Taiwan's president calls on China to take its historical lands from Russia

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has stated that if China's claims to Taiwan are based on territorial integrity, the People’s Republic of China should also take back regions given to Russia in the nineteenth century.

Source: Reuters

Details: The Taiwanese leader, in an interview with a local TV channel, recalled the 1858 Treaty of Aigun, under which China ceded a huge swathe of land to the Russian Empire in what is now the Far East of Russia, forming most of the modern border along the Amur River.

Quote: "If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn't it take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the Treaty of Aigun? Russia is now at its weakest, right?" Taiwan's president said "China's intention to attack and annex Taiwan is not because of what any one person or political party in Taiwan says or does. It is not for the sake of territorial integrity that China wants to annex Taiwan."

"The Treaty of Aigun signed during the Qing [dynasty] - you can ask Russia (for the land back) but you don't. So it's obvious they don't want to invade Taiwan for territorial reasons," he said.

Reference: The Qing dynasty, an empire which controlled the majority of modern China's territory, signed the Treaty of Aigun with the Russian Empire in 1858. It created the Russian-Chinese border along the Amur River, transferring huge territories to Russia north of it. The Beijing Treaty, signed in 1860, handed the region of what is now the Primorsky Krai to Russia.

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