In 1999, China's "Xue Long" broke the ice and sailed into the Arctic for the first time, and the purpose of the "Xue Long" expedition was to regain the sovereignty belonging to China, and all this had to start from an Arctic treaty that China had stumbled upon not long ago...
Snow Dragon
This is a sovereignty treaty that China has forgotten for 66 years, and it is a treaty that makes China desperate to pick up leaks. What exactly is this treaty? What is the content of the treaty? What are the huge benefits it has brought to my country? Today, Brother Leng will reveal to you a "surprise" treaty signed by China a hundred years ago.
A borderland, where strife will arise
Since the 17th century, the land and islands near the Arctic have basically had their own masters, but there is an exception to one archipelago, which does not belong to any one country, but belongs to dozens of countries at the same time. And for this archipelago, the countries of the world have also almost ignited wars.
The archipelago was first discovered by the Dutch explorer Barents at the end of the 16th century, and according to international practice, if you want to obtain territorial rights to a certain piece of land, you must meet two conditions, in addition to "first discovery", but also have "effective administrative jurisdiction". However, barents died in the arctic cold before they could report to the country after discovering the frozen archipelago, but he gave the archipelago a nice name, Svalbard, which means "cold coast".
Barents
However, with the arrival of the British explorer Hudson and the Finnish explorer Denshord, the otherwise quiet Svalbard was suddenly plunged into an unprecedented dispute. The large number of whales and walruses on the archipelago makes the eyes of the Western "robbers" red, and the island's rich coal mines and other mineral resources make this group of "robbers" crazy.
A borderland, an inexhaustible benefit, the Western powers are like hyenas that smell meat, frantically hunting and mining here, and even many Western countries have directly established mines on the island. But as more and more countries hunt and mine, the distribution of benefits becomes more and more uneven, and friction, disputes, and even armed conflicts are inevitable. In order to solve the problem of resource allocation, the great powers soon came up with a "best of both worlds" approach.
Svalbard
On February 9, 1920, 18 countries, including britain, the United States, Denmark and France, officially began to talk on the issue of "Svalbard Resource Allocation", and finally under the unanimous decision of all countries, 18 countries signed the Svalbard Treaty, which stipulated:
Svalbard is the first and only demilitarized area in the Arctic, sovereignty of the archipelago is owned by Norway, but citizens of treaty countries do not need Norwegian visas, can go to the islands for scientific research and normal commercial production activities, and can enjoy permanent residency, and the island's mining rights and fishing rights are equally enjoyed by the treaty countries.
In order to make the Svalbard Treaty more international, and in order to make this treaty a government treaty recognized by the whole world, it is also necessary to enhance the voice of their own countries under this treaty. In 1925, several major powers, such as the United States, Great Britain, and France, began to develop alliances to join the treaty, so the Treaty of Svalbard was re-signed in 1925, and in addition to the original 18 countries, 33 countries, including the Soviet Union, Germany, Finland and China, were newly added.
Location in Svalbard
At that time, the Soviet Union and Germany were in the era of the Great Industrial Revolution, while China had just escaped from the feudal era and was facing internal and external troubles and embattled situations, but why did China become one of the treaty countries? Why did the Beiyang government at that time attach so much importance to a small island 3,000 kilometers away? As everyone knows, for a humiliating treaty, 50,000 people in our country died in battle in Europe.
Ill-intentioned invitations, little-known treaties
This is a humiliating treaty that costs the lives of 50,000 people, and it is also a heroic treaty that is indispensable to China's development, but after signing, why has this treaty been forgotten by our country for 66 years?
In 1925, china, warlords were everywhere, and wars were frequent, but against the background of such turmoil, the Beiyang government suddenly received an invitation from France, which hoped that China would send representatives to Paris to sign the Treaty of Svalbard. It's not so much an invitation as a coercion.
The Treaty of Svalbard is signed
At that time, britain and the United States were the most powerful in the treaty countries, and in order to compete with them, France also began to pull "alliances" around, but there were two main reasons why France found China, which was in turmoil.
First, China was one of the victorious powers in the world's first major war. In August 1917, the Beiyang government led by Duan Qirui officially joined the Allies, but according to the situation at that time, the Beiyang government was unable to send troops to Fight in Europe, and finally the Beiyang government decided to provide battlefield support to the Allies in the form of "sending labor". In just over a year, the Beiyang government has sent more than 300,000 laborers to the European battlefield.
Chinese laborers built houses and roads for the Allies, built fortifications, transported ammunition and wounded, and even many laborers were recruited into the army and sent to the battlefield. Throughout the war, nearly 50,000 Chinese laborers died on the Battlefield in Europe. However, as a victorious country, our country was finally treated as a "defeated country". In order to appease China's emotions, France will invite our country to sign the Svalbard Treaty.
Chinese laborers on the battlefield in Europe
Secondly, in order to strengthen the legitimacy of the Treaty and its universal recognition. Of the 18 countries that signed the Svalbard Treaty for the first time, 80 percent were European countries, and only Japan was a treaty country in the whole of Asia, which undoubtedly greatly weakened the credibility of the treaty in Asia.
In addition, at that time, France had a concession of up to 15,000 acres in Shanghai, and France tried to use the right to sign the Svalbard Treaty in exchange for China's support, thereby improving France's status in Europe and Asia. But the French did not expect that their wishful thinking was quickly rejected by the Beiyang government.
Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, China has signed countless treaties of loss of power and humiliation, and when the word "treaty" is heard, the whole of China is terrified, after all, in the traditional cognition, once the treaty is involved, China will lose a lot of money and land.
When France invited China to sign the Svalbard Treaty, the Beiyang government immediately refused, after all, the Beiyang government's ships could not even reach Japan, let alone the Svalbard Islands 3,000 kilometers away. This "chicken rib" land is undoubtedly a burden for China.
Duan Qirui, the ruler of the Beiyang government at that time
Although the Beiyang government rejected France's "good intentions", under the threat of French ships and guns, the Beiyang government had no right to speak at all, and finally could only sign this treaty with humiliation. In order to avoid touching the sensitive nerves of the Chinese people to the "treaty", the Beiyang government did not carry out any propaganda after signing the "Svalbard Treaty", so this treaty is rarely known.
Soon after, the Beiyang government collapsed, and the land of China ushered in decades of southern conquest and northern war, and the "Svalbard Treaty" of that year had long been destroyed in the war, after all, the people of the whole country could not even eat enough, who would care about the land in China more than 3,000 kilometers away? Unexpectedly, this humiliating treaty, which was forgotten by all of China, brought an unexpected "surprise" to China 66 years later.
The humiliating treaty of 96 years ago, the serendipity of 96 years later
At the end of the 1990s, China's scientific expedition ushered in an unprecedented problem, and just when all the scientific expedition personnel were at a loss, an unexpected discovery suddenly made the whole country a sensation, and it was the envy of all countries in the world! What exactly was this unexpected discovery? What kind of "great surprise" has it brought to our country?
After World War II, the main energy of all countries in the world was focused on economic and scientific and technological development, and the exploration of rich mineral resources in the polar regions and international strategic deployment became the top priority of all countries. Since the reform and opening up, China has also been catching up with the pace of world development.
Great Wall Station
On February 20, 1985, China's first Antarctic research station, the Great Wall Station, was officially completed, and soon after, China's second Antarctic research station, Zhongshan Station, also began to be put into use. However, looking at these two magnificent Antarctic research stations, China's scientific expedition personnel are full of sadness, because at this time, China's polar scientific expedition has ushered in an unprecedented problem: it is impossible to establish our own scientific research station in the Arctic.
Although the Arctic does not belong to any country, but as early as a long time ago, the Arctic land has been completely divided by the United States, Russia and Canada and other Arctic peripheral countries, if China wants to go to the Arctic, it must apply in advance with one of the countries, and the establishment of China's own scientific research station is even more fantastic. And just when our country was looking forward to the rich scientific value of the Arctic, an unexpected turnaround appeared...
In 1991, chinese explorer Gao Dengyi, at the invitation of Professor Ye Xin of the University of Bergen in Norway, participated in the Arctic scientific expedition jointly organized by Norway, Russia and China. At the end of the event, Professor Ye Xin gave Gao Dengyi a copy of "South of the Arctic", which detailed the specific contents of the Svalbard Treaty.
Gordon Yoshi
When the list of treaty countries was opened, the word "China" immediately hit Gordon's nerves. It was only then that Gao Dengyi learned that China could not only explore the Arctic, but also had the right to establish a scientific research station on Svalbard, which was undoubtedly a big surprise.
When the news came back to China, our country was suddenly boiling, and the personnel in the scientific expedition circles were even more excited and tearful. In addition to the excitement, the relevant departments of our country immediately issued instructions: get in touch with the Norwegian government as soon as possible and build the Chinese scientific research station to the North Pole in the shortest possible time.
Between 1999 and 2003, China's "Xue Long" twice broke the ice and slashed the waves to the Arctic, not only collecting a large amount of scientific research data, but also mastering a lot of important information. However, if you want to conduct long-term scientific research and research in the Arctic, you must have a fixed foothold.
In September 2001, the Norwegian Embassy in China sent an invitation to visit Svalbard and establish a Chinese scientific research station. After receiving the invitation, China immediately began the preparatory work for the establishment of the scientific research station. After three years of hard work, on July 28, 2004, China's Arctic "Yellow River Station" was fully completed, which is the third research station in the polar region after the Antarctic Great Wall Station and Zhongshan Station, and China has also become the eighth country in the world to establish a scientific research station on Svalbard.
Yellow River Station
The establishment of the Arctic Yellow River Station provides a lasting platform for China's scientific research in the Arctic region, and creates very favorable conditions for China's observation of high-altitude atmospheric physics, the establishment of meteorological observation stations and GPS satellite tracking stations.
96 years ago, a treaty that our country inadvertently signed has brought more than imaginary windfall to our country many years later. However, China's strength today is by no means by luck, but because we have great leaders like Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, millions of heroes who obey the party's command and can win battles, and countless chinese sons and daughters who are bold and loyal. The sleeping lion in the east of the world had already raised his high head