Sino-Soviet border conflict

The Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969 refers to a series of armed border clashes between the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island (珍宝岛) on Ussuri River, also known as Damanskii Island (Остров Даманский) in Russian. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the island was given to China. The deteriora... more

The Sino-Soviet border conflict of 1969 refers to a series of armed border clashes between the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island (珍宝岛) on Ussuri River, also known as Damanskii Island (Остров Даманский) in Russian. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the island was given to China. The deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s resulted in tensions along the 4,380 km (2,738 mi) border between China and Russia. A particularly serious incident occurred in May 1962, when 60,000 ethnic Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang Province crossed the frontier into the Soviet Union, fleeing desperate economic conditions. Beijing immediately accused the Soviets of subverting the Uyghur population, a charge later supported by some Chinese historiography, though never independently verified. Amid heightening tensions, the Soviet... less