The declaration of independence by a country should have been a matter of worldwide attention, but on September 9, 1991, when a small Central Asian country declared its independence, the eyes of the outside world did not turn to it, and those who rejoiced in front of the television seemed to be a little lost in their hearts. Overnight, the identity of the citizens changed from that of superpower citizens to citizens of small countries, and no one paid attention to them anymore, but gradually forgotten. This country is the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan.
Tajikistan, which borders China, is the only non-Turkic country with a majority ethnic group among the five Central Asian countries, and is also the smallest country in the five Central Asian countries with a land area of Only 143,100 square kilometers. What you know is that don't look at the small territory of Tajikistan, but 20% of it was once Chinese land, but because of the problems left over from history, it has never been effectively resolved. Regarding the territorial dispute between Tajikistan and China, we must start with the Western Han Dynasty.
During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty worked hard to govern, exhausted his troops, and his national strength was unprecedentedly strong. Under the decision of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Western Han army was like a black torrent, rushing to the distant frontier. Since the great destruction of the Xiongnu, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty has made expeditions to Dawan, surrendered the Western Regions, recovered South Vietnam, and annexed Korea, rapidly expanding China's territory. It was from that time that Tajikistan was placed under the control of China until the Tang Dynasty.
During the 9th to 10th centuries AD, the Tajik nation gradually formed, the so-called "Heavenly Emperor Yuan", the Tajik people established the Samanid dynasty, with their own customs and differentiation, and the seeds of detachment from Chinese control also quietly sprouted. However, the tajik road to independence was very tortuous, and since the 10th century AD, Tajikistan has been annexed by the Ghaznavid dynasty and the kingdom of Khwarazim, and later conquered by the Mongol Tatars, becoming the territory of the Chagatai Khanate, which has been "sent to the fence".
During the Qing Dynasty, the Kangxi Emperor Xiongtao Wuluo and the western expedition to the north of the desert once again settled the Mongolian region and made it dare not start a different heart. The Tajiks were secretly shocked, not expecting that after so many years, China's strength was still so strong. Therefore, in order to continue the race, the Tajiks only showed their overtures to the Qing court, paid tribute every year on schedule, and became the "little brother" of the Qing court. In addition, during the qing dynasty's great power, the entire Pamir Plateau, the area where the Tajiks lived, was Chinese territory.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing court declined and was unable to govern the Pamir Plateau. In 1868, the Tajik region was occupied by Russia, and the Tajiks became vassals of Russia. It was not until 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, that Tajikistan became independent from the Soviet Union, and the Pamir Plateau region was occupied by Tajiks who had been living here ever since. However, we have never recognized the Pamir Plateau, which was once forcibly occupied by Tsarist Russia, and since the independence of Tajikistan, we have been negotiating with it over the ownership of this territory.
After our country presented sufficient evidence, Tajikistan finally signed the Protocol of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Tajikistan on the Demarcation of the Boundary between China and Tajikistan in 2010, agreeing to return 1,158 square kilometers of land to China. However, China actually owns sovereignty over Tajikistan's roughly 28,000 square kilometers, of which only 3 percent of the 1,158 square kilometers. But we always believe that it is ours and we will get it back sooner or later, because this is China's power.