 |
Emergence of Gando ControversyEmergence of Gando Controversy |
Recently, the controversy surrounding Gando (Jiandao in Chinese) has been drawing renewed attention for two reasons. First, shifts in international politics have raised the profile of this northeastern border area. China believes that its Reform and Open Policy has brought about much change in bilateral and multilateral relations with Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. with regard to this region. For the past decade, Northeast Asia’s rising political and economic status has caught the world’s attention, and the region’s northeastern corner, especially, has emerged as Northeast Asia’s center, a point of great strategic value. The strategic significance of Gando is inextricable from regional strategies related to Northeast Asia as a whole, not to mention strategies encompassing the globe. In other words, any changes made in this northeastern region are likely to influence global strategies in the 21st century. Clearly, changes that occur in the northeastern corner of Northeast Asia will not only affect this region but the dynamics of international politics as well, while providing some indication as to where China is headed with its vision of a united multi-ethnic state.
The second factor bringing increased attention to Gando is China’s Northeast Project, which has been in operation on a national level since 2002. This project includes research related to border issues, including the China-Korea dispute over Gando, based on a multi-dimensional approach that takes both history and international law into account. In the 1990s, China carried out extensive research with regard to the Gando issue and weighed the key problems against the measures that would be needed to bring security and prosperity to the border areas in Jilin Province. In 1997, China also studied the likely impact of political changes along the Korean peninsula on the stability of the northeastern border region. These efforts indicate that China is conducting research on Gando not only as a matter of historical interest but as a pressing issue for the nation today and looking ahead to the future. In short, the Gando issue has resurfaced because of the increased competitive power of China and Korea alike, a corresponding rise of nationalism, and most of all, because Gando remains an unresolved piece of the historical puzzle that is China-Korea relations, which here points to a reunified Korea of the future.
|
Origins of the Dispute over Gando |
The dispute over Gando between China and Korea has its roots in the 17th century when the Qing Dynasty, with its growing influence in the region, began to restrict access to the banks of the Amnok(Yalu) River and the Duman(Tumen) River, which formed its border with Korea. After exploring Mt. Baekdu, in the name of border patrol, Qing erected the Mt. Baekdu Demarcation Stele to unilaterally draw the line between the two kingdoms. In the late 19th century, Qing lifted its enclosure policy and attempted to have the Koreans who lived in and farmed the disputed area become naturalized Chinese citizens. China and Korea, however, did not see eye to eye with regard to one of the phrases inscribed on the Mt. Baekdu Demarcation Stele that described the demarcation line as “the Yalu River in the west, and the Tomun River in the east.” While Joseon perceived the Tomun River and Duman River to be two different rivers, China saw them as one.
In an attempt to clarify the demarcation issue, China and Korea held talks twice, in 1885 and 1887, respectively, but reached no agreement. Meanwhile, Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War meant they were out of the picture, despite having an interest in Gando. Then, in 1905, Japan illegally seized control of Joseon and proceeded to sign the Gando Convention with China in return for China’s Convention on Manchuria. In other words, Japan traded Gando for railway and mining rights in this northeastern part of China. The 1909 Gando Convention should have been nullified by the 1945 Cairo Declaration or the Potsdam Declaration in keeping with international law. Further, according to the 1952 Treaty of Peace between China and Japan, all treaties, agreements, and pacts that Japan signed prior to 1941 should have been nullified. Despite these facts, in the days after Japan’s defeat in World War II, even after the agreement on Manchuria was nullified, the Gando Convention, its counterpart, remained in effect, allowing China to continue its rule in the area. Later, when boundary claims fueled a rather lengthy dispute between China and North Korea, they resolved to draw the demarcation line across Cheonji, the crate lake on top of Mt. Baekdu, and fix their border along the Yalu and Tumen Rivers in a secret 1962 treaty.
That being said, the case of Gando remains open because the parties that participated in the above mentioned negotiations, the parties who should be initiating negotiations today, are caught up in a complicated web. Moreover, the illegitimacy of treaties and agreements from the early modern years has yet to be dealt with. It’s a complex situation in which the interested parties and what has been and what remains to be negotiated are all muddled up, including the erection of the Mt. Baekdu Demarcation Stele by Joseon and Qing and the two border negotiations between the two states, the illegitimate Protectorate Treaty of 1905 between Japan and the Great Han Empire, the Manchuria and Gando conventions between Japan and China, the secret border treaty between China and North Korea, and the reemergence of the Gando issue between China and Korea, or between China and a reunified Korea of the future. One thing is clear. The Gando issue involves more than just one part of Korea—not only the South or the North, for instance. It is between China and the entire national polity of Korea, which would include a reunified Korea of the future.
|
Discussions Surrounding Gando |
Place names emerge out of human social activity, and are formed, used, transformed and established, according to the rules of historical development, including social background and natural features. Regarding Gando, China claims that the name and the place are a creation or invention of the people of Joseon, going as far as calling Gando nothing but a myth. On the other hand, Korea asserts that Gando is closely tied to Korea, in lineage and in history, and that it belongs to Korea.
While China limits Gando to the northern reaches of the Tumen River or to the Yanbian area, Koreans have long held the view that Gando encompasses China’s northeastern border region between the Korean peninsula along the Yalu and Tumen Rivers. Korea’s view is in line with the traditional and historical facts behind the name Gando. The current Gando controversy, however, which is rooted in past incidents such as the Gando Convention, focuses on the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, and excludes West Gando on the other side of the Yalu River.
With regard to the issue of Korean migration to Gando, historical research by Chinese scholars shows that Koreans have lived in Gando either since ancient times (Goguryeo), or since the end of the Yuan dynasty / the beginning of Ming, or since the end of Ming and the beginning of Qing. Despite the evidence, the current Chinese government continues to argue that Koreans moved to Gando only after the mid-19th century and that Korea is claiming rights over Gando based on forged boundaries between China and Korea.
Limiting ourselves to the early modern disputes for now, various historical documents support Korea’s case with regard to the current boundary problem, including evidence that the Joseon dynasty did occupy and administer Gando. Moreover, the Korean culture and language prevail in Gando, both extremely important factors in deciding territorial rights under international law. The biggest obstacle we face is that the Gando Convention of 1909 between China and Japan, by which Gando was handed over to China, a convention that should have been nullified, still remains in effect.
|
Geopolitical Status of Gando in Northeast Asia |
Gando is located at a strategic spot, critical for acquiring the power and influence to dominate East Asia. If Russia takes over Gando, it will gain control over China and Japan; if Gando goes to Japan, Japan will be able to dominate China and Russia; and if it goes to China, China can use Gando to dominate Japan and Russia. Korea can use Gando as a platform for northward expansion. The Chinese believe that failure to keep control of Gando would destabilize its Jilin Province, and eventually all of China could be left vulnerable, Gando is China’s shortcut to Japan and also an important gateway to the north since it is adjacent to Vladivostok to the east and to Jilin to the north. Therefore, the region can play a critical role not only during wartime, but in peaceful times as well, with repercussions for operating administrative policies in the northeast region.
Gando is a mother lode of economic resources. In contrast to the wild and barren land south of the Tumen River, Gando is fertile and gentle, making it an attractive home base for many heroic commanders throughout history. It was known as the land of gold, where gold was found everywhere and where golden rivers flowed, which was why the Jurchen people were referred to as the source of gold. In addition to gold, Gando sits on top of a variety of rich mineral resources such as silver, coal, copper, and iron ore. The region’s thick forests are adequate for hunting and its long, wide rivers are good for fishing and farming, so Gando was utilized as a supply base for the Russian army in the Russo-Japanese War.
Gando enjoys access to both the inland region and the shore and has flourishing industries such as mining, forestry, farming, hunting and fishing. Its abundant resources stretch as far as North Korea’s Hamgyeongbuk-do Province and Russia’s Ussuri region. Its trade activities have expanded as far as the Songhua River in the north, the coastal areas of the Korean peninsula in the south, and Vladivostok in the east. The region has abundant resources to be developed at low costs and for good profit.
Gando is also located along an important transport route. The region sits on a strategically important spot where China, Japan, and Korea meet, and a critical point from which a nation can take control over vast territories spreading out in all four directions. China is currently developing the region into a transportation hub by constructing a 1,380km-long railway along its eastern border, which runs along the Yalu and Tumen Rivers and up to Russia’s Khabarovsk, by connecting it to 11 existing railroads in its northeastern area.
|
Gando’s Significance in Current Times |
The importance of Asia’s northeastern region is directly and indirectly linked to the North Korean Human Rights Act that passed the U.S. Senate in 2004, and also to China’s military installation and railway construction near the Tumen River. China is on the lookout for possible power shifts and does not rule out the possibility that the U.S. might try to extend its influence to the Yalu and Tumen Rivers with the support of South Korea; that Russia, with its vigor restored, might try to intervene in the name of restraining the expansion of American power; and that Japan, nostalgic for its past glory, might try to strengthen its access to the northeastern region in the name of Yen loans and economic cooperation. Supported by its growing economic and military power, China’s historical, political, and strategic efforts to restore its former status is influencing the multilateral relations between all countries with interests in East Asia.
East Asian countries recognize that throughout history, Gando has remained a very important area in terms of military strategy, economic development, and transport. Gando played an important role in the beginning of the 20th century in the political dynamics of East Asia, and will continue to influence the peace and security of not only this region but also the world at large in the 21st century. By peacefully resolving the Gando issue, all nations involved will contribute to building a safe and peaceful world. |
