PEKING Reuter: China said today that there had been isolated incident on its border with the Soviet Union and diplomats said both countries appeared to be playing down a reported clash between their troops.
Ina statement replying to questions a foreign ministry spokesman said: There occurred an isolated incident along the Sino-Soviet border area The Chinese side has made representations to the Soviet side.
The Chinese Embassy in Moscow confirming a border incident last month said that the two nations had exchanged protest notes.
The statements followed an article in Japans Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper by its Peking correspondent saying that one Chinese soldier was killed and one injured in a gunfight with Soviet troops on July 12 on the border of Chinas Xinjiang province.
The report quoting east European sources said Moscow had protested that a Chinese patrol had invaded Soviet territory but Peking described this as a distortion of the facts.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 29, 1986
