All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information and is detailed at the end of the article
Text/Editor: Look at Mr. Zhang
China has 9.6 million square kilometers and is home to 56 ethnic groups in this vast land, and is also the third largest country in the world by land area.
However, in history, the land area of the mainland was far larger than it is now, but for various reasons, a lot of land was forcibly divided.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the mainland has gradually recovered part of its land, but in history, these three countries have not chosen to return to China.
So, who are these three countries? What is the development of today?
Fallen Mongolia
The first of these is Mongolia, although Mongolia and Inner Mongolia on the mainland are only one word apart, but there is a big difference, and they are also two countries.
If you go back thousands of years, Mongolia has always had a very large connection with the mainland, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Mongolia showed great strength, and in 1206 Genghis Khan established his own Mongolian state.
Later, after a long period of operation, Kublai Khan pushed Mongolia's economic strength to a historical climax, but in the areas of ethnic minorities, people's living habits and religious beliefs are very different, especially for people living in the Central Plains, the difference is even more significant.
Until the Ming Dynasty, the Mongols felt that the way of life in the Central Plains was very awkward, so they left the Central Plains idly and returned to their steppe areas.
At that time, the Qing Dynasty government on the mainland had always had the idea of recovering Mongolia, but the foundation of the Qing Dynasty government at that time was not stable, and there were often some minor problems in the country, so the recovery of Mongolia became a long-term problem.
After Kangxi took office, Mongolia was officially under the administration of the Qing Dynasty government, although Mongolia was under the administration of the Qing Dynasty, but due to the very large land area, the Kangxi Emperor divided Mongolia into two parts in order to facilitate management, one for Outer Mongolia and the other for Inner Mongolia.
However, the good times did not last long, the Qing Dynasty government at that time was very weak, and the Western powers took this opportunity to forcibly invade China and robbed a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry.
But at this time, Outer Mongolia took this opportunity to choose independence, although Outer Mongolia chose independence, but in the international community there is still no way to become an independent country, until 1921, under the intervention of the Soviet Union, Outer Mongolia completely completed independence, and since then there has been no relationship with China.
Although Outer Mongolia chose independence, after independence, it did not develop rapidly in terms of economy or national strength, but the economy has been declining and has become a degenerate country.
Mongolia's economy is limited entirely because it has no way to achieve economic freedom due to geographical reasons, and 80% of the land in Mongolia is desert with no development value at all, which also leads to a serious deterioration of economic conditions.
How can the food and vegetables we eat grow here? Serious desertification has also greatly reduced Mongolia's production level, and even the GDP of Mongolia as a whole cannot even reach a province on the mainland, which shows how poor Mongolia's economy is.
In recent years, although Mongolia has received help from China and has improved its economy to a certain extent, there is still a very big gap between Mongolia and the mainland.
If Mongolia had not left China, Mongolia's development would not have been what it is now, and in retrospect, does Mongolia regret its decision at that time?
Vietnam
If Mongolia can still be saved, then there is really no hope for Vietnam, which was also the territory of China at the earliest, and Vietnam has become part of China as early as after Qin Shi Huang unified the world.
However, when the mainland dynasties were renewed, Vietnam took this opportunity to complete its independence for the first time, but just a year later, Vietnam was once again planned as Chinese land.
However, Vietnam was far away from the Central Plains, and Vietnam's economy was also very limited at that time, and after submitting to the Ming Dynasty, it was completely unable to pay taxes and fees to the government, and even needed the government to find ways to help Vietnam develop its economy.
However, after a long time, the government was reluctant to invest in Vietnam, and in desperation, it once again restored the status of a vassal state of Vietnam.
After the Qing Dynasty, due to the weakness and incompetence of the Qing government, the Western powers directly turned Vietnam into a colony of countries such as France and Japan, and in this way, Vietnam slowly became Westernized.
It was not until 1949 that Vietnam completely got rid of the title of colonial country and began to rebuild the country, although the mainland had just completed the liberation of the whole country, the national strength was still relatively weak, and the economic construction was in the zero foundation, but still wholeheartedly to help Vietnam build the country.
Because at that time, Vietnam was not recognized internationally as an independent country, only China had good relations with Vietnam, and it also helped it unconditionally in the Vietnam War.
But in the end, Vietnam is like a "white-eyed wolf" that forgets China's kindness to it after it completes its independence, and openly anti-China in the international community, and will even try to invade the mainland's Spratly Islands.
Until now, Vietnam, with the support of the United States, has often carried out activities in the South China Sea on the mainland, and from time to time has engaged in some harassment to affect the normal life of mainland residents.
However, in recent years, in addition to getting to know the "big brother" the United States, Vietnam's economic development as a whole has not improved much, and even Liaoning Province on the mainland cannot be compared.
Now it seems that Vietnam is really getting worse and worse as it lives, but then again, does Vietnam now think that leaving China is a mistake?
Tajikistan
In addition to Mongolia and Vietnam, Tajikistan was also historically a continental territory.
Tajikistan is not very large, only 143,000 square kilometers, in the early days it was called the "Western Regions", but it was directly occupied by Tsarist Russia during the Qing Dynasty on the mainland, and became a vassal state of Tsarist Russia.
Later, the country continued to fight, in order to allow the people to live a good life, the country began to be chaotic, and in less than a few years, Tajikistan's economy was not as bad as a year.
Until now, Tajikistan is still one of the least developed countries in the world, and its economic backwardness has made the country completely undominant in the world, and although Tajikistan has lived a very peaceful life in recent years, its economy is not as good as a province on the mainland, let alone compared with other countries.
With the increase in population, the economy has not been developed, and the medical level is backward, and these problems have also gradually increased the mortality rate of the local people.
But in recent years, Tajikistan has been well improved with the help of the mainland, and Tajikistan is not like Vietnam, it is a country that knows how to repay kindness, and at the same time, it is also very grateful to China for extending a helping hand to them, and also took the initiative to return more than 1,000 square kilometers of land area on the mainland.
end
Although the mainland lost a large amount of land due to its relatively weak national strength in the early days and successive defeats in wars, after the founding of New China, these lost lands were gradually recovered by the mainland.
On the surface, these three countries have completed their independence, but they have also received help from China, and finally hope that these three countries can establish respect for each other in the future development, so as to enhance the national strength!
References
China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) March 2024 – China's relations with Tajikistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, April 2024 – China's relations with Mongolia
Guangming.com, September 17, 2014 -- The historical evolution of China-Vietnam relations