Background
The border between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China had long been an issue of contention. The Sino-Soviet border was a legacy of various treaties between the Qing Dynasty and the Russian Empire, the Treaty of Aigun and the Treaty of Beijing, in which Russia gained over 1 million km² (400,000 mi²) of territory in Manchuria at China's expense, and another 500,000 km² in the western regions from several other treaties. These treaties have long been regarded by Chinese as unequal treaties, and the issue partially arose again with the Sino-Soviet split, with tensions eventually leading to division-scale military clashes along the border in 1969.
Even as tensions lessened and leaders on both sides adopted more conciliatory attitudes, the border issue remained unresolved. Despite their view of the previous border treaties as unequal ones, Chinese leaders were willing to negotiate on the basis of the modern boundaries. That left about 35,000 km² of territory in dispute, with about 28,000 km² in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, 6,000 km² elsewhere along the western border, and about 1,000 km² along the Argun, Amur, and Ussuri rivers on the eastern border. Border negotiations were eventually resumed in 1987 at Mikhail Gorbachev's initiation. An agreement was reached on the eastern portion of the border on May 16, 1991, several months before the final dissolution of the USSR. Russia inherited most of the former Sino-Soviet border, and ratified the agreement in February 1992, while the other post-Soviet republics negotiated separate border agreements.
Read more about this topic: 1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement
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