Taking advantage of Putin's impasse, China seizes the Russian Far East

Though Beijing and Moscow have touted their "unlimited partnership" on the global stage, a far-eastern corner of Russia has caught China's eye. According to Newsweek, the border region of Primorsky Krai has seen a surge of Chinese farmers, and their growing economic clout is outcompeting locals, reported Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper.
The region, ceded to Russia by the Qing dynasty in 1860, has become a subject of interest for policymakers in Beijing and Chinese nationalists. Last year, the government decreed the country's maps should include Haishenwai—the Chinese name for Vladivostok, the administrative center of Primorsky Krai—and the Chinese names of seven other far-eastern Russian locations.
Like Russian President Vladimir Putin, who claims Ukraine has always been part of the Russian nation, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping has held the restoration of perceived lost territory high on his agenda for the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
China has pledged to someday bring self-governed Taiwan into the fold. It has also claimed most of the South China Sea, where Beijing's "historical rights" pit it against the Philippines and other neighbors.
Amid a gloomy economic outlook for Hegang, a former coal boomtown in China's northeast, more Chinese farmers may soon make their way to Russia, Nikkei reported.
"The concern for 'Yellow Peril' in the Russian Far East is not new. It has existed for decades, if not centuries, due to the vast imbalance of population on the two sides of the border," Yun Sun, the director of the Stimson Center's China Program, told Newsweek.
She added: "The concern is the inflow of Chinese people will challenge the Russia control. I don't think the sovereignty issue is still up for negotiation, but how to manage the Chinese farmers on the ground will be a thorny issue."