evidence: Was China looking to take advantage of Russia's setbacks, under international sanctions and embroiled in its war in Ukraine, to nibble away a few dozen square kilometers? On Monday, August 28, the Ministry of Natural Resources published the 2023 edition of the "National Map of China," an official document that has become the reference regarding "national sovereignty." In the far northeast of the country, China seems to have made Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island its own. Located at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, this island of around 300 square kilometers has long been a subject of dispute between the two countries. In 1929, Russia occupied the island and prohibited China from navigating that part of the Amur River, which Beijing has always contested. In 2004, however, the two countries reached a compromise: The western part of the island went to China, which could also navigate on the Amur River, but in return, Beijing accepted that the eastern part would go to Russia. [...] By contrast, several other countries bordering China have officially protested against the publication of this map: India, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as Taiwan, which, according to this document, is an integral part of the People's Republic of China.