Tripoint
area viewed from the Chinese view platform. Approximate borderlines are
put on the picture, but note that the KPRU is still not agreed. According
to information we have received during the expedition the KPRU river
bridge border runs between the third and fourth bridge segment (counted
from Russian side). (Click on the image for a high-resolution image.)
In
1952 Russia and North Korea built a wooden bridge connecting the town of
Khasan, Russia with the town of Tumangang, North Korea. The bridge
building started in 1950. On 9
August 1959 1)
the present metal truss bridge was taken in
use. It may be possible to use it as a dual-purpose bridge (road and
rail), but is only used as a rail bridge. It's height is 11 meters, width
is 8 meters and length is 590 meters. The Khasan Tumangang bridge is the
only land connecting point between Russia and North Korea. The bridge is
only 135.6 m from the closest Chinese point.
About 17 km separates China with the Sea of Japan.
It is perhaps unnecessary to mention that the construction of the bridge has aroused indignation among the Chinese. It
complicated the navigation of even small vessels between the Chinese river ports and the Sea of
Japan.
The exact location of the Sino-Russian border along the left bank of the Tumen River was an area of contention (the entirety of the right bank of the river belonging to North Korea). The Convention of Peking (Beijing) set the location of border at 24 km (15 mi) above the mouth of the river, where it enters the Sea of Japan, but through Chinese negotiation was later moved to about 15 or 16 km (9 mi) above the mouth. In 1964, both sides agreed to a border about 17 km (11 mi) above the mouth, and these terms were kept in the 1991 agreement. However, the Russian side preferred it to be set at 24 km, and the Chinese at 15 km. The final position was set at 18.3 km (11.3 mi) above the mouth of the river.
The final position of the triangular border, where the People's Republic of China, Russia, and North Korea meet, was successfully demarcated in 1998 after trilateral negotiations from all three countries, and went,
according to English Wikipedia, into effect 1999. 3)
However we have not been able to
find verification what such a treaty was signed.
The
1860 Convention of Peking ceded parts of Outer Manchuria to the Russian Empire. It granted Russia the right to the Ussuri krai, a part of the modern day Primorye, the territory that corresponded with the ancient Manchu province of East Tartary. The treaty is considered an unequal treaty.
4)