Definition of "Heixiazi"

The major obstacle to a border settlement is the status of Heixiazi, a 330-square kilometer island at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers. The island is claimed by the Chinese but controlled by the USSR. Because Heixiazi overlooks Khabarovsk as well as the point where the Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the Amur River, the Soviets are reluctant to give it up.

1991, Donald S. Zagoria, “The Changing Role of the Soviet Union in the Pacific”, in Frederic J. Fleron, Jr., Erik P. Hoffmann, Robbin F. Laird, editors, Contemporary Issues in Soviet Foreign Policy: From Brezhnev to Gorbachev‎, New York: Aldine de Gruyter, page 678

According to the latest protocol, Russia would return Yinlong island , or Tarabarov Island, and half of Heixiazi island (Bolshoi Ussuriysky island), the China Daily said on Monday.

2008 July 21, Shipeng Guo, Ben Blanchard, “China signs border demarcation pact with Russia”, in Nick Macfie, editor, Reuters‎, archived from the original on 2023-07-23, EARNINGS‎

Heihsiatzu Island, the most strategically important of the Amur islands, is situated at the juncture of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers and screens Khabarovsk from Manchuria. Here too, the main channel had shifted from south to north of the island.³² Khabarovsk was the second largest city in the Soviet Far East and the administrative center of the Far Eastern Army. If the channel north and east of Heihsiatzu Island were recognized as the boundary, Japanese naval vessels would be within their rights to steam right up to the city’s docks and Japanese artillery on the island would have the ability to fire at point-blank range into the city.]

, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, page 32

This resurgence in the two nations’ bilateral trade caused Russian President Medvedev in 2011 to project that Sino-Russian trade could reach US$100 billion in only three to five years! (Xinhua News Agency 2011d). It has also allowed both countries to push past their previous differences in search of profit, such as China and Russia’s recent announcement of a joint venture to co-develop the border island of Heixiazi into a tourist resort (World News Connection 2011a).

2012, Susan Turner Haynes, “China's Bilateral Interactions with Russia”, in Emilian Kavalski, editor, The Ashgate Research Companion to Chinese Foreign Policy‎, Ashgate, page 198

“Our monitoring data and this attack all tell that Ustin is in good physical condition, and has a large range of activities on Heixiazi Island,” Zhu Shibing, a wildlife protection expert from the Northeast Forestry University, said in a report on the goat attacks on Tuesday by Xinhua, the state news agency.

2014 November 26, Edward Wong, quoting Zhu Shibing, “Another Feline Incursion From Russia Into China”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 2014-11-27, Asia Pacific‎