Opening and closing the Sino-Russian border: Trade, regional development and political interest in north-east Asia

Europe - Asia Studies

Volumn 48, Issue 6, 1996, Pages 931-957

  Kerr, David ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPING REGION; REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT; SINO-RUSSIAN RELATIONS; TRADE RELATIONS; TRANSITIONAL ECONOMY;

ASIA, (NORTHEAST); CHINA; RUSSIAN FEDERATION;

EID: 0030428933     PISSN: 09668136     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09668139608412392     Document Type: Article

References (98)

1. The research in this article was conducted with funding under the ESRC Pacific Asia programme, research grant L324253005. The author would like to express his appreciation for this support.
2. See J. Pallot & D. J. B. Shaw, Planning in the Soviet Union (London, 1981) particularly ch. 4; on China, see D. S. G. Goodman, China's Regional Development (London, 1989) especially ch. 1. Also G. Smith, Planned Development in the Socialist World (Cambridge, 1989).
3. See J. Pallot & D. J. B. Shaw, Planning in the Soviet Union (London, 1981) particularly ch. 4; on China, see D. S. G. Goodman, China's Regional Development (London, 1989) especially ch. 1. Also G. Smith, Planned Development in the Socialist World (Cambridge, 1989).
4. See J. Pallot & D. J. B. Shaw, Planning in the Soviet Union (London, 1981) particularly ch. 4; on China, see D. S. G. Goodman, China's Regional Development (London, 1989) especially ch. 1. Also G. Smith, Planned Development in the Socialist World (Cambridge, 1989).
5. Guo Wanqing, 'The transformation of China's Regional Policy', Development Policy Review, 6, 1988.
6. See J. Schiffer, Soviet Regional Economic Policy (London, 1987). For the position of Siberia and the Far East in the Soviet economy see L. Dienes, Soviet Asia: Economic Development and National Policy Choices (USA, 1987); A. Rodgers, The Soviet Far East: Development and Prospect (London, 1990).
7. See J. Schiffer, Soviet Regional Economic Policy (London, 1987). For the position of Siberia and the Far East in the Soviet economy see L. Dienes, Soviet Asia: Economic Development and National Policy Choices (USA, 1987); A. Rodgers, The Soviet Far East: Development and Prospect (London, 1990).
8. See J. Schiffer, Soviet Regional Economic Policy (London, 1987). For the position of Siberia and the Far East in the Soviet economy see L. Dienes, Soviet Asia: Economic Development and National Policy Choices (USA, 1987); A. Rodgers, The Soviet Far East: Development and Prospect (London, 1990).
9. Michael Bradshaw, 'Foreign Trade and Soviet Regional Development', in M. J. Bradshaw, The Soviet Union: a New Regional Geography? (London, 1991), p. 176.
10. A. Granberg & A. Rubenshtein, 'Uchastie Sibiri vo vneshneekonomicheskoi deyatel'nosti', Vneshnyaya torgovlya, 1989, 8.
11. See Yu. S. Stolyarov, The Soviet Far East: the economy and foreign economic relations'. The Journal of East and West Studies, 20, 1, 1991, pp. 1-15; S. Manezhev, The Russian Far East, Post-Soviet Business Forum, RIIA (London, 1991).
12. See Yu. S. Stolyarov, The Soviet Far East: the economy and foreign economic relations'. The Journal of East and West Studies, 20, 1, 1991, pp. 1-15; S. Manezhev, The Russian Far East, Post-Soviet Business Forum, RIIA (London, 1991).
13. For discussion of the impact of the reforms on China's regional development, see Chapter V, 'Decentralisation and Regional Development', in M. W. Bell et al., China at the Threshold of a Market Economy (Washington, DC, 1993).
14. The case for impending regionalism is put in D. S. G. Goodman & G. Segal, China Deconstructs, Politics, Trade and Regionalism (London, 1995); the case for continued centralism is in Yasheng Huang, 'Why China will not collapse', Foreign Policy, 94, 1995, pp. 54-68.
15. The case for impending regionalism is put in D. S. G. Goodman & G. Segal, China Deconstructs, Politics, Trade and Regionalism (London, 1995); the case for continued centralism is in Yasheng Huang, 'Why China will not collapse', Foreign Policy, 94, 1995, pp. 54-68.
16. Ma Jun & Zou Gang, On opening up China's inland border provinces and Autonomous regions to the Outside world', Economic Research, Beijing, March 1991, in JPRS-CAR-91-043.
17. Y. Y. Kueh, 'Foreign Investment and Economic Change in China', China Quarterly, September 1992.
18. Ibid., p. 665.
19. Reform and the Open Policy', Beijing Review, 9 September 1991, p. 13.
20. On the geopolitics of Sino-Russian relations in North-East Asia, see, for example, Vladimir Shlapentokh, 'Russia, China and the Far East: Old Geopolitics or New Peaceful Cooperation', Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 28, 3, 1995.
21. An evaluation of the economy of the Russian Far East may be found in P. A. Minakir & G. L. Freeze, The Russian Far East, An Economic Handbook (London, 1994). The division of the region into three zones follows accepted lines, see ch. 8. 'Territorial Organisation of the Economy'. For the Chinese regions, see Sun Jingzhi, The Economic Geography of China (Oxford, 1988).
22. An evaluation of the economy of the Russian Far East may be found in P. A. Minakir & G. L. Freeze, The Russian Far East, An Economic Handbook (London, 1994). The division of the region into three zones follows accepted lines, see ch. 8. 'Territorial Organisation of the Economy'. For the Chinese regions, see Sun Jingzhi, The Economic Geography of China (Oxford, 1988).
23. An evaluation of the economy of the Russian Far East may be found in P. A. Minakir & G. L. Freeze, The Russian Far East, An Economic Handbook (London, 1994). The division of the region into three zones follows accepted lines, see ch. 8. 'Territorial Organisation of the Economy'. For the Chinese regions, see Sun Jingzhi, The Economic Geography of China (Oxford, 1988).
24. On Sino-Soviet trade see Fan Xinyiu, 'Sino-Soviet Trade Awaits Further Development', Shije Jingji, Beijing, 10 December 1990, in JPRS-CAR-91-022, pp. 66-73; Zhang Hengxuan & Li Zhe, 'The Importance and Possibility of Economic and Technological Cooperation Along the Sino-Soviet Border', Shije Jingji, Beijing, 10 February 1991, in JPRS-CAR-91-030, pp. 70-75.
25. On Sino-Soviet trade see Fan Xinyiu, 'Sino-Soviet Trade Awaits Further Development', Shije Jingji, Beijing, 10 December 1990, in JPRS-CAR-91-022, pp. 66-73; Zhang Hengxuan & Li Zhe, 'The Importance and Possibility of Economic and Technological Cooperation Along the Sino-Soviet Border', Shije Jingji, Beijing, 10 February 1991, in JPRS-CAR-91-030, pp. 70-75.
26. For Chinese assessments of trade problems see Jia Huaide, 'Discussing and Analysing problems in Settling Border Trade', Guoji Shangbao, Beijing, 28 November 1992, in JPRS-CAR-93-019, pp. 7-9; Sun Tao, 'Challenges, Opportunities, and Countermeasures-State, Problems and Prospects for Development of Suifenhe's Border Trade', Guoji Maoyi Wenti, Beijing, 30 July 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-083, pp. 34-37; Liu Baorong & Zhang Chunlai, 'Carry Out Joint Regulatory Efforts to Achieve Comprehensive Improvement...in Border Trade', Guoji Maoyi, 15 September 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-084, pp. 44-48.
27. For Chinese assessments of trade problems see Jia Huaide, 'Discussing and Analysing problems in Settling Border Trade', Guoji Shangbao, Beijing, 28 November 1992, in JPRS-CAR-93-019, pp. 7-9; Sun Tao, 'Challenges, Opportunities, and Countermeasures-State, Problems and Prospects for Development of Suifenhe's Border Trade', Guoji Maoyi Wenti, Beijing, 30 July 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-083, pp. 34-37; Liu Baorong & Zhang Chunlai, 'Carry Out Joint Regulatory Efforts to Achieve Comprehensive Improvement...in Border Trade', Guoji Maoyi, 15 September 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-084, pp. 44-48.
28. For Chinese assessments of trade problems see Jia Huaide, 'Discussing and Analysing problems in Settling Border Trade', Guoji Shangbao, Beijing, 28 November 1992, in JPRS-CAR-93-019, pp. 7-9; Sun Tao, 'Challenges, Opportunities, and Countermeasures-State, Problems and Prospects for Development of Suifenhe's Border Trade', Guoji Maoyi Wenti, Beijing, 30 July 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-083, pp. 34-37; Liu Baorong & Zhang Chunlai, 'Carry Out Joint Regulatory Efforts to Achieve Comprehensive Improvement...in Border Trade', Guoji Maoyi, 15 September 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-084, pp. 44-48.
29. P. A. Minakir (ed.), Ekonomika Dal'nego Vostoka-reforma i krizis, (hereafter Ekonomika Dal'nego Vostoka) (Vladivostok, RAN-DVO, 1994), p. 171.
30. P. A. Minakir, 'Economic Position of the Russian Far East', in The Dynamics of Economic Development in the Russian Far East and Northeast China Region, papers arising from the IREX Conference, Harbin-Beijing, 16-20 May 1994.
31. Ekonomika Dal'nego Vostoka, p. 165.
32. Ibid., p. 171.
33. Author's interview at CICIR, Beijing, May 1995.
34. Xu Jingxue & Chai Dekun, 'Sino-Russian trade problems and prospects-current economic relations between Heilongjiang province and the Russian Far East', mimeo, Institute of Siberian Studies, Harbin, 1994, p. 14.
35. Statistical communique for 1994 issued by Heilongjiang provincial statistics bureau, published in Heilongjiang Ribao, Harbin, 18 February 1995, in FBIS-CHI-95-075, pp. 64-80.
36. Xun Hong, 'Need for Pervasive Development of Border Trade', Heilongjiang Ribao, Harbin, 21 October 1993, in JPRS-CAR-94-009, p. 24.
37. Xu Jingxue & Chai Dekun, p. 1.
38. Heilongjiang statistical communique for 1994.
39. Ekonomika Dal'nego Vostoka, p. 181.
40. Ibid., p. 182.
41. Liu Barong & Zhang Chunlai, pp. 47-48.
42. Guo Yude, Open Up the Second battlefield; Interviewing Yue Qifeng', Liaowong, Beijing, 29 May 1995, in FBIS-CHI-95-138, pp. 51-54.
43. Ibid., p. 51.
44. Speech by Tian Fengshan, reported in Heilongjiang Ribao, Harbin, 23 December 1994, in FBIS-CHI-95-041, p. 79.
45. Supported by author's interview at Research Department, Heilongjiang Provincial government, June 1995.
46. For a Chinese assessment of the importance of Tumenjiang see Xia Joufu & Huang Xueqi, 'Comparing Development Models for Tumen Jiang', Shije Jingji, Beijing, 10 December 1993, in JPRS-CAR-94-026, pp. 16-21.
47. See, for example, L. Zabrovskaya, "The Tumenjiang Project: A View from Primorie', Far Eastern Affairs, 1995, 1, pp. 34-51.
48. L. Vardomsky & Yu. Moskalenko, 'Blagoveshchensk-Kheikhe: problemy rasshireniya partnerstva', Vneshnyaya torgovlya, 1994, 1, pp. 16-18; for a Chinese view of the zones see Zhang Guangheng, 'The Necessity and Possibility of Establishing Sino-Russian Transnational Economic Cooperation Zones', Heilongjiang Ribao, Harbin, 18 April 1994, in FBIS-CHI-94-083, pp. 81-82.
49. L. Vardomsky & Yu. Moskalenko, 'Blagoveshchensk-Kheikhe: problemy rasshireniya partnerstva', Vneshnyaya torgovlya, 1994, 1, pp. 16-18; for a Chinese view of the zones see Zhang Guangheng, 'The Necessity and Possibility of Establishing Sino-Russian Transnational Economic Cooperation Zones', Heilongjiang Ribao, Harbin, 18 April 1994, in FBIS-CHI-94-083, pp. 81-82.
50. Cited in Chai Dekun, 'The Rise and Fall of Sino-Russian Frontier Trade and the Reform of the Economy of Heilongjiang Province', mimeo, Institute of Siberian Studies, Harbin, 1994, p. 1.
51. Ekonomika Dal'nego Vostoka, p. 190.
52. Jean C. Oi, 'The Role of the Local State in China's Transitional Economy', China Quarterly, 1995, 144, p. 1147.
53. Author's interview at the Institute of Economic Studies, Khabarovsk, June 1995.
54. For a Russian assessment of comparative regional processes see L. Vardomsky & E. Samburova, 'Rossiya i Kitai; Stravnitel'nyi analiz regional'nykh prostessov', Problemy Dal'nego Vostoka, 1994, 3, pp. 18-28.
55. P. A. Minakir, response to the programme for Primor'e prepared by the Institute of National Economic Forecasting (see note 49), in Vestnik Dal'nevostochnogo Otdeleniya RAN, 1994, 5-6, p. 51.
56. V. I. Ivanov, 'Russia and its Far East: Sources of Conflict and Hope', Journal of East Asian Studies, 8, 2, 1994, p. 483.
57. 45 Governors Isaev, Nazdratenko and Krasnoyarov of Khabarovsk, Primor'e and Sakhalin respectively were elected, as were the President of Sakha, Mikhail Nikolaev, and head of the Jewish autonomous ablast', Nikolai Volkov.
58. T. Troyakova, 'Regional Policy in the Russian Far East and the Rise of Localism in Primorye', Journal of East Asian Studies, 9, 2, 1995, p. 461.
59. Minakir, Vestnik DVO RAN, p. 51; see also Ivanov.
60. See Gaye Christofferson, 'The Greater Vladivostok Project: Transnational Linkages in Regional Economic Planning', Pacific Affairs, 67, 4, 1994/95, pp. 513-531; also Troyakova.
61. On El'tsin's China policy see 'Vizit V. S. Chernomyrdina v KNR', Diplomaticheskii vestnik, 1994, 11/12, pp. 6-7; 'Vizit Tsyan Tszeminya v Rossiyu, Diplomaticheskii vestnik, 1994, 17/18, pp. 16-19.
62. On El'tsin's China policy see 'Vizit V. S. Chernomyrdina v KNR', Diplomaticheskii vestnik, 1994, 11/12, pp. 6-7; 'Vizit Tsyan Tszeminya v Rossiyu, Diplomaticheskii vestnik, 1994, 17/18, pp. 16-19.
63. Report of Institute of National Economic Forecasting, 'Perspektvy Primorskogo kraya v usloviyakh perekhoda k rynku v svete geostrategicheskikh i ekonomicheskikh interesov Rossii', Vestnik Dal'nevostochnogo Otdeleniva RAN, 1994, 5-6, p. 43.
64. On the Sino-Russian military relationship see Bin Yu, 'Sino-Russian military relations', Asian Survey, 33, 1, 1993, pp. 302-316.
65. Minakir & Freeze, The Russian Far East, An Economic Handbook, p. 27.
66. Far East Population figures for 1992 are in Minakir & Freeze, p. 29; and for 1994 in Russian Business Monitor, 1995, 2, p. 6.
67. Far East Population figures for 1992 are in Minakir & Freeze, p. 29; and for 1994 in Russian Business Monitor, 1995, 2, p. 6.
68. Figures given by Wang Zhongzhang, Deputy Governor of Heilongjiang, 'Rethink border trade strategy', Bohai Shangbao, Shenyang, 19 July 1994, in JPRS-CAR-94-046, p. 41.
69. I. Busygina, 'Rossiiskii Dal'nii Vostok', MEiMO, 1995, 7, p. 112.
70. Izvestiya, 7 December 1993, p. 3; Segodnya, 28 January 1994, p. 3.
71. Izvestiya, 7 December 1993, p. 3; Segodnya, 28 January 1994, p. 3.
72. The higher figure is from the Primor'e administration, cited in James Clay Moltz, 'Regional Tensions in the Russo-Chinese Rapprochement', Asian Survey, 35, 6, 1995, p. 523; the lower cited by I. Busygina, 'Rossiiskii Dal'nii Vostok', MEiMO. 1995, 7, p. 113.
73. The higher figure is from the Primor'e administration, cited in James Clay Moltz, 'Regional Tensions in the Russo-Chinese Rapprochement', Asian Survey, 35, 6, 1995, p. 523; the lower cited by I. Busygina, 'Rossiiskii Dal'nii Vostok', MEiMO. 1995, 7, p. 113.
74. See Busygina, p. 113.
75. Author's interview, Institute of Economic Studies, Khabarovsk, June 1995.
76. A further factor is the visa fee for Chinese nationals seeking to enter Russia, which according to Chinese sources is currently $150.
77. Author's interview at CICIR, Beijing, May 1995.
78. Hao Yufan, 'The Development of the SFE: a Chinese Perspective', Korea and World Affairs, Summer 1991.
79. Wang Zongzhang, p. 42.
80. Won Bae Kim, 'Sino-Russian Relations and Chinese Workers in the Russian Far East', Asian Survey, 34, 12, 1994, p. 1064-1076.
81. Ibid., p. 1069.
82. See, for example, the speech by Qian Qichen in Moscow, June 1994, as reported by XINHUA, 28 June 1994, in FBIS-CHI-94-126, pp. 8-9.
83. See text of Joint Communique signed 26 June 1995, as reported by XINHUA, 27 June 1995, in FBIS-CHI-95-125, pp. 8-9.
84. According to Forsyth there were 22,000 Chinese in Vladivostok alone in 1926, accounting for over one-fifth of the population of the city and close to a quarter of the total Chinese population of the USSR. The Chinese, and Korean, communities nourished until 1938 and the deterioration of relations with Japan. Thereafter the Koreans were deported to Kazakhstan; the Chinese to labour camps, where, according to Solzhenitsyn, cited by Forsyth, 63 000 perished. James Forsyth, A History of the People's of Siberia (CUP, 1992), pp. 323-325.
85. On Asia's labour mobility see 'Give and Take', Far Eastern Economic Review, 25 May 1995, pp. 54-59.
86. Izvestiya, 27 April 1994, p. 3.
87. For discussion of regional attitudes to the border demarcation see Molz. For a thorough analysis of past tensions and the current settlement see George Ginsburgs, 'The End of the Sino-Russian Territorial Disputes?', Journal of East Asian Affairs, 7, 1, 1993.
88. As reported by XINHUA, 28 February 1995, in FBIS-CHI-95-039, p. 6.
89. Ekonomika Dal'nego Vostoka, p. 196.
90. For an assessment of the relative resource bases of the former Soviet Union and China, see J. Cole, 'China and the former Soviet Union; a comparison in space and time', in D. Dwyer (ed.), China: The Next Decades (London, 1994).
91. On China's energy requirements see Eric Fridley, 'China's Energy Outlook', in Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, China's Economic Dilemmas in the 1990s (London, 1993), pp. 495-526. On current production problems see Declan Ryan, 'More help needed to boost output', Petroleum Economist, June 1995, pp. 14-16.
92. On China's energy requirements see Eric Fridley, 'China's Energy Outlook', in Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, China's Economic Dilemmas in the 1990s (London, 1993), pp. 495-526. On current production problems see Declan Ryan, 'More help needed to boost output', Petroleum Economist, June 1995, pp. 14-16.
93. Wu Lianyou, 'The development of economic cooperation in the APR and China's strategy of opening to the outside world', International Trade Journal, Beijing, 13 April 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-059; Lu Zhongwei, 'Northeast Asia's economic cooperation and its prospects', Contemporary International Relations, Beijing, 31 August 1992, in JPRS-CAR-93-002.
94. Wu Lianyou, 'The development of economic cooperation in the APR and China's strategy of opening to the outside world', International Trade Journal, Beijing, 13 April 1993, in JPRS-CAR-93-059; Lu Zhongwei, 'Northeast Asia's economic cooperation and its prospects', Contemporary International Relations, Beijing, 31 August 1992, in JPRS-CAR-93-002.
95. E. Thornton, 'Bamboo Brigade', Far Eastern Economic Review, 12 October 1995, p. 101.
96. Xia Joufu & Huang Xueqi, p. 19.
97. Author's interviews at Dalian and Harbin, May and June 1995.
98. See Jiang Zemin's speech in Moscow, 3 September 1994, as reported in Beijing Review, 19-25 September 1994, pp. 7-13.