Jiandao or Chientao, known in Korean as Gando or Kando, is a historical border region along the north bank of the Tumen River in Jilin Province, Northeast China, that has a high population of ethnic Koreans. The word "Jiandao", literally "Middle Island", originally referred to a shoal in Tumen River between today's Chuankou Village, Kaishantun in Longjing, Jilin, China, and Chongsŏng, Onsong County, in North Korea. The island was an important landmark for immigrants from the Korean Peninsula looking to settle across the river. As the number of immigrants increased, the area covered by the name "Jiandao" gradually changed to reflect the areas of Korean settlement.
In the early 20th century, an expanding Japanese Empire argued that ethnic Koreans living in this area should be placed under its jurisdiction. As one of its first set of attempts to annex northeast China and conquer other parts of mainland China, Imperial Japanese forces in Korea invaded Jiandao in 1907, but Japan withdrew its forces to Korea in 1909 and, under diplomatic pressure from China, recognized the border along Tumen River that had existed before the invasion.
In China, Yanbian is the name used, and Jiandao is not used, due to the latter's association with Japanese colonial occupation. Both North Korea and South Korea recognize the region as a part of the People's Republic of China, but there are some liberal and left-wing nationalist elements in South Korea that endorse the idea that the region should be a part of modern-day Korea. These groups claim what happened in Jiandao between 1907 and 1909 (Japan's invasion and subsequent withdrawal) was an illegal transfer of Korean territory between Japan and China.
History Many different states and tribes succeeded each other in ruling the area during ancient times. These included Buyeo, Goguryeo, and Goguryeo's successor state Balhae. Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, controlled northern Korea and southern Manchuria, including the territory known as Gando/Jiandao. Balhae was a state that existed in the area during the Tang dynasty in China and the Unified Silla period in Korea. China emphasizes Balhae's temporary tributary relationship to the Tang, while Korea emphasizes that Balhae was a successor state and a cultural extension of Goguryeo.
Balhae was destroyed by the Khitan Liao dynasty in 926, and was formally annexed in 936. Over the next nine to ten centuries the region was administered by the Liao (Khitans), Jin (Jurchens), Yuan (Mongols), Ming, and then the Qing.
In 1712, the border between Qing and Joseon was formally demarcated. For years, Qing officials did not allow people to move to Northeastern China, as they believed that should a Han majority government rise again in parts of China south of the Great Wall, the Manchus could then retreat to their original homeland. Joseon officials also did not allow its subjects to move to Northeastern China. These governmental regulations, along with the general marshy nature of the area, left these lands north of the Tumen River relatively undeveloped; and the region was sparsely populated by Manchu tribes for a long time. Qing officials regularly inspected this region and occasional Korean intruders were detained and sent back to Korea. However, by the late 19th century, peasants in northern Korea were migrating to northeast China to flee famine and poverty. More arrived as refugees when Japanese forces entered Korea in 1894 during the First Sino-Japanese War.
From 1901, the Korean Empire prepared to take control of Jiandao. In 1901, Korean General Yi Hak-gyun, the American advisor to Emperor Gojong William F. Sands, and Captain G. Payeur were sent to observe Jiandao. The French envoy, Victor Collin de Plancy, reported that the Korean government would benefit by taxing Jiandao's inhabitants, and would increase jobs and influence by sending officials there. He also reported that the Russian legation opposed an invasion because this might lead to the loss of Russian territory. In 1901, Korea deployed police in Jiandao, and this continued until 1906. The Korean Government sent Yi Beom-yun, who was not part of the Imperial Korean Army, to Jiandao as an observer in 1903. In Jiandao, Yi established Sa-po dae, which was a militia consisting of both a righteous army, and Imperial Korean Army. This army fought against Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. In 1904, the Japanese embassy in Korea reported the Korean government as claiming that there was no document that explicitly recorded Jiandao as part of the Qing territory.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan began the process that led to the formal annexation of Korea. In 1905, the Korean Empire became a protectorate of the Empire of Japan, effectively losing diplomatic rights, and was annexed to Imperial Japan in 1910. In the early 20th century, Korean immigration to Manchuria steadily increased, either from refugees fleeing Japanese rule, or from encouragement of emigration by the Japanese government of Korea for the purposes of developing that territory. Some local Chinese governments welcomed the Korean immigrants, as they were a source of skilled labor.
In the meantime, Japan began to expand into northeast China. One of the regions the Japanese targeted was Jiandao (known in Korean as Gando). The Japanese claimed that Jiandao included territory of four counties (Yanji, Wangqing, Helong, and Hunchun) of Jilin Province. The Japanese further claimed ethnic Koreans living in this region should be placed under the jurisdiction of Imperial Japan.
The Japanese first infiltrated Jiandao in April 1907 to collect information and data. On August 7, 1907, Japanese troops invaded Jiandao and claimed that the "Jiandao Issue" was "unsettled" (see: Gando Massacre).
In the Gando Convention of 1909, Japan affirmed territorial rights of the Qing over Jiandao after the Chinese foreign ministry issued a thirteen-point refutation asserting its rightful ownership. Japan agreed to withdraw its invading troops back to Korea in two months. The treaty also contained provisions for the protection and rights of ethnic Koreans under Chinese rule. Nevertheless, there were large Korean settlements and the area remained under significant Japanese influence.
Despite the agreement, Koreans in Jiandao continued to be a source of friction between the Chinese and Japanese governments. Japan maintained that all ethnic Koreans were Japanese nationals, subject to Japanese jurisdiction and law, and demanded rights to police the area. The Qing and subsequent local Chinese governments insisted on its territorial sovereignty over the region.
After the Mukden Incident of 1931, the Japanese military (the Kwantung Army) invaded Manchuria. Between 1931 and 1945, Manchuria was under the control of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state. From 1934 the area formed a new Jiandao Province of Manchukuo after the old Jilin Province was split into Binjiang, Jiandao, and a rump Jilin. This period saw the initiation of a new wave of Korean immigration, as the Japanese government actively encouraged (or forced) Korean settlement in order to colonize and develop the region. The Japanese also moved to suppress resistance in the region. Within three and half years (from September 1931 to March 1935), Japanese regular forces and police murdered 4,520 people. During and after the 1930s, many ethnic Koreans in the region joined the Chinese Communist Party.
In December 1938, a counterinsurgency unit called the Gando Special Force was organized by the Japanese Kwantung Army to combat communist guerrillas within the region. The commander of this battalion-size force was Japanese. Historian Philip Jowett noted that during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Gando Special Force "earned a reputation for brutality and was reported to have laid waste to large areas which came under its rule."
On 1 October 1943, Jiandao Province was incorporated as a district in the Dongman Consolidated Province. This district was itself abolished on 28 May 1945, and Jiandao was once again a province.
After World War II and the liberation of Korea, many Korean expatriates in the region moved back to Korea, but a significant number remained in Manchuria; descendants of these people form much of the Korean ethnic minority in China today. The area was first nominally part of the Republic of China's new Songjiang Province, but with the communist seizure of power in 1949, Sonjiang's borders were changed and Jiandao became part of Jilin.
The area is now the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin.
Boundary claims
The claims by some of the Korean irredentists over Gando stem from what is perceived as an ambiguity in the original Sino-Korean boundary agreement.
After several attempts by the Kangxi Emperor to negotiate the issue, in 1712 the Joseon of Korea and Qing of China agreed to delineate the boundaries of the two countries at the Yalu and Tumen rivers. The Qing delegation was led by Mukedeng, and the Joseon delegation was led by Pak Kwon. The two held a joint commission to survey and demarcate the boundaries between the two states. Efforts were taken to locate the sources of the Yalu and Tumen rivers on Baekdu Mountain. Owing to Pak's age, they agreed for Mukedeng's team to ascend the summit alone. Mukedeng's team quickly identified the source of the Yalu, but identification for the Tumen proved more complicated. At last a spot was decided, and a stele was erected as a boundary marker. Over the next year, a fence was built to demarcate the areas where the Tumen river ran underground.
Pak Kwon was instructed by the Joseon government to retain all territory south of the Yalu and Tumen rivers, a goal he accomplished. However, some Korean officials lamented the loss of claims on areas north of the river and criticized Pak Kwon for not accompanying Mukedeng to the summit. The territorial claims stem from the territories held by Goguryeo and Balhae. Nonetheless, the border remained uncontentious for the next 150 years. Cross-border movements were forbidden, and was punishable by death after trespassers were detained and repatriated back to their respective countries.