Northeast Project
The Northeast Project (simplified Chinese: 东北工程; traditional Chinese: 東北工程), which is short for the Serial Research Project on the History and Current State of the Northeast Borderland (simplified Chinese: 东北边疆历史与现状系列研究工程; traditional Chinese: 東北邊疆歷史與現狀系列研究工程), was a five-year research project on the history and current situation of the frontiers of Northeast China which lasted from 2002 to 2007. It was launched by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and received financial support from both the Chinese government and the CASS.
The stated purpose of the Northeast Project was to use authoritative academic research to restore historical facts and protect the stability of Northeast China—a region sometimes known as Manchuria—in the context of the strategic changes that have taken place in Northeast Asia since China's Reform and Opening started in 1978. Two Chinese leaders of the project accused some foreign scholars and institutions of rewriting history to demand territory from China or to promote instability in the frontier regions, hence the necessity of the Project.
The Project has been criticized for applying the contemporary vision of China as a "unified multiethnic state" to ancient ethnic groups, states, and history of the region of Manchuria and northern Korea. According to this idea, there was a greater Chinese state in the ancient past. Accordingly, any pre-modern people or state that occupied any part of what is now the People's Republic of China is defined as having been part of Chinese history. Similar projects have been conducted on Tibet and Xinjiang, which have been named Southwest Project and Northwest Project, respectively.
Due to its claims regarding Gojoseon, Goguryeo and Balhae, the project sparked disputes with South Korea. In 2004, this dispute threatened to lead to diplomatic disputes between the China and South Korea, although all governments involved seem to exhibit no desire to see the issue damage relations.
The Northeast Project advocated that Goguryeo and other Northeastern ethnic groups belonged to the local minority, non-Han, ethnic regime in ancient China. It argued that there is no relationship between Goguryeo and the Goryeo regime and that there is no relationship between Goguryeo and the current North Korean regime. The project also argued that there is no relationship between Goguryeo and the current Korean regime. The Northeast Project argued that the main part of Goguryeo has been integrated into the Chinese nation (Han and minority nationalities), while its branches may be integrated into the current Korean nation.