At the station in Hunchun, which sits on the border with Russia and North Korea, a giant screen showed a bird's eye view of the strip of land running down the Tumen River Estuary. A few words expressed the hopes of the region: "The song of wild geese heard in three countries, the cry of the tiger echoes across three borders, flowers bloom in three friends, smiles on the faces of three nations."
Here, geopolitics determines opportunities, and the far corner of the world's second-largest power would like the current turnaround to benefit it. Xi Jinping joined forces with Vladimir Putin in the fight against Western domination, providing Moscow with the economic support it needs to pursue its war in Ukraine.
Isolated in the West, Russia can only look to the East. Even if the war has also affected the purchasing power of Russians, and gone on to effect the business of the Chinese. Like Shao Yue, who runs a store selling alcohol, food products from both countries and souvenirs. "Before, Russians came to Hunchun to buy clothes from head to toe. They didn't even negotiate. Now they have less money," said the woman from behind her cash register.
The ever-growing friendship between China and Russia, illustrated by Putin's visit to Beijing and Harbin on May 16 and 17, has not erased any issues between the two countries. The historical bitterness of China's northeastern provinces is reflected in a phrase often used in discussions in Hunchun: "If we had the sea."
It is impossible to forget the unequal treaties imposed by the great powers on the weakened Qing dynasty in the 19th century. The Chinese state often reminds its population of the suffering at the hands of the Japanese, the imperialism of the French and the English ransacking of Summer Palace. But in Hunchun, the corridor linking Russia to the Korean peninsula, around 15 kilometers deep and blocking China's far east from the seafront, is not easy to forget. Residents can smell the sea air but cannot see the waves.
Until the Treaty of Aigun in 1858, what is now Vladivostok was Chinese territory. The major Russian port is a two-hour drive away, sometimes with an additional two hours to clear customs. Most of Hunchun's residents have been there before so they also know that most of Russia is still oriented toward Europe. "If we had the sea, it would be a lot more dynamic around here," said Yue. "It's all historical stuff but it's on everyone's mind," said another local shopkeeper.
In May 2023, Moscow and Beijing announced an agreement for China to transit its domestic trade via Vladivostok, whereas it otherwise takes over 600 kilometers to reach China's first ports west of the Korean peninsula and ship goods to the dynamic provinces of southern China. The success of the new agreement has yet to be proven, however, as taking goods out of China via Russian transit and then having them re-entered adds a complex logistical challenge that has not convinced many companies.
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