"If the Sino-Soviet border dispute was widely trumpeted, the Sino-Russian border demarcation process until now has been largely concealed. Iwashita's detective work along the border at last reveals its complex nature, showing how and when disputed land was assigned. He scrutinizes this difficult process, and, in the process, sheds new light on how an important obstacle to relations in the 1990s was overcome."

Gilbert Rozman,
Princeton University

"Iwashita's marvelous book is a first-hand account of how the Sino-Russian territorial problems were produced, negotiated, and successfully resolved. Since issues concerning the border reflect Sino-Russian relations, a study of the border should have been a top priority in China, but few were up the challenge. Iwashita's book undoubtedly constitutes a valuable contribution to our studies on Sino-Russian relations."

Xing Guangcheng,
Institute of Russia, East Europe and Central Asia

"Iwashita's book is a seminal work that will help us to better understand the past and to avoid misjudgments in the future. It is an intellectual tour de force and the fruit of enormous effort and self-sacrifice. A must for every student of Asia!"

Evgenii Bazhanov,
Diplomatic Academy

This book paints a comprehensive picture of Sino-Russian negotiations over the 4,300 kilometer eastern border, including territorial and migration problems, particularly in the ten years following the Cold War. It examines not only Moscow-Beijing diplomatic formations on "strategic partnership" but also details Russian Far East and Trans-Baikal - Chinese Northeast (Dongbei) regional relations that had an impact on Sino-Russian relations as a whole. Factually, considerable attention has been paid to Sino-Russian relations, but little is known about the Sino-Russian border demarcation process and the border itself. This book tells the full story of the Sino-Russian border zone: the myth of Damanskii Island, the truth of "Chinese expansion" on Bol'shoi Ussuriiskii Island, the troubles of the Sino-Russian-Korean triangular border point, and the unknown "island exchanges" on the rivers used to "successfully" resolve the territorial problems in the late 1990s. Without knowledge of the challenges and realities on the Sino-Russian border zone, talking about the future relationship between Russia and China would be impossible.

IWASHITA Akihiro is Professor of Russian foreign policy and Sino-Russian relations at the Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University. He is the author and editor of many books, including A Study on the Paradigm of Soviet Foreign Policy: Socialism, Sovereignty and International Law (1999).