In a preceding post dated May of this year, I revisited historical Russian invasions of Chinese territory, citing instances in 1894, 1945, and 1969. https://pachecotorgal.com/2022/05/02/the-childish-opinions-of-a-genius/ However, in that discussion, I neglected to mention a pivotal event of even greater territorial consequence: the 1860 Russian annexation of the Amur region. This imperial land grab resulted in China’s loss of nearly 1 million square kilometers of its sovereign territory.
This territory is nearly ten times larger than the portion of Ukraine currently under Russian occupation. More strikingly, it surpasses the landmass of Taiwan by almost 30 times. In practical terms, this means that for China to fully restore its territorial integrity, it would need to reclaim an expanse equivalent to 29 Taiwans—an evocative and symbolic measure that extends far beyond the well-known territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
The critical question remains: why has China not yet formally demanded the return of these vast territories that were seized in such an overtly imperialistic and unscrupulous manner? Could it be that Beijing is waiting for an opportune moment—perhaps allowing Russia to exhaust its military and economic resources in the ongoing war in Ukraine—before asserting its historical claims?
PS - A few months back, I referenced Yuval Noah Harari's insights into Russia's substantial economic reliance on oil and gas https://pachecotorgal.com/2022/10/31/putin-and-irony-will-turn-russia-into-a-beggar-country-again/ Once again, credit is due (in abundance) for his recent article in The Atlantic, emphasizing the significance of the New Peace. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/putin-russian-ukraine-war-global-peace/672385/
