More Trouble on the Borders

"Even our most rabid enemies have never used such unworthy methods and on such a scale as the Chinese leaders." With those words, Andrei Gromyko last week told the Supreme Soviet of the deepening division between the two former Communist allies. Gromyko had new evidence for his statement. For the fourth time in five months, fighting had erupted along the Sino-Soviet border.

Last week's incident took place on Goldinsky Island in the Amur River, less than 50 miles southwest of the important Siberian rail and communications center of Khabarovsk. Like Damansky Island in the Ussuri, a tributary of the Amur, where the first major clashes took place last March, Goldinsky Island sits in the middle of a river that forms the frontier where China and Russia meet. The Soviets claim the eastern part of the small island; the Chinese* insist that it is all theirs.

Conflicting Versions. Each side blames the other for the latest trouble. According to the Soviet version, the Chinese had illegally infiltrated troops into the Russian area. Early one morning, as Soviet engineers landed from two river craft on their part of the island to repair navigation markers, Chinese ambushers opened fire with submachine guns and grenade launchers. The fusillade killed one Russian worker, wounded two and inflicted severe damage on the Blackbird and Turpan, the boats. The Russians, so they say, did not even shoot back.

As Peking tells it, Soviet patrol boats landed Soviet troops on the island. While Soviet aircraft circled menacingly overhead, the Russians attacked Chinese inhabitants and soldiers who were at work in the fields. The Soviets, says Peking, also set fire to one dwelling.

The latest battle triggered an exchange of protests. Moscow for the first time warned that it now was "compelled to take additional measures against the actions of the Chinese authorities." Diplomats in Moscow felt that the stern language was intended to signal that the Soviets were strengthening their border patrols and would retaliate vigorously against any future attacks.

Nuclear Reaction. The Chinese protest note warned the Soviets that they must cease their armed provocations or "you will certainly receive even more severe punishment from the Chinese people." Though the Chinese do not so far appear to be reinforcing their military defenses in the Amur-Ussuri sector, there are reports that two armored and three antiaircraft divisions have been moved into the Lop Nor nuclear-and rocket-testing site in Sinkiang Province as protection against a pre-emptive Soviet airborne attack. The Chinese concern is understandable since Lop Nor is only 500 miles southeast of the Dzungarian Gates, the main pass through the Tien Shaw Mountains, where a border skirmish was fought last month.

* The island's Chinese name is Pa Cha, meaning Eight Forks, because the river's waters divide into eight separate currents at that point.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.