China Signs Border Demarcation Pact With Russia
July 21, 2008
By Reuters
BEIJING -- China and Russia have signed a pact that finally settled the demarcation of their 4,300-km border, the scene of armed clashes during the height of the Cold War.
The "additional protocol on the eastern part of borders" was signed by Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Xinhua news agency said.
Russia is eager to boost exports of oil, gas, and nuclear products to China, the world's second-biggest consumer of oil and power, though China's growing world clout is watched with some anxiety by Moscow's elite.
Russia, whose $1.3 trillion economy is booming for a 10th straight year, has forged close ties with China on a number of world issues, including Iran and North Korea.
But relations over the past century have run hot and cold.
China and the Soviet Union went from being best friends in the 1950s to suspicious rivals a decade later when they fought a series of border skirmishes after falling out over ideological principles.
The two countries signed an agreement on demarcation of the eastern part of their border in 1991, followed by a supplementary agreement in 2004. A pact on the western border was signed in 1994.