View source for Treaty of Aigun

{{Short description|1858 treaty between Russia and China}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{EngvarA|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox Treaty
|name = Treaty of Aigun
|long_name =
|image = MANCHURIA-U.S.S.R BOUNDARY Ct002999.jpg
|image_width = 
|caption = Changes to the [[China–Russia border]] in the 19th century. Territory ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Aigun is shown in yellow.
|type = 
|date_drafted =
|date_signed = May 28, 1858
|location_signed = [[Aigun]], [[Manchuria]], China
|date_sealed =
|date_effective =
|condition_effective =
|date_expiration =
|signatories = 
* {{flagicon|Qing Dynasty}} [[Yishan (official)|Yishan]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire|1858}} [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky|Nikolay Muravyov]]

|parties = 
* {{flagicon|Qing Dynasty}} [[Qing Empire|China]]
* {{flagicon|Russian Empire|1858}} [[Russian Empire|Russia]]

|ratifiers =
|depositor = 
|language  = [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Manchu language|Manchu]], [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]
| wikisource          = 
}}

{{Infobox Chinese
| t = 璦琿條約
| s = 瑷珲条约
| p = Àihún tiáoyuē
| rus = Айгунский договор
| rusr = Aygunskiy dogovor
}}

The '''Treaty of Aigun''' was an 1858 [[treaty]] between the [[Russian Empire]] and [[Yishan (official)|Yishan]], official of the [[Qing dynasty]] of China. It established much of the modern border between the [[Russian Far East]] and [[China]] by ceding much of [[Manchuria]] (the ancestral homeland of the [[Manchu people]]), now known as [[Northeast China]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/analysis/29263.stm|title=Russia and China end 300 year old border dispute|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=10 November 1997|access-date=14 August 2010}}</ref>  Negotiations began after China was threatened with war on a second front by Governor-General of the Far East [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky|Nikolay Muraviev]] when China was suppressing the [[Taiping Rebellion]].<ref name = "sj">{{Cite book | title = The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895: perceptions, power, and primacy | last = Paine | first = SCM | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-521-81714-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SHIAEo_qGRIC&pg=PA69 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It reversed the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] (1689) by transferring the land between the [[Stanovoy Range]] and the [[Amur River]] from the Qing dynasty to the Russian Empire. Russia received over {{convert|600,000|km2|sqmi|sigfig=5|sp=us}} of what became known as [[Outer Manchuria]].<ref name = "disputes" /><ref name="sj"/> While the Qing government initially refused to recognize the validity of the treaty, the Russian gains under the Treaty of Aigun were affirmed as part of the 1860 Sino-Russian [[Convention of Peking]].<ref name="diplomacy">{{Cite book|title = International Rivalry and Secret Diplomacy in East Asia, 1896-1950|last = Elleman|first = Bruce|publisher = Taylor & Francis|year = 2019|isbn = 9781317328155|page = 19}}</ref>

==Background==
Since the reign of [[Catherine the Great]] (1762–1796), Russian emperors had desired to make Russia a naval power in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]. They gradually achieved their goals by annexing the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]] and establishing the naval outpost of [[Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky]] in 1740, naval outposts in [[Russian America]] and near the [[Amur]] watershed, encouraging Russians to go there and settle, and slowly developing a strong military presence in the Amur region. 

From 1850 to 1864, when China was heavily involved in suppressing the [[Taiping Rebellion]], and Governor-General of the Far East [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky|Nikolay Muraviev]] camped tens of thousands of troops on the borders of [[Mongolia]] and [[Manchuria]], preparing to make legal Russian [[de facto]] control over the Amur from past settlement.<ref name="disputes"/> Muraviev seized the opportunity when it was clear that China was losing the [[Second Opium War]], and threatened China with a war on a second front.<ref name = "sj"/> The Qing dynasty agreed to enter negotiations with Russia.<ref name = "disputes">{{Cite book| title= China and international law: the boundary disputes| last = Tzhou | first = Byron N |publisher= [[Greenwood Publishing Group]]| isbn= 978-0-275-93462-0|year= 1990|page= 47|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OHuybRYYE4YC&pg=PA47}}</ref>

==Signing==
The Russian general [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky|Muraviev]] and the Qing official [[Yishan (official)|Yishan]], both military governors of the area, signed the treaty on May 28, 1858, in the town of [[Aigun]].<ref name="sj"/>{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2000|p=390}} The Qing government initially refused to ratify the treaty and considered the treaty invalid, but in 1860 the Sino-Russian [[Convention of Peking]] affirmed Russian gains under the Treaty of Aigun and also ceded [[Primorye]]<ref name="diplomacy"></ref> and the [[Ussuri]] region{{sfn|Riasanovsky|2000|p=390}} to the Russians.

==Effects==
The resulting treaty established a border between the Russian and Chinese Empires along the Amur River. (Chinese and Manchu residents of the [[Sixty-Four Villages East of the River]] would be allowed to remain, under the jurisdiction of Manchu government.) The Amur, [[Sungari River|Sungari]], and [[Ussuri]] rivers were to be open exclusively to both Chinese and Russian ships. The territory bounded on the west by the Ussuri, on the north by the Amur, and on the east and south by the [[Sea of Japan]] was to be jointly administered by Russia and China—a "condominium" arrangement similar to that which the British and Americans had agreed upon for the [[Oregon Territory]] in the [[Treaty of 1818]].<ref name="disputes"/> (Russia gained sole control of this land two years later.)<ref name="rl">{{Cite news|url=http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/93-4-69.shtml|title=The Sino-Soviet Border Talks|publisher=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Liberty research bulletin]]|date=26 June 1969|access-date=14 August 2010|first=Sally|last=Bissinger|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226110605/http://www.osaarchivum.org/files/holdings/300/8/3/text/93-4-69.shtml|archive-date=26 February 2012}}</ref>
#The inhabitants along the Amur, Sungari, and Ussuri rivers were to be allowed to trade with each other.
#The Russians would retain [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Manchu language|Manchu]] copies of the text, and the Chinese would retain Manchu and [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] copies of the text.
#All restrictions on trade were to be lifted along the border.

==Perception in China==
In China, especially after the rise of [[Chinese nationalism]] in the 1920s,{{cn|date=May 2021}} the treaty has been denounced as an [[unequal treaty]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Treaty-of-Aigun |title=Treaty of Aigun |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=12 May 2021}}</ref>

In September 2024, the President of the [[Republic of China]] ([[Taiwan]]) [[Lai Ching-te]] claimed that if China's claims on Taiwan are about territorial integrity then it should also take back land from Russia signed over by the last Chinese dynasty in the 19th century, mentioning the treaty.<ref name="reu24">{{cite news |last1=Blanchard |first1=Ben |title=If China wants Taiwan it should also take back land from Russia, president says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/if-china-wants-taiwan-it-should-also-take-back-land-russia-president-says-2024-09-02/ |access-date=23 September 2024 |agency=Reuters |date=September 2, 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{Wikisourcelang|ru|Айгунский договор}}
{{Wikisourcelang|zh|璦琿條約}}
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Riasanovsky | first=Nicholas |year=2000 |title = A History of Russia |location=Oxford, England |publisher=Oxford UP |edition=6th | isbn=978-0-19-503361-8 |authorlink=Nicholas V. Riasanovsky |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofrussia00rias}}

==See also==
*[[Convention of Peking]]
*[[Amur Annexation]]
*[[Outer Manchuria]]
*[[Sino-Russian border conflicts]]
*[[Unequal Treaties]]
*[[Western imperialism in Asia]]
{{Sino-Russian treaties}}
{{Qing dynasty topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aigun Treaty}}
[[Category:Unequal treaties]]
[[Category:19th century in Manchuria]]
[[Category:19th century in the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Treaties involving territorial changes]]
[[Category:1858 in China]]
[[Category:China–Russia treaties]]
[[Category:Boundary treaties]]
[[Category:China–Russia border]]
[[Category:1858 treaties]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Qing dynasty]]
[[Category:May 1858]]
[[Category:China–Russian Empire relations]]