DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — Tajikistan has agreed to give away a portion of its territory to China in a bid to put an end to an old land dispute.
Parliament voted Wednesday in favor of giving up about 1,000 square kilometers of land in the country’s sparsely populated Pamir Mountains region. There was no immediate information on how many people live in the territory to be ceded.
Opposition leader Mukhiddin Kabiri said the land transfer is unconstitutional and represents a defeat for Tajik diplomacy. But Foreign Minister Khamrokon Zarifi portrayed it as a victory, saying China had initially claimed more than 28,000 square kilometers. The dispute dates to the 19th century, when Tajikistan was part of tsarist Russia.
(AP)
