The Sino-Russian St. Petersburg Treaty of 1881: Diplomatic History

This book is the first attempt to study all facets of the Russian-Chinese negotiations of 1880-1881, initiated by China to regain the Ili Valley occupied by Russian troops in 1871. Chinese materials are assessed through the prism of documents from Russian Archives. The comparison and juxtaposition of various sets of documents in the Russian and Chinese languages enables revealing the logic of the border negotiations between the two countries, defining the role of the Treaty in the retrospective and contemporary history of Russian-Chinese relations, to disclose the hidden background of many elements in the relations between Russia and China that cause biases in both countries and thus to approach the most timely question of how to assess Russian -Chinese relations and treaties of the past.