China’s New Official Map Has Nearly All of Its Neighbors in an Uproar

A new map published by the Chinese government this week appeared to reverse a 15-year agreement with Beijing’s ally Russia over an island on their shared border.

It also upset Southeast Asian leaders by marking parts of the South China Sea as under Chinese control.

The 2023 map released by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources shows Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island on the Amur River as fully part of China, despite an agreement in the 2000s with Russia that the two countries would split control.

Disputes over the land had raged for decades before the agreement which saw control divided in 2008. The island is said to be mostly deserted with a handful of abandoned farms and the odd wild bear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin may not be able to complain about this map, however, given his newfound reliance on Beijing.

But Moscow would still be paying attention, according to Prof. Mark Katz at George Mason’s School of Policy of Government.