Vietnamese ‘nibbling at China’ angers Army

Press, 30 August 1978, Page 8

Vietnamese ‘nibbling at China’ angers Army

NZPA-Reuter Peking China has hinted that its army would expel Vietnams ese troops occupying positions on Chinese territory unless they were withdrawn by the Hanoi Government. ’ The New China News Agency said the presence of the Vietnamese, who had built defensive trenches at the Bonien Ridge, had angered the Chinese Army. Western diplomats said Peking was signalling to Hanoi that the Vietnamese troops would be forced out. if necessary. Vietnam has neither confirmed nor denied Chinese reports that the ridge was occupied on Friday after a series of bloody incidents at the Friendship Pass border checkpoint for which each country has blamed the other. It is the most serious turn in the dispute between the two countries over the position of more than one million Chinese in Vietnam. Diplomats said the presence of the Vietnamese troops would be intolerable

; to China. They believed Peking was waiting to see if s the Vietnamese would with- - draw voluntarily. N.C.N.A. said that the r Vietnamese were “moving i forward to spy out and nibble at Chinese land.” s The report said the death f toll in Friday’s incidents had i been much higher than the t four dead originally report- - ed, and that the stampede of more than 2000 across the I frontier into China had > cleared the pass of stranded « people. t Thousands had gathered there since July 12 when r Peking closed the border ex- ■ cept for holders of entry > certificates and Vietnamese ’ exit visas. A number of stampedes > had been reported in recent ■ weeks and the agency said ; that on Friday "all the Chinese nationals on the Viet* i namese side had been driven > into the Chinese side.” Vietnam yesterday accused ■ the Chinese authorities of sending boats into its terri- ■ torial waters to help Chinese ; hooligans bringing stolen ! ceramic goods from a border'

town back to China. The “Voice of Vietnam” radio, monitored in Bangkok, said that Chinese border police over the week-end had sent many boats into the Bac Luan River and brought back ceramic goods stolen by Chinese hooligans from a factory in the Vietnamese town of Mong Cai. Other broadcasts by the "Voice of Vietnam” said that Vietnamese authorities had seized six Chinese boats, believed to be in the same area of the Bac Luan River.

Vietnamese border guards on Monday lodged a protest with the Chinese border police and demanded the Chinese stop violating Vietnamese territorial waters, according to the broadcast. China’s chief delegate to talks with Vietnam on their bitter dispute has returned to Peking for consultations during a break in the discussions.

The two sides bitterly attacked each other at the fourth session over bloody, incidents at the Friendship Pass border checkpoint the previous day.