Exploring the Aigun and Peking agreements through competing archives, political memory, and cross-border scholarship.

China’s relations with former colonial or imperial powers vary widely, and its willingness to “forgive” or move on from historical grievances depends largely on whether issues were resolved through diplomacy or war. With Britain, France, and Japan, modern relations were recalibrated after territorial issues were settled. With Russia, the situation is more complex because the territorial changes of the mid-19th century—primarily the Treaty of Aigun (1858) and the Convention of Beijing (1860)—were never formally repudiated or reversed, and their legitimacy remains a subject of historical discussion inside China.

At the start of the 1800s, the Qing dynasty governed one of the world’s largest economies, significant in population and cultural influence. However:

Britain’s desire to balance its trade deficit with China led to expanded opium shipments from British-controlled India. The Qing government’s attempt to stop the opium trade in 1839 contributed to:

These conflicts weakened Qing authority and accelerated foreign encroachment into China’s coastal and inland regions.

During the same period:

China was not colonized outright, but it was divided into multiple spheres of influence, with foreign states seizing and controlling ports, trade, and infrastructure.

While China fought wars in the south, Russia was expanding eastward across Siberia. Russia’s goals included:

Signed between Qing official Yishan and Russian representative Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, the treaty:

After Anglo-French forces advanced into Beijing, Russia mediated negotiations—but also obtained:

The combined area transferred to Russia in 1858–1860 is often cited as more than 1 million km², though estimates vary depending on definitions.

With Britain, Japan, and France, major territorial disputes were resolved in the 20th century:

In each case, foreign occupation or control ended, and formal agreements recognized new borders.

Russia, however:

Modern China does not officially contest the current border, which was reaffirmed through a series of agreements:

However, Chinese education and historical scholarship still refer to the 19th-century treaties as “unequal treaties” signed under coercion. The idea of “lost territories” appears in Chinese historiography and public discourse, though it is not an active policy goal.

Despite underlying historical tensions, China and Russia today maintain a strategic partnership driven by:

However, analysts often describe the partnership as pragmatic, not rooted in deep historical trust.

Demographic and economic trends—such as Chinese migration and investment in the Russian Far East—occasionally raise concerns among Russian commentators, though official Russian policy does not frame this as a territorial threat.

Scholars debate several issues:

Most mainstream experts emphasize that China is not pursuing territorial revisionism against Russia today, but historical memory continues to shape public attitudes and long-term strategic thinking.

1. Russian-Language Sources (Русская литература / Russian scholarship)

Primary and historical materials

 Айгунский договор (EADaily) — Russian historical overview of the 1858 Treaty of Aigun, including signatories and territorial terms.

Русско-китайские договорно-правовые акты (Abirus.ru) — A collection of Russian-Chinese treaty texts from 1689–1916, including Aigun, Peking, and related border agreements (useful for original language research).

Пекинский договор 1860 года (RusKontur) — Detailed description of the Treaty of Peking’s provisions on borders and trade between Russia and China.

Русский Китай: очерки дипломатических отношений (President’s Library) — Historical text by Alexei Buksgevden on early Russia–China diplomacy through 1902, including treaties and frontier policy.

2. Modern scholarly work

Байзакова Л.М. — Российско-китайские отношения… территориальный кризис — Russian academic article analyzing the territorial issues surrounding the Aigun and Peking treaties and Russia’s diplomacy in the late 19th century.

Evgeny Bazhanov — Russian-Chinese Relations: Problems and Prospects — Catalog of scholarly works by Bazhanov, including Russian perspectives on historical and modern Russia–China relations and foreign policy.
(You can search this author’s publications in academic catalogs or WorldCat.)

3. Chinese / China-Focused Sources and Perspectives

Britannica: Treaty of Aigun — Provides the Chinese name for the treaty (瑷珲条约) and notes that Beijing initially resisted ratification, reflecting the basis for how the treaty has been viewed historically.

Carnegie Endowment analysis: Aigun, Russia, and China’s “Century of Humiliation” — English-language article citing Chinese historiographical framing of Aigun, including how Chinese narratives construed the treaties as imposed during weakness.

“Unequal Treaties” (Wikipedia) — Defines the broader category of 19th-century treaties China includes Aigun and Peking in, central to Chinese historical narratives of imperial encroachment.

 中国和世界不平等条约制度概述(SSRN: Unequal Treaties) — Scholarly overview of the doctrine of unequal treaties in Chinese international law and historiography, with discussion of how 19th-century treaties are interpreted in modern scholarship (note: external SSRN abstract).

Jiang Yi (2020 Russian-language Chinese academic article) — Article by a Chinese scholar (in Russian language academic publication portal) on the history of the China–Russia border question and its significance for intergovernmental relations, reflecting a Chinese research perspective published in Russian academic format.

4. General English-language Scholarly Context (Useful for cross-cultural comparison)

These aren’t primary Chinese/Russian sources, but they synthesize both perspectives:

Britannica: Treaty of Aigun — Historical summary of terms and context.

**Britannica: Treaty of Peking (Beijing) ** — Places the 1860 treaty in context of confirmed boundaries.

Carnegie Endowment: Aigun, Russia, and China’s “Century of Humiliation” — Notes how Aigun has been discussed in Chinese historical memory.

Chatham House report (China and Russia PDF) — Academic analysis of the treaties’ impact on later Sino-Russian border relations and their “unequal treaty” framing.

 Philip Snow — China and Russia: Four Centuries of Conflict and Concord — A comprehensive book covering over 400 years of Sino-Russian interactions, including 19th-century treaties and interpretations (searchable via major libraries).

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