Under new map, China claims Russian island

In what could spark tensions between the two close allies, China, in its "New Standard Map", has claimed an entire island in Eastern Russia along the border of the two countries.

The entire Bolshoi Ussursky Island in Russia's Amur region has been displayed as Chinese territory in the new map and this could be a cause of tensions between Moscow and Beijing.

The island is situated at the confluence of Amur and Ussuri rivers and located close to the Russian city of Khabarovsk making it strategically important, according to experts on Sino-Russian ties.

While Russia ceded part of the island to China in 2004 under the border pact, China has a centuries-old grievance from the 19th century when it was forced to cede the territory to Tsarist Russia under two treaties of 1858 and 1860.

But the cracks appearing in the Sino-Russian ties are not new. The recent incident at the Russia-Kazakhstan border, where five Chinese nationals were denied entry into Russia even after four hours of examination by the Russian authorities who ultimately cancelled their visas too, prompted the Chinese embassy in Moscow to publicly lash out at Russia on its WeChat social media account.

"The brutal and excessive law enforcement by Russia in this incident seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens," the Chinese embassy in Russia said in its WeChat social media post on August 5.

China resorted to public criticism even after the Russian foreign ministry clarified that it does not have discriminatory policies against Chinese citizens, as well as that the destination on the visa application of the five Chinese citizens did not match their actual destination.

Earlier, senior Chinese academics have also referred to China's predicament in the Ukraine war.