Dreams of a ‘broken up’ Russia might turn into a nightmare for the West – and an opportunity for China

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Susan Smith-Peter, City University of New York

(THE CONVERSATION) Do names on a map matter? When they are in border territories, the answer is probably “yes.”

In 2023, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources ordered that new maps must use the former Chinese names of its lost territories in what is now Russia’s Far East. Vladivostok, home to Russia’s Pacific fleet headquarters, became Haishenwai; Sakhalin Island became Kuyedao. Then in late August, the ministry released a map that showed the disputed Russian territory of Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island within China’s borders.

These map moves came amid growing chatterand even calls in Western foreign policy circles for the disintegration of the Russian Federation into a multitude of smaller states. The thinking is, being split into smaller states would blunt Russia’s challenge to the West and its ability to carry on a war in...