Announcements

16 июня 2021 года

Conference "To the 125th Anniversary of the Russian-Chinese Union Moscow Treaty of 1896 ..."

Conference Conference "To the 125th Anniversary of the Russian-Chinese Union Moscow Treaty of 1896 ..."

 
The Institute of Oriental Studies (the Russian Academy of Sciences) with the participation of Korea History and Culture Cabinet (Laboratory) is holding an international scientific conference on the 16th of June 2021. The conference title is "To the 125th Anniversary of the Russian-Chinese Union Moscow Treaty of 1896: History and Modernity."

The 1896 Treaty on the alliance and construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (secret) is an important landmark in the history of Russia and Russian-Chinese relations. The 125th Treaty anniversary is celebrated this year.

The Treaty was signed on the 22nd of May 1896 in Moscow by Prince Alexey Lobanov-Rostovskiy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Sergey Vitte, Minister of Finances. Leigh Hunchjan, the Plenipotentiary Ambassador, signed the Treaty from the Chinese side. He arrived in the Russian Empire to visit the Tsar Nicolas II coronation.  

There is no doubt that the Treaty was concluded by Russia and China with the aim of ousting Japan from the conquered territories in the Japanese-Chinese war of 1894-1895. The Treaty was signed to ensure the Chinese positions on the mainland, to provide the territorial integrity of China, to protect China from future possible encroachments of Japan. The Russian-Chinese alliance Treaty of 1896 was fundamentally different from the unequal treaties that China had been forced to sign with a number of Western powers in the second half of the 19th century, after the Opium Wars.

That was the first treaty of the Chinese Empire when both sides possessed equal rights. It formalized the first alliance of the Chinese Empire with a European power in its history. It was obviuos that Beijing itself was looking for an ally to confront Japan in the person of Russia. Bejing was the initiator of an alliance agreement conclusion with Russia. The events related to the negotiations on the 1986 Treaty signing and its significance for Russia and China remain a subject of research and a cause for discussion.

The conference will open at 11:00 with a plenary session at the Institute of Oriental Studies. The following people will speak at the event: 

V.V. Naumkin, Scientific Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies 
A.A. Alikberov, the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies 
Prince Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky, the Presidium Honorary Member and Co-founder of the Russian Compatriots International Council
A.Yakovenko, Diplomatic Academy Rector of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Russia
N.G. Romanova, the Deputy Director on the Scientific Work of the Institute of Oriental Studies
The leading Russian, Chinese, and Korean scientists

Then an official ceremony will take place. On it Prince N.D. Lobanov-Rostovsky will present officially the painting depicting the signing of the Russo-Chinese Alliance Treaty of 1896 as a gift to the Institute of Oriental Studies.

The conference goals and objectives are to analyze and evaluate various history aspects of the Treaty conclusion and its significance for Russian-Chinese relations. Also the event aims are: taking into account the historical background, the current state and prospects of the Russian-Chinese relations, comparing the scientific community of Russia and China views on the historical events of the late 19th - early 20th centuries in the Northeast Asia.

The topic of the conference is timely due to the need of developing humanitarian cooperation, deepening mutual understanding between the Russian and Chinese peoples, strengthening stability, security, and good-neighborliness in the region of Northeast Asia.

The main directions of the conference operation:

125 years of the union treaty between Russia and China: history and modernity;
Comprehensive strategic partnership: development factors, prospects;
Trade and economic relations: history, issues, new projects;
Cooperation in the humanitarian field (education, science, culture): achievements, issues, prospects.

Time limit for speeches is 20 minutes.

Conference materials will be published in scientific issues.

Conference Organizing Committee Chairpersons:

V.V. Naumkin, Scientific Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Academician 

A.K. Alikberov, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies

Co-chairman of the Conference Organizing Committee:

B.B. Pak, the Head of the the Cabinet of Korean History and Culture of the Institute of Oriental Studies 

e-mail: korea_history@mail.ru