This is the first boundary treaty signed between New China and its Asian neighbors, setting a good precedent for resolving similar issues in the future. In other words, it has been more than 60 years since the official demarcation of the China-Myanmar border. However, there are s

On October 1, 1960, Premier Zhou Enlai and Myanmar Prime Minister U Nu respectively represented their respective governments and signed the China-Myanmar Boundary Treaty in Beijing. This is the first boundary treaty signed between New China and its Asian neighbors, setting a good precedent for resolving similar issues in the future. In other words, it has been more than 60 years since the official demarcation of the China-Myanmar border. However, there are still constant criticisms about the demarcation of the China-Myanmar border.

The main criticism is that the three disputed areas marked in the picture below are not within the current territory of China, and thus it is concluded that the Chinese government gave up a large area of ​​​​land when the border was demarcated in 1960, thus denying the political wisdom of the older generation of leaders. But what is the truth? Let’s learn more about it together.

html For many years, a map of the China-Myanmar border has been circulating in the society.

The history of northern Myanmar.

Historically, the states in northern Myanmar had a unified name, called " Shan State " because the main residents here were Shan people. The name sounds strange, but it is closely related to ancient Chinese history. Shan people are called Dai people in China and Tai people in Thailand. They have lived in the middle and upper reaches of the Lancang River and Nujiang River for a long time. During the Han Dynasty, the Shan nation began to transition to the national stage, and many small Fang Kingdoms emerged. The historical data of the Han Dynasty called this alliance composed of many small Fang Kingdoms "Ailao".

During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty expanded his territory in the southwest and incorporated the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau into the central territory. In 69 AD, Ailao King Liu Maung led 77 vassal states, more than 50,000 households, and more than 550,000 people to join the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Eastern Han dynasty established Yongchang County in Ailao, officially incorporating western Yunnan and northern Myanmar into the Chinese territory.

During the Tang Dynasty , the "Meng Shelong" in the Dali area became powerful, annexed a large number of Shan State Fang Kingdoms, and established the powerful Nanzhao Kingdom . Later, Nanzhao continued to expand and occupied the entire Yunnan region. During the Song Dynasty , the Nanzhao Kingdom was replaced by the Dali Kingdom , which basically reorganized the ethnic groups in Yunnan, and the Zen people of the Shan State Plateau rebuilt the Mengpeng (Peng Kingdom) and Menglu (Jinglong Kingdom), both of which were attached to the Dali Kingdom.

1254, the Mongol Khanate conquered Dali and conquered Peng State and Jinglong that were dependent on Dali. Kublai Khan After establishing the Yuan Dynasty , he carried out large-scale conquests of the countries in Indochina , causing these countries to surrender to the Yuan Dynasty one after another. In the end, the Yuan Dynasty set up a large number of chieftains in the Indochina Peninsula, and these small Shan states became the chieftains of the Yuan Dynasty and were included in the jurisdiction of Yunnan Province . This marks that Shan State has once again been included under China's jurisdiction.

Yunnan Province of the Yuan Dynasty

The Bagan Dynasty of Myanmar tried to compete with the Yuan Dynasty for the Shan Chieftains (Golden Tooth Chieftain Kingdom), so they launched a war against the Yuan Dynasty. Subsequently, the Yuan Dynasty sent troops to attack Myanmar twice, which led to the disintegration of the Bagan Dynasty and Myanmar fell into division again. The Yuan Dynasty initially established the Central Burmese Province in Myanmar, but after the military conquest, it was revoked and the chieftain system was adopted. As a result, most of Myanmar was included in the territory of the Yuan Dynasty.

In the early days of , the Ming Dynasty tried to inherit the territory of the Yuan Dynasty, so it sent envoys to Myanmar to appease them, and the chieftains of Myanmar nominally submitted to the Ming Dynasty. However, the Burmese chieftain soon discovered that the Ming Dynasty's military force could only reach western Yunnan at most, so he refused the Ming Dynasty's canonization. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Toungoo Kingdom emerged. It annexed Bago and Awa and unified Myanmar. After that, the Toungoo dynasty targeted the Shan State again, and launched an attack on the Shan Chieftains of the Ming Dynasty. By the Wanli years, Toungoo basically conquered the Shan Chieftains.

The "vassal" relationship between the Qing Dynasty and Myanmar experienced repeated twists and turns. During the Qianlong period, the Qing-Burmese War broke out. The cause of the war was the change of dynasties in Myanmar. The Gonbaung Dynasty replaced the Toungoo Dynasty , expanded everywhere, and tried to invade Yunnan.Although the Qing Dynasty did not have a military victory, after the armistice, Myanmar also stopped its pace of expansion and officially became a " vassal state " of the Qing Dynasty. Myanmar paid tribute to the Qing emperor every ten years.

Schematic diagram of the "Eight Passes" on the Qing Dynasty's Yunnan-Myanmar border

Qing Dynasty Yongzheng Starting from near to far, from Guangxi to Guizhou and then to Yunnan, it gradually changed its origin and returned to its current state. The border between the Qing Dynasty and Myanmar was generally defined by the "Eight Passes and Nine Passes". The chieftains inside the pass belong to the Qing Dynasty, and the chieftains outside the pass belong to Myanmar. later also obtained the chieftain of Mubang (Myanmar has always regarded it as belonging to itself and requested its return), and the China-Myanmar border was initially stabilized. The Qing Dynasty required the chieftains in Guan Nei to shave their hair and braid their hair in order to distinguish themselves from the chieftains in Myanmar. Mubang, Longchuan, Ganya, Nandian, Zhanda, Mengmao, Mangshi, Zhefang and other toasts all belong to the Qing Dynasty.

Britain and Myanmar encroached on the border (late Qing Dynasty)

Starting in 1824, the British launched two wars of invasion of Myanmar. By 1852, the British captured Upper Myanmar, so that the British-controlled area bordered Yunnan, and the two countries began border negotiations. In November 1885, Britain launched the third war of invasion of Myanmar, occupied the capital of Myanmar, Ava (today's Mandalay ), and captured the king of Myanmar, Xipao. Because Myanmar had a vassal relationship with China, the Qing Dynasty sent Zeng Jize to negotiate with the United Kingdom.

Zeng Jize

At the beginning, the negotiations between the two parties went relatively smoothly. The British Foreign Office proposed a demarcation plan, that is, the British-Chinese division of Burma, with the Salween River as the boundary. The areas east of the Salween River (today's Laos) and the Shan Tusi (today's Shan State in Myanmar) belong to China. The Chinese border is extended to Bhamo, and Chinese ships have navigation rights in the Irrawaddy River. The west belongs to Britain. Zeng Jize believed that this suggestion was beneficial to China, and immediately suggested that the Qing government take this opportunity to declare sovereignty over Nanzhang and the Shan chieftains. It also declared that the sovereignty of the Bhamo region would be maintained with the Salween River as the boundary. At the same time, Myanmar is required to retain the tribute system once every ten years.

However, there was an Englishman Hart (Robert Hart) in the delegation of the Qing government, who was actually a British spy. He strongly opposed the plan proposed by the British Foreign Office, requiring Britain to abandon the false name and seek real profits, and directly conquer all of Myanmar, but let Myanmar maintain the false name of paying tribute to the Qing Dynasty every ten years, giving the Qing Dynasty "face", but gaining the "lizi" of the territory. He opposed handing over the east of the Salween River to China, believing that such a "middle zone" would be isolated from the "real" China. The British eventually accepted this suggestion and took control of all of Burma by force.

On July 24, 1886, the Qing government signed the "Sino-British-Burmese Articles" with Britain: Britain allowed Burma to pay tribute to China once every ten years as usual; China and Britain sent personnel to jointly survey the Sino-Burmese border, and a separate seal was established for border trade. actually recognized the British control of Myanmar, but the British retained a hand. The demarcation of the border was false, but the encroachment of Chinese territory was true. After the signing of the treaty, Britain had no desire to demarcate the border, nor did it send anyone to survey the border in order to unilaterally occupy more land.

Xue Fucheng

Xue Fucheng was a relatively talented diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty. At the beginning of his mission to Britain in 1890, he discovered the old case of Sino-British negotiations on Yunnan and Burma. It was discovered that the two countries had never demarcated the border, and Britain was encroaching step by step, invading Tengyue (today's Tengchong) . On March 5 of the following year, Xue Shang asked the Qing court to negotiate Yunnan and Burma affairs and commerce with Britain, and recommended himself as a negotiator. In March 1891, China and Myanmar finally delimited their borders for the first time.

Xue Fucheng's position is far-sighted : 1. Decisions should be made quickly rather than later, and borders should be set early to protect them. 2. Prevent dangers from a distance rather than from a distance, and guard the country’s borders by taking advantage of natural dangers. When he analyzed the situation on the Yunnan-Myanmar border, he advocated using the steep Savage Mountain as a natural barrier on the Yunnan border; because beyond the Savage Mountain, the view was flat, and the Yunnan border was safe and secure. Xue Fucheng negotiated repeatedly with the British, and finally the British withdrew from the area occupied by the Savage Mountains, thus moving the border of part of the northern section westwards. has a security barrier. 3. Get rid of false reputations, stick to actual benefits, and do not seek the overall situation from one corner. Agreeing to abandon the old practice of one tribute every ten years to save Britain's face and strive for an early signing.

The result of Xue Fucheng's negotiation on delimitation

After more than three years of arduous negotiations, On March 1, 1894, Xue Fucheng and the British Foreign Office entered into the "Renewal of the Commercial Terms for the Yunnan-Myanmar Border Affairs." The treaty achieved the goal of early demarcation to a certain extent and curbed the British ambition to invade Tibet and Yunnan. However, some people also believe that China has lost two major rights and interests: 1. It did not insist on using the Great Jinsha River (Irrawaddy River) as the boundary and setting up a customs clearance port at Bhamo, causing China to lose 620,000 square kilometers of territory; 2. The northern boundary north of Jiangao Mountain was undetermined, which led to constant disputes - including the British illegal occupation of Chinese territory Pianma (now part of China), Jiangxinpo (now part of Myanmar), Gangfang (now part of China) and other places.

However, Britain did not stop its aggression and still used various excuses to encroach on Chinese territory. Xue Fucheng died in 1894. The following year, France used the excuse of "intervention to return Liao" and forcibly ceded Chinese territory Menglian and Jianghong (according to paragraph 5 of the "Renewal of the Sino-British Yunnan and Burma Treaty", "Menglian and Jianghong shall not be ceded to other countries"). Britain used China's breach of contract to demand revision of the boundary treaty. In 1897, China and Britain signed the "Renewal of the Treaty on Burma", which included the Sima, Kogan, North Danny and other places that originally belonged to China in the 1894 treaty to Burma, and "permanently leased" the Mengmao Delta (today's Namkan, Myanmar) to the United Kingdom.

Britain and Myanmar encroached on the border (Republic of China)

On October 10, 1911, the Wuchang Uprising broke out, overthrowing the last feudal autocratic dynasty and establishing the Republic of China. However, the British aggression would not stop easily. In late November 1911, the British took advantage of the civil strife among the local chieftains and occupied the Pianma area with armed force. This aroused the indignation of the entire Chinese people and set off turbulent protest movements across the country.在这种情况下，英国政府不得不于同年4月10日照会当时的中国政府，正式承认片马、岗房、古浪3处各寨属于中国领土，但是却毫无道理地继续侵占这个地区。

In response to the British occupation of the Pianma area, the Yunnan Military Governor's Office subsequently established by the Republic of China government dispatched the Second Division Commander Li Genyuan. Commander Li unfortunately died in the subsequent Anti-British War, and the British army immediately took control of Pianma, kandi (Grape) and other vast areas. completely separates mainland China from Jiangxinpo. In 1927, the British army occupied Gulang and Gangfang successively, and also annexed the vast Jiangxinpo area.

As the dispute between China and Britain on the demarcation of the southern section of the Burma border in 1906 was still unresolved, On January 20, 1934, , the British sent 2,000 regular troops to invade Banhong. The Wa people, headed by King Banhong, led nearly a thousand people to resist the invasion. It was called the "Banhong Incident". It was not until June 6, 1934 that the British were driven out of the Banhong area.

这次入侵使得悬而未决的南段未定界的问题重新提上日程。 After China and Britain jointly established a boundary demarcation committee, they entered the Awa Mountains twice to survey the boundary in December 1935 and December 1936. A preliminary agreement was reached in April 1937, and it was decided to transfer the furnace room area to the United Kingdom. However, due to conflicts between geographical boundaries and administrative boundaries, the two sides have still not reached a decisive boundary agreement.

On July 7, 1937, Japan started war again and launched a full-scale war of aggression against China. China's southeastern coast was completely blockaded by Japan, and it was difficult to transport international anti-war supplies to China. The national government, which moved its capital to Chongqing, urgently needed a life-saving international transportation line between Yunnan and Burma.

Burma Road

At this time, the British proposed transporting materials through the Burma Road and building the Burma Railway. However, because the planned route of the Yunnan-Myanmar Railway will pass through the disputed area in the southern section of the China-Myanmar border, the unresolved issue of the undelimited southern section of the China-Myanmar border was raised again at this time. The British government used China's urgent need for the Burma Railway during the difficult period of the Anti-Japanese War to make China make concessions on the border issue. Faced with the crisis of the war, the Chongqing government finally made a compromise on the undelimited southern section in order to gain British support. The two sides demarcated this section of the border by exchanging letters, generally called the " 941 line". After , due to the outbreak of the Pacific War , the two countries did not have time to set up boundary stakes on the border.

There are three sections of the China-Myanmar disputed border that have been left to New China so far: the northern section is the area north of Jian'gao Mountain (including the Hukang Valley, Yeren Mountain, Jiangxin Slope, the land between Gaoligong Mountain and the Enmeikai River), which has not yet been demarcated; the southern section is the southern section of China-Myanmar where a boundary agreement has been signed but has not yet been demarcated on the ground. "1941 Line"; the middle section is the "Forever Lease" triangle of Mengmao.

终结中缅边界纷争（新中国）

建国初，新中国搁置了争议、沿用民国1948年地图的主张：北段未定界包括“尹明德线”在内的所有尖高山以北地区，勐卯三角地在国界之外（导致绝大部分人都不知道该地在哪里），南段未定界使用“一九四一年线”。

In 1953, after preliminary understanding, the northern section was revised to the Kumen Ridge Line (i.e., the area to the west of Yeren Mountain was no longer included as claimed before the Republic of China in 1942), the Mengmao Triangle was still drawn in Myanmar, and the southern section was revised to the map claimed before 1941 (i.e., including the entire Awa Mountains), which was the position before the negotiations.

Starting in 1956, Premier Zhou decided to personally address the Sino-Myanmar border issue, but he did not limit it to the Sino-Myanmar border issue because China and many surrounding countries had this problem. Premier Zhou considered resolving the China-Myanmar border issue as a breakthrough and a good start for resolving a series of border issues. Premier Zhou has conducted a lot of investigation and research work. He consulted relevant historical records since the Han Dynasty, clarified the jurisdiction of border areas by successive Chinese governments, collected various maps, and consulted experts such as Gong Zizhi, Wang Jifan, Yin Mingde, and Yu Shude to clarify the differences and reasons for the map drawings in each period. He also investigated the disputes and negotiations on the China-Myanmar border since the 19th century, clarified the origin of the unresolved border issues, studied the ethnic distribution, residence and farming conditions of residents on both sides of the China-Myanmar border area, as well as international law discussions and international practices on border issues. On the basis of full investigation and research, Premier Zhou put forward the correct guiding ideology and principles on how to solve the China-Myanmar border issue.

When dealing with the China-Myanmar border issue, we must take historical data seriously, conduct scientific analysis and judgment on historical data from a correct stance and perspective, and distinguish historical data that can be used as legal basis from historical data that have only reference value due to changes in circumstances. When dealing with the China-Myanmar border issue, we must pay attention to these historical changes, and at the same time, we must also treat the treaties on the China-Myanmar border signed in the past in accordance with general international practices. Only by considering the above points together can we correctly use historical data and obtain a fair and reasonable solution to the China-Myanmar border issue.

In terms of guiding ideology, Premier Zhou emphasized that the Sino-Myanmar border issue was caused by British imperialist aggression. Since China and Myanmar have gotten rid of imperialist oppression and become independent and friendly countries, the nature of the Sino-Myanmar border issue has fundamentally changed. It must proceed from the overall friendship between the two countries and serve the overall diplomatic situation. The overall diplomatic situation at that time was to establish an anti-U.S. united front. The United States has established an encirclement around China. At that time, India and Myanmar were peaceful and neutral, so India and Myanmar were China's key targets. To this end, there must be a political solution to the border issue, and we cannot be too rigidly focused on territorial gains and losses.

在具体方针方面，因为边界问题涉及到民族感情，任何单方面的让步都是不可行的，所以周总理提出了互谅互让、友好协商的方针。 This is one of his great initiatives . After the guidelines and principles for resolving the border issue were determined, the Sino-Myanmar border negotiations began to enter the stage of substantive problem resolution.

First, the Awa Mountain Section (southern section) . From 1956 to 1957, based on respect for international law and the 1953 United Nations ruling on the invasion of the national army in the Awa Mountains, the southern section finally decided to recognize the "1941 Line" in October 1956 and withdraw Chinese troops outside the line.In 1957, it accepted the 1941 exchange of letters due to moral criticism of the "imposed" nature of the line, but requested the recovery of the Banhong and Banlao tribal areas (an area of ​​approximately 189 square kilometers) that had close relations with my country.

second, Mengmao Triangle area (middle section) . China pointed out in its principled proposal that Myanmar's continued "permanent lease" relationship with a piece of Chinese territory is incompatible with the current equal and friendly relations between China and Myanmar. The Mengmao Triangle area ( area is about 220 square kilometers ) is an area that my country has sovereignty over under the 1897 treaty but is "permanently leased" by Britain and Myanmar. Based on respect for international law and the fact that the Republic of China recovered and then withdrew in 1945, New China did not choose to maintain this "permanent lease" and cannot actually control the sovereignty relationship. Instead, it chose to exchange the area for Banhong Banlao, and the middle section ended here.

Third, the section (northern section) to the north of Jian'gao Mountain . In 1957, the northern section was based on historical and actual research. There was no solid evidence of sovereignty between my country's "tributary relationship" with the place, the fact of British and Burmese occupation, and the local Kachin people signed the "Panglong Agreement" in 1947. The Republic of China's willingness to enter Myanmar and oppose our country's territorial claims, the Republic of my country's withdrawal from the briefly recovered Pianma in 1944, and its failure to veto the legality of Myanmar's entry into the United Nations with Kachin State in 1948, finally decided to recognize Myanmar's watershed line claim south of the Isolahi Pass and the Mai Line north of the Isolahi Pass as traditional customary lines. However, the recovery of the Pianma, Gurang, and Gangfang areas (an area of ​​approximately 153 square kilometers), which are famous anti-British areas and the United Kingdom once recognized my country's sovereignty, denies Myanmar's claim to the Dulong River Basin. In December 1957, based on the difficulty of management and the geographical deviation of the Mai Line, the territorial claims north of the Mai Line (1956 traditional customary line) and south of the watershed were abandoned, and the northern section ended.

From January 24 to 29, 1960, Ne Win came to China to discuss border issues. On January 28, the prime ministers of the two countries signed the "Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Myanmar on Boundary Issues between the Two Countries" and the "Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Myanmar" respectively on behalf of their respective governments. The "Agreement on the Boundary Issues between the Two Countries" stipulates in principle several important issues on the China-Myanmar border: (1) All undelimited areas starting from Jiangao Mountain to the end of the western section of the China-Myanmar border, except for Pianma, Gurang and Gangfang, shall be demarcated according to traditional customary lines. (2) Myanmar returned Pianma, Gangfang and Gulang to China. (3) China exchanged the Mengmao Triangle area for the areas under the jurisdiction of the Banhong and Banlao tribes west of the "1941 Line". (4) China accepts the "1941 line." (5) After the new boundary treaty is signed and comes into effect by the two governments, it will replace all old boundary treaties and exchanges of letters related to the two countries. According to the Agreement on Boundary Issues Between the Two Countries, China and Myanmar should establish a joint boundary committee to conduct boundary survey and delimitation, and then sign a China-Myanmar boundary treaty.

Thanks to the fruitful work of the Joint Boundary Committee, the China-Myanmar Boundary Treaty was signed as scheduled. In October 1960, Prime Minister U Nu and General Ne Win led a delegation of more than 360 people from all walks of life to visit China. On the morning of October 1, the delegation participated in China's National Day. In the afternoon, the two prime ministers signed the "Boundary Treaty between the People's Republic of China and the Union of Myanmar." The complex China-Myanmar border issue left over from history was finally comprehensively and thoroughly resolved.

The successful resolution of the China-Myanmar border issue brought the relationship between the two countries to a climax in the early 1960s, setting a shining example for Asian countries to resolve issues left over from history. It has an important position in the diplomatic history of New China. It can be summarized in the following three points:

First, from the perspective of China-Myanmar relations, the resolution of the China-Myanmar border issue pushed the relationship between the two countries to a climax and had an important impact on the long-term development of the relationship.

Second, according to Premier Zhou, the resolution of the China-Myanmar border issue has set a shining example for Asian countries to resolve issues left over from history and opened a breakthrough for resolving border issues between China and its Asian neighbors.

Third, it broke the encirclement of China by the imperialist countries led by the United States. At that time, the United States organized the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and signed military treaties with the authorities of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, forming an encirclement around China.The friendship between China and Myanmar has opened a big gap in this encirclement.

Premier Zhou visited Myanmar

As a saying goes, there are no quiet years in the world, but there are people who carry the burden forward for us. The sustained, friendly and stable friendship between China and Myanmar has been devoted to the efforts and sweat of the leaders of both countries. It is their hard work that the profound friendship between China and Myanmar can be continued, and the two peoples can enjoy long-term peace and beauty.