Few people know that China recovered more than 30,000 hectares, or more than 300 square kilometers of lost land, in 1998, which is Charshiri. Charshri is known as "China's last pure land" and "treasure trove of biological genes". What is the story of the long road to recovery? Why is it that outsiders are not allowed to enter here so far?
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I. In the vast land of China, only here is called "Pure Land"
In the Territory of bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, there is such a sacred place, where outsiders are forbidden to enter, and Chinese officers and soldiers patrol regularly. Because of the long-term protection, the biological resources here are rich: there are 1676 species of wild plants, more than 60 species of plants under national key protection, and 35 species of animals under national key protection.
Sharhiri's Mongolian interpretation is very dreamy, with the meaning of "yellow hillside", which also succinctly summarizes the beauty of the place. Sharshiri is a frontier region of China and has important geostrategic significance. Charshri is located at the foot of the mountain north of alashankou, bordering the Republic of Kazakhstan with Alashankou. To the west and south is the equally scenic Hariturgelin Field. The straight-line distance between the north and Lake Alas is not more than 50 kilometers, and to the southeast is Abby Lake, the largest saltwater lake in Xinjiang.
With a total area of 314 square kilometres, Charcili is inaccessible and forbidden for outsiders to visit it, so it is not inhabited. The altitude here is between 1210 and 3670 meters, which is a narrow area running east-west. The western part belongs to the middle and high mountain areas, the central part belongs to the middle and low mountain areas, and the eastern part belongs to the relatively flat low mountains, deserts and Gobi belts. The narrow middle is a natural corridor that connects the east and west parts.
It has a temperate continental climate, and the territory of Sharsiri is abundant in water resources and rich in topography. There are snow-capped mountains, grasslands, rivers, etc., not many people know that this place was actually China's lost land, after the loss of this land, it became a disputed area between China and neighboring countries, and it was not officially recovered until 1998.
As early as the Han and Tang Dynasties, when the country was strong, the people could move around freely. It was only in the late Qing Dynasty that due to the weakness and corruption of the late Qing government, many of China's territories were ceded. China, which was once vast, was shrinking in the hands of the late Qing government, and Charshri was part of the ceded out.
The corrupt late Qing government ceded land and a strong China defended its territorial integrity
In modern China, it was difficult to advance in the chaos of war, and the incompetent Qing government signed a treaty of land cession and indemnity for the loss of power and humiliation, and gave the motherland's land to the Western powers. As a result, China's territory is no longer intact, and the trauma to China is also long-term.
In the 1870s, when the Western imperialist powers invaded China, the late Qing government, which was a foreign power and a middle power, had no dignity in front of the great powers. When China was being divided by Western powers, Agubai invaded China's Xinjiang region, and Tsarist Russia also took the opportunity to seize the Ili region of China's Xinjiang, including Charshiri. China is torn apart, and the prosperity of that year no longer exists.
In the absence of China's land protection, the Chinese minister Zuo Zongtang led troops into Xinjiang, defeated Agubai, and successfully recovered a large area of Xinjiang, but the Ili region was still controlled by Tsarist Russia. With zuo Zongtang's victory, the late Qing dynasty wanted to further recover the entire Ili region.
But how could Tsarist Russia have handed over its land so easily? In the case that neither of you nor I was willing to give up and did not hesitate to start a war, in 1881 the two sides held peace talks and signed the Ili Treaty, under the threat of force of Tsarist Russia, the weak and incompetent Qing government could only bow to Tsarist Russia. According to the treaty, China could recover the territory near the Nine Cities of Ili and the Turks River Valley, but it would cede more than 70,000 square kilometers of territory, including Charshiri, to Tsarist Russia, and in this way, China lost the land of Charshili.
In the Soviet period, New China and the Soviet Union carried out a total of 3 negotiations on the determination of border territories. However, at that time, New China and the Soviet Union had already turned against each other, so most of the negotiations did not progress much, but both sides recognized some disputed areas, including Charshiri. The Soviet Union was always unwilling to compromise on territorial issues, so the negotiations ended in vain.
But China has not given in any way in recovering lost ground, and things have taken a turn for the better. In 1991, the once-dominant Soviet empire collapsed, and many of the member states became independent. In the change of land, Kazakhstan, as a member state, naturally took over the territorial sovereignty of Charshiri from the Soviet Union.
Kazakhstan did not cling to Sharshiri as tightly as Tsarist Russia did. In 1992, China established diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan and held five-party talks with neighboring CIS countries in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on the disputed border area, and the talks went quite smoothly. By early 1994, China and Kazakhstan had reached a consensus on a 1,700-kilometer-long border. Although disputed areas such as Charshri and Alashankou have not yet been clearly attributed, China has never given up its negotiations with Kazakhstan on the disputed areas.
With the strength of China and years of hard work, China and Kazakhstan finally signed the "Supplementary Regulations on the State Border between China and Kazakhstan" on July 4, 1998. The regulations show that China has handed over more than 100 kilometers of land near alashankou, which it has long since lost its actual control. And Charshri officially became Chinese territory in law. Since then, China has once again possessed this treasure land, and has set up a nature reserve, which is listed as a military powerhouse and forbidden for outsiders to enter.
Third, the good place of Charcili, a national nature reserve, is rich in biological resources
Xinjiang Charhiri National Nature Reserve is picturesque. It is precisely because it once belonged to the disputed area, so it has been basically no one has set foot in the past three hundred years, and after the recovery, it has been included in the military forbidden land, and there is no artificial economic and production activities for many years, and the scenery here is preserved very primitive.
The natural resources here are very well preserved and the ecological resources are extremely rich. When you come here, you can see that the mountains are rolling and rolling, covered with oily green vegetation, and occasionally there will be sparse trees inlays; looking up at the distance is the snow-capped mountains rising from the ground, majestic and magnificent; looking down at the grassland, the grass is lush. All kinds of flowers, all kinds of grass, like oil paintings brushed by painters over and over again.
The vegetation of the Shire Hilly region is an important part of China's vegetation, with a vegetation coverage rate of up to 97%. It is located in the center of Eurasia, so in the change of geographical environment, it has caused the diversification of plant species. There are 1676 species of wild plants, and more than 60 kinds of plants belong to the national key protected plants, such as Mongolian astragalus, snow lotus, Xinjiang comfrey and so on. There are also edible, medicinal, ornamental plants and other plant resources in Charshri, and there are many kinds.
In addition to the rich plant resources, the wildlife resources here are also particularly diverse. There are 35 species of wildlife under national key protection, including saiga antelope, pan sheep and snow leopard. There are also more than 300 species of terrestrial animals and birds. At the same time, it is also an important bird migration, breeding and wintering ground, and for China, it is a treasure trove of biological species genes.
For the loss and recovery of this treasure land, Chinese should deeply reflect on the weakness and incompetence of the late Qing government and continue to strive for China's strength. The recovery of the Shire-Sharif region lies behind China's peaceful recovery of lost land in modern society, which also provides valuable experience for the recovery or return of other disputed territories in China. It is believed that in the continuous rise of China, there will be a day of territorial integrity.