THE AFGHANISTAN - CHINA BOUNDARY SETTLEMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000100120005-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 4, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: January 14, 1964
• Content Type: MEMO

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH
Research Memorandum
RES-2, January i11, 19b11.
a boundary delimitation treaty, the fifth agreement of this nature
negotiated by the Peiping regime in recent years. The Afghan -
Chinese treaty follows the recent Chinese Communist trend of
accepting, for the most part, claims of the smaller neighboring
states. As a result, no cession of Afghan territory is involved.
The new boundary, 117 miles long, is probably identical with the
tttraditional" location, although the precise position of its
southern terminus is not yet clear. As a consequence of the new
treaty, Communist China's boundary disagreements are now confined
to Korea, India and the U.S R.
Boundary agreement produces no surprises. On November 22,
1963, the governments of Afghanistan and Communist China signed
Group 1
Excluded from automatic downgrading
and declassification.
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE
THROUGH: S/S
FROM : INR - Thomas L. Hughes ,/,.I
TO : The Secretary
SUBJECT The Afghanistan - China Boundary Settlement
agreement has been plotted on a medium-scale map and the resulting
boundary has been analysed.
Modern China has been involved in numerous international disputes
engendered by undefined or poorly delimited boundaries. At the request
of the Embassy Kabul, the recent Afghan - Chinese Communist border 11c, ~///
PESTRACT
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For the last several years, the Chinese Communist regime has been
engaged in "tidying up" its international boundaries. Boundary accords
have been signed with Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, iiongolia, and, most recently,
with Afghanistan. (The boundaries with Viet-Nam and Laos were established
in 1887 and 1895 and have long been accepted and trouble-free.) The
five treaties leave only a minor dispute with ivorth ioreal (the next to
be resolved?) and the major difficulties with India and the Soviet Union.
The political nature of the settlements is witnessed by the generous
terms offered by the Chinese to their smaller neighbors and the
acceptance of the "watershed principle" where applicable. These
positions contrast sharply with the Chinese belligerency toward India
and the U.S.S.[ . including a flat rejection of the Indian-proposed
watershed bounclar:; .
Try , ~, TY
On larch 2, 1963, the Afghan and Chinese Foreign Offices announced
simultaneously that their common border would be delimited in the near
future. In :nid-Jung, 1963, a six-man Chinese delegation visited Kabul
and, after brief negotiations, a preliminary delimitation agreement was
initialed on Jule 1, 1963. The formal Accord was signed in Peiping on
November 22.
The complete text is reprinted as an Annex.
The acceptance by the Chinese Communists of the watershed as the
line between the two countries occasions no surprise. This boundav,r,
althou h it has had no official basis in treaty, has long been the
accepted frontier between the two states. While, prior to 1953,
Chinese maps showed the entire Wakhan corridor within their territory,
in recent years this claim has been deemphasized by the Peiping regime.
The treaty, however, raises two minor gestions. The first is the
precise location of the Afghan-Chinese-F:unza tripoint. In the Sino-
Afghan treaty, the coordinates are indicated as "approximately 370 03'
north, 740 36' east ...". The China-Pakistan treaty, while citing the
same elevation (5,630 meters), gives the coordinates as "approximately
1. International Boundar Study No. 17, June 29, 1962, "China-Korea
Bounaary,''C"fT .' i7/ff;. r
2. Hunza is a part of Jammu and Kashmir, which is in dispute between
Pakistan and India,
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Longitude 74? 34' E. and Latitude 370 03' N. ...". The identical point
is thus supplied with coordinates approximately 2 miles apart. While
the difference is not significant in this essentially uncharted territory,
it does raise a technical question. (See attached map.)
The more important issue, however, is the apparent movement of the
aforementioned tripoint approximately 3 miles to the east of the location
shown on British medium-scale, topographic maps. The change in the
position of the tripoint would displace the Afghanistan - Hunza boundary
a similar distance eastward. However, since the Afghan and Chinese Communist
Governments both have annexed their own maps to the treaty--implying
differences in features and/or locations--the treaty coordinates may
actually be a compromise between two differing map positions. As a
result, the coordinates would represent only a movement of the mapped
location rather than an actual alteration of the boundary or a transfer
of territory. The eventual publication of the two demarcation commissions'
maps--the Sino-Afghan and Sino-Pakistani--will probably solve the
riddle of the exact location of the tripoint.
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ANNEX
The full text of the Sino-Afghan boundary treaty is as follows:
The Chairman of the CPR and His Majesty the King of Afghanistan;
With a view of insuring the further development of the friendly and good
neighborly relations which happily exist between the two independent and
sovereign states, China and Afghanistan;
Resolving to delimit and demarcate formally the boundary existing between
China and Afghanistan in the Pamirs in accordance with the principles of
respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and mutual
nonaggression and the Ten Principles of the Bandung Conference, and in the
spirit of friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding;
Firmly believing that the formal delimitation and demarcation of the
boundary between the two countries will further strengthen the peace and
security of this region;
Have decided for this purpose to conclude the present treaty, and appointed
as their respective plenipotentiaries;
For the Chairman of the CPR: Chen I, Minister of Foreign Affairs;
For His Majesty the King of Afghanistan: Al-Qayyum, Minister of the
Interior;
Who, having examined each other's full powers and found them to be in
good and due form, have agreed upon the following:
Article 1. The contracting parties agree that starting from a peak with
a height of 5,630 meters--the reference coordinates of Mich are approxi-
mately 37 degrees 03 minutes north, 74 degrees 36 minutes east--in the
southern extremity, the boundary line between the two countries runs along
the Mustagh Range watershed between the Karachukur Su River, a tributary
of the Tashkurghan River, on the one hand, and the sources of"the Aksu
River and the Wakhjir River, the upper reaches of the Wakhan River, on
the other hand, passing through South Wakhjir Daban (Called Wakhjir Pass
on the Afghan map) at the elevation of 4,923 meters, North Wakhjir Daban
,(named on the Chinese map only), West Koktorok Daban (named on the
Chinese map only), East Koktorok Daban (called Kara Jilga Pass on the
Afghan Map), Tok Man Su Daban(called Mihman Yoli Pass on the Afghan map),
Sirik Tash Daban (named on the Chinese map only), Kokrash Kol Daban (called
Tigarman Su Pass on the Afghan map) and reaches Peak Kokrash Kol (called
Peak Povalo Shveikovski on the Afghan map) with a height of 5,698 meters.
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The entire boundary line as described in the present article is shown on
the 1:200,000 scale map of the Chinese side in Chinese and the 1:253,440
scale map of the Afghan side in Persian, which are attached to the present
treaty. Both of the above-mentioned maps have English words as an auxiliary.
Article 2. The contracting parties agree that wherever the boundary between
the two countries follows a watershed, the ridge thereof shall be the
boundary line, and wherever it passes through a daban--pass--the water-parting
line thereof shall be the boundary line.
Article 3. The contracting parties agree that:
1-- As soon as the present treaty comes into force a Chinese-Afghan joint
boundary demarcation commission composed of an equal number of representatives
and several advisers from each side shall be set up to carry out on location
concrete surveys of the boundary between the two countries and to erect
boundary markers in accordance with the provisions of Article 1 of the
present treaty and then draft a protocol relating to the boundary between
the two countries and prepare boundary maps setting forth in detail the
alignment of the boundary line and the location of the boundary markers
on the ground.
2-- The protocol and the boundary maps mentioned in paragraph one of the
present article, upon coming into force after being signed by the represen-
tatives of the two governments, shall become annexes to the present treaty,
and the boundary maps prepared by the joint boundary demarcation commission
shall replace the maps attached to the present treaty.
3-- Upon the signing of the above-mentioned protocol and boundary maps,
the tasks of the Chinese-Afghan joint boundary demarcation commission shall
be terminated.
Article 4. The contracting parties agree that any dispute concerning the
boundary which may arise after the formal delimitation of the boundary
between the two countries shall be settled by the two parties through
friendly consultation.
Article 5. The present treaty shall come into force on the day of its
signature.
Done in duplicate in Peking on 22 November 1963 in the Chinese, Persian,
and English languages, all three texts being equally authentic.
(Signed) Chen I. plenipotentiary of the CPR.
(Signed) Al-Qayyum, plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
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Watershed alignment specified in treaty
China - Pakistan provisional agreement
Specified Pass or Peak
Specified River
74?33' E, 37?36' N.
Probable location of peak 5630 in. (18,470')
SCALE: 1 inch equals 4 miles
_ CJ 1 SI c
d
Boundary, international: demarcated; undemarcated.
province or state: do do _. _.._.
district; sub division. Boundary pillar surveyed. unsurveyed..
Heights in feet above mean sea level :
Bench mark: geodetic;
canal..... .....
BH 1417
Trigonometrical station.
Irtersected point.
.1417
Approximate height.
.1417
Post office. Telegraph c:'ce. Combined P.O. & T.O. PO 70
r SIN KUNG C-A 11 - _-
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