PEKING, Feb. 8, Reuter: A Chinese delegation headed by vice Foreign Minister Qian Qichen left Peking today for Moscow for talks on China’s border dispute with the Soviet Union, the New China News Agency said.
It quoted Qian as saying China was pleased by the resumption of the talks after a break of nine years and believed the talks were in the fundamental interests of the two countries.
Agreement to resume talks was reached last October during a visit to Peking by Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Rogachev, who will head the Soviet side at the talks, due to begin tomorrow.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachey signaled in a speech in Vladivostok last July that Moscow was ready to reconsider its position on some aspects of the border question.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Kapitsa said last August Moscow was prepared to recognize that the border passed along the main channel of the Amur and Ussuri rivers rather than on the Chinese side of the rivers.
Sino Soviet relations have improved in economic, cultural and other fields in recent years, but China has said it sees no significant improvement in political relations.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 13, 1987
