzstan. Later, this caused widespread popular discontent and even became one of the causes of the 2005 revolution.

Back in 1991, Russia ceded to China more than 600 disputed islands on the Amur and Ussuri rivers. In 2004, the PRC received another 337 square kilometers of territory. In particular, the Amur island of Tarabarov and half of the island of Bolshaya Ussurisky. An additional protocol describing the Russian-Chinese border line on its eastern part was signed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a visit to Beijing on July 21, 2008.



According to Moscow economists, the concession allowed to conclude profitable billion-dollar deals with China, which more than covered the losses. However, the opinion was also expressed that such acquiescence weakens Russia’s position in the international arena.

The article and the preview used photos.