On May 24, 1960, three members of the Chinese Everest Mountaineering Commando Team: Wang Fuzhou, Kampot and Qu Yinhua, set off from the assault camp at an altitude of 8500 meters, overcame various difficulties and obstacles, and successfully climbed Mount Everest from the north slope at 4:20 a.m. on the 25th, standing on the top of the world and creating a miracle.
However, for the 3 people who climbed to the top of the mountain, they were not afraid of life and death, and they climbed to the top of the world, not just to create miracles, but to plant the five-star red flag on it, proving that this place has been China's territory since ancient times.
(From right) Wang Fuzhou, Kampot (Tibetan) and Qu Yinhua
A month ago, Nepal set off an anti-China wave because of the ownership of Mount Everest. At the instigation of Western countries, many people shouted that "Chinese have never climbed this mountain, it cannot be regarded as China's territory."
Nepalese Tenzin Norgai made his first ascent of Mount Everest with a New Zealand mountaineer in 1953. So Nepalese have always regarded Everest as their country's territory.
In 1955, China and Nepal formally established diplomatic relations. However, the two countries did not talk about the ownership of Mount Everest for various reasons. Four years later, Nepal sent a government delegation to Beijing to talk for the first time about the ownership of Mount Everest.
When receiving the Nepalese delegation, Premier Zhou said that although there is no clear border between China and Nepal, there is a customary boundary line between the two countries, that is, Mount Everest.
What we mean is that until the two countries have drawn a clear border line, they can continue to follow the customary line and coexist peacefully and without aggression. This has not only promoted friendly relations between China and Nepal, but also set an example for the settlement of border disputes between Asian countries.
Of course, if the Nepalese government is very eager to solve the border issue, we can also immediately start border negotiations, and then after surveying, demarcate the border.
Everest
Premier Zhou's perfect answer left the Nepalese government delegation speechless, but they did not immediately reply to the Chinese government.
In March 1960, Nepalese Prime Minister Koyala visited China, and he took the initiative to raise the border issue and intended to take Mount Everest for himself. Premier Zhou told him that there is a historical basis for Everest to belong to China, and it is unfounded for you to say that it belongs to Nepal.
Premier Zhou's words were not without purpose. China did notice Everest very early on and map it as part of its territory.
In 1708, during the war with Tsarist Russia, the Kangxi Emperor felt the importance of maps, so he ordered European missionaries and Qin Tianjian to draw a detailed map of China through field surveys and mapping of China.
After the order was given, The Chuerqin Tsangpo, Lanben Champa and Shengzhu of the Qin Tianjian entered Tibet, surveyed Mount Everest, and recorded it in detail in the Imperial Public Opinion Overview Map, which was made in 1719. This is the first time Everest has had its exact location and name on the map.
Kangxi's "Imperial Opinion Overview"
More than 100 years later, the British, led by Sir George Ephels, the Indian Superintendent, came to Mount Everest and marked the location on a map. Because the British did not know that China had already discovered Mount Everest, it was named. So they called it Ephels.
Later, the British came to Mount Everest again, and they not only measured the height of Mount Everest at 8840 meters, the highest peak in the world, but also tried to climb it from Tibet many times, but they failed.
After the founding of New China, it began to strictly manage the Tibet border, prohibiting foreigners from illegally entering Tibet and climbing Mount Everest, which led to the question of the ownership of Mount Everest with Nepal.
In fact, for residents living on both sides of Everest, Everest has important symbolic significance. After discovering Everest, Tibetans called it Mount Notre Dame. The Nepalese believe that Mount Everest crosses the sky and is unattainable, calling it Skyscraper. It is often worshipped by the peoples of both communities.
Climbers
Premier Zhou's well-founded remarks have made it impossible for Nepalese to refute them, but they are still reluctant to hand over half of Mount Everest to China, which in their view is a strong argument.
On March 18, chairman Mao, when meeting with Prime Minister Koirala, again talked about the "Everest" issue. Chairman Mao said: If this mountain is all given to you, we will not be able to pass it emotionally. If it were all given to us, you would not be able to live emotionally. Can be half and half.
Speaking of which, Chairman Mao suggested that Everest should be renamed. It is not called Ephraim peak in the West, Sagamata peak in Nepal, nor Mount Everest in China, it is called "China-Nepal Friendship Peak".
Chairman Mao's attitude is very clear: Since this mountain is located at the junction of the two countries, in order to take care of the feelings of the two countries, everyone is divided into half.
Regarding Chairman Mao's proposal, Koyolaa expressed his agreement on behalf of himself in person.
Who knows, after returning to China, Koirala changed the foreword. On April 4, he said at a press conference that China had made some demands on Nepal on the issue of the ownership of Mount Everest, and I rejected these demands.
His statement caused a sensation in Nepal, where many unidentified Nepalese thought they were about to lose Mount Everest. As a result, under the deliberate instigation of Western countries, a large-scale anti-China wave broke out in Nepal.
In this way, the Everest problem, which could have been easily solved, became complicated in an instant.
It was also in this case that the excellent mountaineers selected by the Chinese Mountaineering Association began a plan to climb Mount Everest.
Premier Zhou
At the same time, Premier Zhou was invited to visit Nepal in an attempt to continue to resolve the dispute between the two countries peacefully through diplomatic channels.
Premier Zhou's visit has achieved good results. At the end of April, Koirala held another press conference, and his attitude improved significantly.
There is no objection to the "half-half" division, but the Nepalese government remains very tough on the percentage of control of the two countries at the summit of Mount Everest.
Less than a month after the press conference, the Chinese mountaineering team climbed Mount Everest and planted the five-star red flag at the summit.
The three mountaineers told Nepal and Western countries with practical actions that the north slope belongs to China's territory, and half of The summit of Mount Everest belongs to China.
However, after China successfully reached the summit, Western countries and Nepal did not recognize China's summit on the grounds that there was no actual evidence. The Everest issue remains unresolved.
Red flag on Everest
At the end of 1960, the political situation in Nepal changed significantly, and the king began to govern pro-government. In 1961, the King of Nepal visited China to talk with Premier Zhou on the issue of Everest's ownership.
Premier Zhou insisted on China's previous view that the issue of the ownership of Mount Everest should take into account not only the feelings of the Nepalese people, but also the feelings of the Tibetan people. Therefore, Premier Zhou proposed that a reasonable division must be found along the border line.
Subsequently, the two sides exchanged views, and Premier Zhou agreed with the Nepalese side's proposal that "the border line passes through the peak, the north of the peak belongs to China, and the south of the peak belongs to Nepal", and the King of Nepal has no objection to this.
At this point, China and Nepal finally reached a final agreement on the ownership of "Everest" after 3 years of negotiations. The Chinese government accepted the map of Nepal, that is, the southern part of the summit belonged to Nepal and the northern part belonged to China.
Thereafter, all climbs of Everest from the north slope must be approved by the Chinese government and notified to the Nepalese government; those who climb from the southern slope must be approved by the Nepalese government and notified to the Chinese government.
If either China and Nepal were to set up a scientific expedition station at the summit for peaceful purposes, the two governments must reach a corresponding agreement.
Chinese relay the Olympic torch on Mount Everest
On October 5 of the same year, President Liu Shaoqi and King Mahendra of Nepal signed the Treaty on the Boundary between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal on behalf of the two countries. On January 20, 1963, the two sides signed the China-Nepal Boundary Protocol, which finally resolved the boundary issue left over from the history of China and Nepal and made the China-Nepal border a clear and friendly boundary.
In 1975, Pan Duo, a female member of the Chinese mountaineering team, and 8 male team members climbed Mount Everest again from the north slope, confirming the fact that China reached the summit in 1960.
Thirteen years later, Chinese and Nepalese mountaineers joined hands to challenge Mount Everest, successfully crossing Mount Everest from the north and south sides to the summit and in both directions. This is the first time that the two countries have cooperated in summitping since the demarcation of the China-Nepal border. Everest has become a symbol of friendship between China and Nepal.
Resources
Muani. The focus of the China-Nepal border negotiations - the handling of the "Everest" issue[J].Chinese and foreign abstracts
ZHANG Mingxia. Everest can be called "China-Nepal Friendship Peak": China-Nepal Negotiations and the Delimitation of Bilateral Borders (continued)[J].