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Tajikistan cedes part of its territory to China

12 January 2011 10:59 (UTC +04:00)

Dushanbe â€“ APA. Tajikistanâ€™s lower chamber of parliament has ratified a protocol on demarcation of Tajikistanâ€™s common border with China, APA reports quoting Asia Plus agency. The protocol that was presented by Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi caused lively discussions. Zarifi noted that ratification of the protocol was an important political event and would promote further expansion of Tajikistan with China. According to him, territorial dispute at first between the Tsarist Russia and China, then between the Soviet Union and China and later between sovereign Tajikistan and China over some 28,500 square kilometers in the Pamirs rose in the second half of the 19th century already. â€œThese disputable territories are nearly 20 percent of Tajikistanâ€™s territory, while under the protocol, only 1,000 square kilometers, or 3 percent of the disputable territories, are ceded to China,â€ said the minister. â€œI consider that signing of this protocol is the victory of Tajik diplomacy.â€
In the meantime, MP also leader of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) Muhiddin Kabiri noted that ratification of that document contradicted the countryâ€™s Constitution. â€œArticle 7 of the Constitution says the territory of Tajikistan is inseparable and inviolable,â€ said Kabiri, â€œUnder the protocol, 1000 square kilometers of our territory will be ceded to China and it is the defeat of Tajik diplomacy.â€
MP also leader of the Communist Party of Tajikistan Shodi Shabdolov, for his part, noted that the main mistake of the Tajik government was non-transparency of the protocol. â€œNobody had reliable information and many rumors were in society that allegedly a huge part of Tajik territory will be ceded to China,â€ said Shabdolov, â€œToday, Hamrokhon Zarifi clarified many of those issues.â€ The CPT leader noted that ratification of the protocol would put an end to almost 130-year territorial dispute between Tajikistan and China.
We will recall that the protocol demonstrating the complete settlement of the border issue between the two countries was signed by Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing in April 2010.
At the time of independence, portions of the Tajik boundary with China were not defined. This boundary dispute was settled in agreements signed in 2002 that ceded 1,000 square kilometers of Pamir mountain range to China in return for China relinquishing claims to 28,000 square kilometers of Tajik lands.