Black Blind Island, the easternmost land of our country, is under the joint jurisdiction of two countries. About 171 square kilometres of land are sovereign in our country, and the remainder belongs to Russia.
All this stems from the historical legacy of more than 100 years ago. At that time, Qing ** once owned the entire Black Blind Island, but lost it for various reasons. In order to recover this land, our country engaged in long-term negotiations with the Soviet Union and later Russia.
However, changes in Sino-Soviet relations and the international situation have slowed down the negotiations. It was not until 2008 that China and Russia finally reached an agreement to divide the island into two, each administering half of it.
Now, after 79 years of twists and turns, half of the territory of the Black Blind Island has finally returned to the embrace of the motherland. Thank you for reading, we will continue to provide you with more interesting content, click "Follow" in the top right.
How was Black Blind Island invaded back then? What is the reason why my country has recovered only half of its territory? In the Northeast dialect, people refer to black bears as "black blind people", and this island, located at the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Ussuri rivers, happens to be infested with black bears, hence the name Black Blind Island.
The area, which consists of more than 90 islands and sandbanks, including the three island systems of Ming Yue, Yinlong and Black Blind Island, covers a total area of 335 square kilometres, which is only slightly smaller than Singapore and the size of 12 Macaus.
The widest part of the island reached 140,000 meters, the average altitude is only 40 meters, and the terrain is relatively flat. As early as 1411, China discovered this island, and in the Qing Dynasty, China set up a border post in the northeast corner of the island and placed it under the jurisdiction of Fuyuan City.
However, the island was eventually encroached upon by other countries, which had a close relationship with the Eastern Railway.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, China's national power was weakened, and the great powers coveted China's resources and markets. Tsarist Russia is no exception, and it wants a piece of the pie in China. Therefore, in May 1896, taking advantage of Li Hongzhang's participation in the coronation ceremony of Nicholas II on behalf of the Qing Dynasty, Tsarist Russia threatened and lured Li Hongzhang under the pretext of the two countries' joint defense of Japan, and forced him to sign the "Sino-Russian Secret Treaty", an unequal treaty.
In order to seek personal gains, the Qing Dynasty adopted a trusting and compromising attitude towards Tsarist Russia, and signed a number of treaties such as the "Sino-Russian Secret Treaty" and the "Sino-Russian Joint Contract for the Eastern Province Railway Company", allowing Tsarist Russia to build railways in the northeast region and granting it a large number of privileges.
Such behavior not only harmed China's sovereignty and interests, but also opened the door for Tsarist Russia to further invade China. Eventually, the Dongqing Railway was completed in 1903 and became an important tool for Tsarist Russia's invasion of China.
At the time of the signing of the treaty, Tsarist Russia claimed that the railway would be jointly managed by both China and Russia. However, when the railway was completed, Tsarist Russia took control of the railway on its own and refused to let the Qing Dynasty intervene.
Due to the weakness of the Qing Dynasty, it had to compromise. This made Tsarist Russia even more arrogant, directly regarding the railroad as its sphere of influence, wantonly plundering the resources of the northeast and turning many places into colonies.
It was not until 1920 that the Dongqing Railway was renamed the China Eastern Provincial Railway, referred to as the "Eastern Railway" or "Middle East Road".
There have been many calls for "reclaiming the sovereignty of the Eastern Railway" in China, especially after the fall of Tsarist Russia, which has become stronger and stronger. Beiyang **, forced by public opinion, negotiated with the USSR and reached an agreement that the Eastern Railway would be managed by China, and all the shares of the Russians would be recovered by China within five years.
However, the Eastern Railway brought more than 30 million yuan a year to the Soviet Union, which was a large amount of money for a nascent regime. Therefore, the Soviet Union delayed the handover of the management of the Middle East Road under various pretexts.
Zhang Zuolin, as the king of the Northeast, is anxious for the recovery of the Middle East Road. He took a tough stance on the territorial issue, otherwise he would not have been killed by the Japanese because of this.
In the face of the Soviet delay, he could not sit idly by and sent emissaries to negotiate with him. Finally, in September 1924, the two sides reached the "Feng-Russia Agreement", agreeing to transfer the railway and the surrounding farms and mines to the Fengjun.
However, the USSR once again reneged on the contract. What is even more unfortunate is that the Huanggutun incident made Zhang Zuolin's stay in the world even shorter, and the Middle East Road incident was shelved.
Zhang Xueliang inherited the title of King of the Northeast, and also inherited his father's will to recover the management of the Middle East Road. Resolving the Middle East Road issue would allow him to establish prestige within the Feng army, which was divided into factions and some were suspicious of the newly appointed young marshal.
In May 1929, he received information from Zhang Jinghui that the Soviet Union had suffered a great famine due to policy mistakes, and was isolated from Europe and the United States. He believes that this is the best time to reclaim sovereignty over the Middle Road.
Stalin was too busy solving domestic problems to take care of the Middle East Road, so it was easier to take back the privileges of the Soviet side. However, Zhang Xueliang also has concerns. Although the Northeast Army is well-equipped and the most powerful, it is not superior in terms of strength or equipment compared to the Soviet Union, and he needs a helper.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was the best candidate in his mind.
Lao Chiang's support for Zhang Xueliang to take back the Middle East Road was not only for the purpose of winning him over and consolidating his position, but also for the purpose of enhancing his prestige. He made it clear that he firmly supported Zhang Xueliang's proposal, and even promised to sever diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia if necessary, and to send 100,000 soldiers and horses and millions of financial aid.
Zhang Xueliang followed the advice of Lao Chiang, expelled and detained the Soviet ** and personnel by forceful means, and strengthened the border forces to deal with a possible Soviet attack. Although he did not intend to go to war with the Soviet Union, the Soviets also increased their troops on the border.
At the same time, the South Manchurian Railway was part of the Eastern Railway, and Japan was also worried that Zhang Xueliang's actions would affect its own interests in China, so it deployed heavy troops in Manchuria and conducted frequent military exercises.
In August 1929, the Northeast Army and the Soviet Army exchanged fire in Manchuria. Chiang's perfunctory response to Soviet diplomatic calls and sabotage of the negotiations between the Northeast authorities and the Soviet Union led to the anger of the Soviet Union, which decided to go to war with Zhang Xueliang.
In this battle, Lao Chiang did not fulfill his promise of support and appropriation, but borrowed troops from Zhang Xueliang, resulting in heavy losses for the Northeast Army. In the course of the battle, Soviet troops occupied the Chinese territory of Black Blind Island, etc.
Although Zhang Xueliang agreed to restore the Middle East Road to its original state, the Soviet side did not return these territories. The Black Blind Island has been under the control of the Soviets ever since, and a post has been built on it and garrisoned by troops.
Since our country was busy at that time with the expulsion of the Japanese invaders and the settlement of internal problems, there were no negotiations with the Soviet side on the issue of sovereignty over the Black Blind Island.
In 1954, the Soviet Union unilaterally announced that it would prohibit Chinese fishermen from landing on the Black Blind Island on the seaside, encroaching on China's territory step by step, which made us deeply feel the seriousness of the problem.
On February 23, 1964, we decided to negotiate with the Soviet Union for the return of the island to the motherland. However, the Soviet side disputed the important value of the islands and therefore rejected our request.
The Black Blind Island is a strategically important place, which not only holds the throat of the main channel of the Heilongjiang-Ussuri River, but also the closest place to the Soviet Union is 1,500 meters, and the closest place to China is only 200 meters.
Such a geographical location allowed our troops to reach the battlefield before the Soviets in the exchange of fire between the two sides, and at the same time, the Soviets were also within the range of Chinese artillery shells. Therefore, the USSR categorically did not agree to return the Black Blind Island to China.
This led to the breakdown of the first Sino-Soviet negotiations.
On October 20, 1969, the two countries held another negotiation. By this time, however, relations between China and the Soviet Union had become increasingly tense. The Soviet Union frequently deployed heavy troops in the border areas and created various incidents in an attempt to annex China's territory, which even led to the ** of China's border guards.
Soon after, the famous "Treasure Island Incident" broke out. In the dispute between China and the Soviet Union over the Black Blind Island, our militia successfully sank a Soviet ** on the Ussuri River.
In addition, China's success in retaining Zhenbao Island made the Soviets very uneasy, and they began to emigrate to Black Blind Island as a way to assert their "sovereignty".