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Sino-Soviet border conflict

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For the earlier border conflict, see Sino-Soviet conflict (1929).

Sino-Soviet border conflict
Part of the Cold War and the Sino-Soviet split

Some of the disputed areas in the Argun and Amur rivers. Damansky/Zhenbao is to the southeast, north of the lake
Date2 March – 11 September 1969
Location
Border between China and the Soviet Union
Result Status quo ante bellum[1]
Territorial
changes		 Dispute was resolved in a border agreement between Russia and China, signed on 14 October 2004.
China was granted control over Tarabarov Island (Yinlong Island) and approximately 50% of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (Heixiazi Island) near Khabarovsk.[2]
Belligerents
 Soviet Union  China
Commanders and leaders
Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev China Mao Zedong
Strength
658,000 814,000
Casualties and losses
59 killed
94 wounded
(Soviet sources)[3]
27 Tanks/APCs destroyed
(Chinese sources)[4]
1 Command Car
(Chinese sources)[5]
Dozens of trucks destroyed
(Chinese sources)[6]
One Soviet T-62 tank captured[1]		 71 killed and 68 wounded
(Chinese sources)
200~800 killed[7]
(Soviet sources)[3]

The Sino-Soviet border conflict was a seven-month undeclared military conflict between the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Sino-Soviet split in 1969. Although military clashes ceased that year, the underlying issues were not resolved until the 1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement.

The most serious of these border clashes, which brought the two communist-led countries to the brink of war, occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao (Damansky) Island on the Ussuri (Wusuli) River; as such, Chinese historians most commonly refer to the conflict as the Zhenbao Island Incident.[8]

Background

History

Under the governorship of Sheng Shicai (1933–1944) in northwest China's Xinjiang (then Sinkiang) province, China's nationalist Kuomintang recognized for the first time the existence of a "Uyghur people", following Soviet ethnic policy. This ethnogenesis of a "national" people eligible for territorialized autonomy broadly benefited the Soviet Union, which organized conferences in Fergana and Semirechye (in Soviet Central Asia), in order to cause "revolution" in Altishahr (southern Xinjiang) and Dzungaria (northern Xinjiang).[9] Both the Soviet Union and the White movement covertly armed and fought with the Ili National Army which fought against the Kuomintang in the Three Districts Revolution. Although the mostly Muslim Uyghur rebels participated in pogroms against Han Chinese in general, the turmoil eventually just resulted in the replacement of Kuomintang rule in Xinjiang (northwest China) with that of the Communist Party of China in the 1940s.[10]

Soviet historiography and more specifically Soviet "Uyghur Studies" were politicized in increasing measure to match the tenor of the Sino-Soviet split from the 1960s and 1970s. One Soviet Turkologist named Tursun Rakhminov, who worked for the CPSU, argued that it was the modern Uyghurs who founded the ancient Toquz Oghuz Country (744–840), the Kara-Khanid Khanate (840–1212), and so forth. These premodern states' wars against Chinese dynasties were cast as struggles for national liberation by the Uyghur ethnic group. Soviet historiography was not consistent on these questions: when Sino-Soviet relations were warmer, for example, the Three Districts Revolution was portrayed by Soviet historians as part of the greater Chinese anti-Kuomintang revolution, and not an anti-Chinese bid for national liberation. The Soviet Union also encouraged migration of Uyghurs to its territory in Kazakhstan along the 4,380 km (2,738 mi) border. In May 1962, 60,000 ethnic Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang Province crossed the frontier into the Soviet Union, fleeing the desperate economic conditions.[11]

Sino-Soviet border conflict
Zhenbao Island and the border.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese中蘇邊界衝突
Simplified Chinese中苏边界冲突
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese珍寶島自衛反擊戰
Simplified Chinese珍宝岛自卫反击战
Literal meaningZhenbao Island self-defense
Russian name
RussianПограничный конфликт на острове Даманский
RomanizationPograničnyj konflikt na ostrove Damanskij

Amid heightening tensions, the Soviet Union and China began border talks. In spite of the fact that the Soviet Union had granted all of the territory of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo to Mao's communists in 1945, decisively assisting the communists in the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese now indirectly demanded territorial concessions on the basis that the 19th-century treaties transferring ownership of the sparsely populated Outer Manchuria, concluded by Qing dynasty China and Tsarist Russia, were "unequal", and amounted to annexation of supposedly rightful Chinese territory. Moscow would not accept this interpretation, but by 1964 the two sides did reach a preliminary agreement on the eastern section of the border, including Zhenbao Island, which would be handed over to China.

In July 1964, Mao Zedong, in a meeting with a Japanese socialist delegation, stated that Tsarist Russia had stripped China of vast territories in Siberia and the Far East as far as Kamchatka, which had never been controlled or claimed by a Chinese polity. Mao stated that China still had not presented a bill for this list. These comments were leaked to the public. Outraged, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev then refused to approve the border agreement.

Geography

The border dispute in the west centered on 52,000 square kilometres (20,000 sq mi) of Soviet-controlled land in the Pamirs that lay on the border of China's Xinjiang region and the Soviet Republic of Tajikistan. In 1892, the Russian Empire and the Qing Dynasty had agreed that the border would consist of the ridge of the Sarikol Range, but the exact border remained contentious throughout the 20th century. In the 1960s, the Chinese began to insist that the Soviet Union should evacuate the region.

Since around 1900, after the Treaty of Peking (1860), where Russia gained Outer Manchuria, the east side of the border had mainly been demarcated by three rivers, the Argun River from the triparty junction with Mongolia to the north tip of China, running southwest to northeast, then the Amur River to Khabarovsk from northwest to southeast, where it was joined by Ussuri River running south to north. The Ussuri River was demarcated in a non-conventional means: the demarcation line was on the right (Chinese) side of the river, putting the river with all islands in Russian possession. (“The modern method (used for the past 200 years) of demarcating a river boundary between states today is to set the boundary at either the median line (ligne médiane) of the river or around the area most suitable for navigation under what is known as the ‘thalweg principle.’”)[12]

China claimed these islands, as they were located on the Chinese side of the river (if demarcated according to international rule using shipping lanes). The USSR wanted (and by then, already effectively controlled) almost every single island along the rivers.

Chinese government opinion about the conflict

During 1968, the Soviet Army had amassed along the 4,380 km (2,738 mi.) border with China — especially at the Xinjiang frontier, in north-west China, where the Soviets might readily induce Turkic separatists to insurrection. Militarily, in 1961, the USSR had 225,000 men and 200 aeroplanes at that border; in 1968, there were 375,000 men, 1,200 aeroplanes and 120 medium-range missiles. Moreover, China had 1.5 million men stationed at the border and it had already tested its first nuclear weapon (the 596 Test in October 1964, at Lop Nur basin). The People's Liberation Army was militarily inferior to the Soviet Army as far as equipment was concerned. However, the Chinese adopted an asymmetric deterrence strategy that threatened a large-scale conventional "People's War" in response to a Soviet counterforce first-strike.[1]

China's superiority in sheer numbers of troops was the cornerstone of Beijing's strategy to deter a Soviet nuclear attack.[1] Since 1949, Chinese military strategy as articulated by Chinese leader Mao Zedong continually emphasized the superiority of "man over weapons". While weapons were certainly an important component of warfare, Mao argued that they were "not the decisive factor; it is people, not things, that are decisive. The contest of strength is not only a contest of military and economic power, but also a contest of human power and morale."[1] In Mao's view, non-material qualities, including subjectivity, creativity, flexibility, and high morale, were critical determinants in warfare.[1]

The Soviets were not confident they could win such a conflict. A large-scale Chinese incursion could threaten key strategic centers in Blagoveshchensk, Vladivostok, and Khabarovsk, as well as crucial nodes of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.[1] According to Arkady Shevchenko, a high-ranking Russian defector to the United States, "The Politburo was terrified that the Chinese might make a large-scale intrusion into Soviet territory.[1] A nightmare vision of invasion by millions of Chinese made the Soviet leaders almost frantic. Despite our overwhelming superiority in weaponry, it would not be easy for the U.S.S.R. to cope with an assault of this magnitude."[1] Given China's "vast population and deep knowledge and experience in guerrilla warfare", if the Soviets launched a major attack on China's nuclear program they would surely become "mired in an endless war".[1]

Concerns about China's strength in manpower and its "people's war" strategy ran so deep that some bureaucrats in Moscow argued the only way to defend against a massive conventional onslaught was to use nuclear weapons.[1] Some even advocated deploying nuclear mines along the Sino-Soviet border.[1] By threatening to initiate a prolonged conventional conflict in retaliation for a nuclear strike, Beijing employed an asymmetric deterrence strategy intended to convince Moscow that the costs of an attack would outweigh the benefits.[1]

China had found a potent threat. While most Soviet military specialists did not fear a Chinese nuclear reprisal, believing that China's arsenal was so small, rudimentary, and vulnerable that it could not survive a first strike and carry out a retaliatory attack, there was great concern about China's massive conventional army.[1] Nikolai Ogarkov, a senior Soviet military officer, believed that a massive nuclear attack "would inevitably mean world war". Even a limited counterforce strike on China's nuclear facilities was dangerous, Ogarkov argued, because a few nuclear weapons would "hardly annihilate" a country the size of China, and in response China would "fight unrelentingly".[1]

Border conflict of 1969

The number of troops on both sides of the Sino-Soviet border increased dramatically after 1964.

Eastern border

A Soviet ship uses a water cannon against a Chinese fisherman on the Ussuri River on 6 May 1969

On 2 March 1969, a group of People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops ambushed Soviet border guards on Zhenbao Island. According to the Chinese sources, the Soviets suffered 58 dead, including a senior colonel, and 94 wounded. The Chinese losses were reported as 29 dead[13]. According to the Soviet/Russian sources, no less than 248 Chinese troops were killed on the island and on the frozen river.[14] That day, 32 Soviet border guards were killed, 14 wounded.[15]

On March 14 at 15:00 the Soviet border guards received a command to leave the island, which they did. However, later same day, a new order was received to return to the island. Two platoons (45 men) and 4 BTRs under the command of Lt. Col. E.I. Yanshin took defensive positions on the island, which was already occupied by the Chinese soldiers, and prepared for the upcoming attack. It started at 10:00 on March 15 with the massive bombardment of Soviet positions by the Chinese artillery, following which between 400 and 500 PLA troops engaged the Yanshin group.[16] The Soviets sent four T-62 tanks to attack the Chinese patrols on the island from the other side of the river. One of the leading tanks was hit and the tank commander was killed. On 16 March 1969, the Soviets entered the island to collect their dead; the Chinese held their fire. On 17 March 1969, the Soviets tried to recover the disabled tank, but their effort was repelled by the Chinese artillery.[13] On 21 March, the Soviets sent a demolition team attempting to destroy the tank. The Chinese opened fire and thwarted the Soviets.[13] With the help of divers of the Chinese navy, the PLA pulled the T-62 tank onshore. The tank was later given to the Chinese Military Museum On March 15, 1969, the Chinese troops were repelled from Zhenbao Island (Damansky Island) with significant losses and did not return until September of that year, when Soviet border guards received the order to not open fire against them.[13]

To this day, the sides blame each other for the start of the conflict. However, a scholarly consensus emerges that the 1969 Sino-Soviet border crisis was a premeditated act of violence orchestrated by the Chinese side. Why the Chinese leadership opted for such an offensive measure against the Soviet Union remains a disputed question.

On March 2, 1969, Damansky (Zhenbao) Island was under the Soviet control, regularly patrolled by the Soviet border guards. Occasional incursions of the Chinese peasants and fishermen were blocked and repelled without use of deadly force. The Chinese attack on March 2 was led by 3 platoons of specially trained troops, supported by one artillery and two mortar units. It started unprovoked with the illegal crossing of the Sino-Soviet border by a group of 77 PLA soldiers, and took the Soviets by surprise. When a squad of 7 men under the command of Sen Lt Ivan Strelnikov approached the Chinese with a verbal demand to leave the island, the Chinese troops opened fire, killing them all. This had started a day of hostilities that engaged Chinese regular army detachments against 2 small groups of survived Soviet border guards of no more than 30 individuals. [17]

The Chinese believe a different version of the conflict took place. The Chinese Cultural Revolution increased tensions between China and the USSR. This led to brawls between border patrols, and shooting broke out in March 1969. The USSR responded with tanks, APCs, and artillery bombardment. Over three days the PLA successfully halted Soviet penetration and eventually evicted all Soviet troops from Zhenbao Island. During this skirmish the Chinese deployed two reinforced infantry platoons with artillery support. Chinese sources state the Soviets deployed some 60 soldiers and six BTR-60s and in a second attack some 100 troops backed up by ten tanks and 14 APCs including artillery.[13] The PLA had prepared for this confrontation for two to three months. From among the units, the PLA selected 900 soldiers commanded by army staff members with combat experience. They were provided with special training and special equipment. Then they were secretly dispatched to take position on Zhenbao Island in advance.[6]

On 2 March the Soviet border guards were hopelessly outnumbered by the Chinese. Chinese General Chen Xilian stated the Chinese had won a clear victory on the battlefield.[6] On 15 March the Soviets dispatched another 30 soldiers and six combat vehicles to Zhenbao Island. After an hour of fighting the Chinese had destroyed two of the Soviet vehicles. A few hours later the Soviets sent a second wave with artillery support. The Chinese would destroy five more Soviet combat vehicles. A third wave would be repulsed by effective Chinese artillery which destroyed one Soviet tank and four APCs while damaging two other APCs.

By the end of the day, with the Chinese in full control of the island, Soviet general O.A. Losik ordered to deploy then-secret BM-21 "Grad" multiple rocket launchers. The attack was devastating for the Chinese troops and materiel. Chinese troops left their positions on the island, following which the Soviets withdrew back to their positions on the Russian bank of the Ussuri river.[18] Until September 10, 1969, the island remained no one's land, with intermittent exchange of fire between the sides. On September 10, 1969 Soviet border guards received an order to cease fire. The PLA troops immediately occupied the island. [19]

Chinese combat heroes

During the Zhenbao Island clashes with the Soviet Army in March 1969 one Chinese RPG team, Hua Yujie and his assistant Yu Haichang destroyed four Soviet APCs and achieved more than ten kills.[20] Hua and Yu received the accolade "Combat Hero" from the CMC, and their action was commemorated on a postage stamp.[20]

Western border

Further border clashes occurred in August 1969, this time along the western section of the Sino-Soviet border in Xinjiang. After the Tasiti incident and the Bacha Dao incident, the Tielieketi Incident finally broke out. Chinese troops suffered 28 losses. Heightened tensions raised the prospect of an all-out nuclear exchange between China and the Soviet Union.[21] In the early 1960s, the United States had "probed" the level of Soviet interest in joint action against Chinese nuclear weapons facilities; now the Soviets probed what the United States' reaction would be if the USSR attacked the facilities.[22] While noting that "neither side wishes the inflamed border situation to get out of hand", the Central Intelligence Agency in August 1969 described the conflict as having "explosive potential" in the President's Daily Briefing.[23] The agency stated that "the potential for a war between them clearly exists", including a Soviet attack on Chinese nuclear facilities, while China "appears to view the USSR as its most immediate enemy".[24]

Consequences of 1969

The Soviet T-62 tank captured by the Chinese during the 1969 clash, now on display at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution

As war fever gripped China, Moscow and Beijing took steps to lower the danger of a large-scale conflict. On 11 September 1969, Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin, on his way back from the funeral of the Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, stopped over in Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Zhou Enlai. Symbolic of the frosty relations between the two communist countries, the talks were held in Beijing airport. The two premiers agreed to return ambassadors previously recalled and begin border negotiations.

The view on the reasoning and consequences of the conflict differ between western and Russian historians. Western historians believe the events at Zhenbao Island and the subsequent border clashes in Xinjiang caused Mao to re-appraise China's foreign policy and to seek rapprochement with the United States,[21] while Russian historians point out that the consequences of the conflict stem directly from the desire of the PRC to take a leading role in the world and strengthen ties with the US. Such a local conflict with the USSR would be a sign of a split with the USSR and signal the US that China was ready for dialogue.[25] The PRC began ideological preparation for the split with the USSR in the late 1950s,[26] and the Soviet Border Service started to report intensifying Chinese military activity in the region during the early 1960s.

After the conflict, America showed actual interest in strengthening ties with the Chinese government by secretly sending Henry Kissinger to China for a meeting with Prime Minister Zhou Enlai in 1971, during the so-called Ping Pong Diplomacy, paving the way for Richard Nixon to visit China and meet with Mao Zedong in 1972.[27]

China's relations with the USSR remained sour after the conflict, despite the border talks, which began in 1969 and lasted inconclusively for a decade. Domestically, the threat of war, caused by the border clashes, inaugurated a new stage in the Cultural Revolution; that of China's thorough militarization. The 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, held in the aftermath of the Zhenbao Island incident, confirmed Defense Minister Lin Biao as Mao's heir-apparent. Following the events of 1969, the Soviet Union further increased its forces along the Sino-Soviet border, and in the Mongolian People's Republic.

Overall, the Sino-Soviet confrontation, which reached its peak in 1969, paved the way to a profound transformation in the international political system.

Border negotiations in the 1990s and beyond

Main article: 1991 Sino-Soviet Border Agreement

Serious border demarcation negotiations did not occur until shortly before the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. In particular, both sides agreed that Zhenbao Island belonged to China. (Both sides claimed the island was under their control at the time of the agreement.) On 17 October 1995, an agreement over the last 54 kilometres (34 mi) stretch of the border was reached, but the question of control over three islands in the Amur and Argun rivers was left to be settled later.

In a border agreement between Russia and China signed on 14 October 2003, that dispute was finally resolved. China was granted control over Tarabarov Island (Yinlong Island), Zhenbao Island, and approximately 50% of Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (Heixiazi Island), near Khabarovsk. China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ratified this agreement on 27 April 2005, with the Russian Duma following suit on 20 May. On 2 June, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov exchanged the ratification documents from their respective governments.[28]

On 21 July 2008, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, signed an additional Sino-Russian Border Line Agreement marking the acceptance of the demarcation the eastern portion of the Chinese-Russian border in Beijing, China. An additional protocol with a map affiliated on the eastern part of the borders both countries share was signed. The agreement also includes the PRC gaining ownership of Yinlong/Tarabarov Island and half of Heixiazi/Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island.[29]

In the 21st century, the Chinese version of the conflict, present on many official websites, describes the events of March 1969 as a Soviet aggression against China.[30]

In popular culture

A 2004 Russian documentary film, Damansky Island Year 1969. ("Остров Даманский. 1969 год"), was made about the 1969 Zhenbao incident. Interviews were filmed with participants and leaders from both sides of the conflict. Wargame: Red Dragon also features a hypothetical war between these two powers based on this border conflict.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Gerson, Michael S. (November 2010) The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict: Deterrence, Escalation, and the Threat of Nuclear War in 1969. Center for Naval Analyses
  2. ^ Soviet Aggression. biblio.org
  3. ^ a b See Template:Ru icon D. S. Ryabushkin, Мифы Даманского. Moscow: АСТ, 2004, pp. 151, 263–264.
  4. ^ Kuisong, pp. 25, 26, 29
  5. ^ Kuisong, p. 25
  6. ^ a b c Kuisong, pp. 28–29
  7. ^ John Baylis et al. Contemporary Strategy: Vol. 2, The Nuclear Powers. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1987, p. 89.
  8. ^ People.com.cn. "People.com.cn." 1969年珍宝岛自卫反击战. Retrieved on 5 November 2009.
  9. ^ Millward, James (2007). Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. p. 208.
  10. ^ Forbes, Andrew (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949. CUP Archive. pp. 175, 178, 188.
  11. ^ Bellér-Hann, Ildikó (2007). Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 38–41.
  12. ^ Shah, Sikander Ahmed (February 2012). "River Boundary Delimitation and the Resolution of the Sir Creek Dispute Between Pakistan and India" (PDF). Vermont Law Review. 34 (357): 364. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  13. ^ a b c d e 《珍宝岛自卫反击战的情况介绍》，《战备教育材料》，第3–5、7–9页。
  14. ^ Наталья Кузьмина (15 March 2010). "Как Виталий Бубенин спас Советский Союз от большого позора". SakhaNews. Retrieved 10 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Некоторые малоизвестные эпизоды пограничного конфликта на о. Даманском". Военное оружие и армии Мира. Retrieved 10 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Петров, Игорь (2017). Советско-китайские войны. Пограничники против маоистов. Москва, Эксмо. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  17. ^ "Пограничный конфликт на острове Даманский". Wikipedia. Retrieved 10 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Ryabushkin, p. 163-64
  19. ^ "Пограничный конфликт на острове Даманский". Wikipedia. Retrieved 10 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Lai P.12
  21. ^ a b Kuisong
  22. ^ Burr, William. "The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict, 1969" National Security Archive, 12 June 2001.
  23. ^ "The President's Daily Brief" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 14 August 1969. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  24. ^ "The President's Daily Brief" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 13 August 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  25. ^ Goldstein, Lyle J. "Return to Zhenbao Island: Who Started Shooting and Why it Matters." The China Quarterly 168 (December 2001): pp. 985–97.
  26. ^ "Bloodshed on Damansky (Кровопролитие на Даманском)". Konkurent.ru. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  27. ^ "Henry Kissinger plays ping-pong". Tabletennis.hobby.ru. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  28. ^ "China, Russia solve all border disputes". Xinhua. 2 June 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "China, Russia complete border survey, determination". Xinhua. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Новейшая фальсификация Китаем истории конфликта на острове Даманский и бездействие МИД России".

Cited sources

External links

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