Island was once part of Chinese bank that because separated by erosion of the river and during low water in the summer can be reached by foot from the Chinese shore - maps of the area indicate that that the main channel passes east of the island
- Acknowledge the unfairness of the 19th Century Border
- Established Borders according to international laws
Previous Treaties unfair power not in the hand of the people
Over 5,000 border violations since 1962
For over 100 years, territory that had been historically and culturally Chinese were unfairly controlled by the Soviet Union.
March 2nd 1969
o Chinese withdrew after 2 hours of battle.
Russian patrols increased dramatically.
Both countries amassed large amount of troops on respective borders.
March 15th 1969
A larger scale battle was fought.
Chinese regiment charged across the frozen river and was later repelled by the Soviets.
o The battle lasted just over 9 hours.
Zhen Bao (Damansky) Island
Sino-Soviet Border War
"Zhen Bao incident"
Thank You!
Recognition of unfairness
Genuine fear of attack
- exacerbated by presence of troops
Soviet attempts to exert complicit control
Defense against soviet ambitions
The Sino Soviet Split
Previously cooperatively developed the Amur, Argun and Ussuri River
1958 treaty of commerce and navigation
Thawleg argument: – Split down the deepest point of the river (which the Soviets used in the Treaty of 1828 with Iran) - most of the islands (approx. 650)
The Soviets “send tanks, armored cars, and boats into Chinese territory, drove out ‘many Chinese inhabitants by force, demolished their houses and destroyed their means of production and household goods.”
–International Law:
Split the rivers down the middle - 600 of the 700 islands Chinese
During negotiations:
Russians using a scale of 1:1,000,000 – scale to small to accurately position islands
The troops chase Chinese fishermen from the area, robs their nets, wound and kidnap several fishermen, and seize the weapons and ammunition of the Chinese guards present in the area.
Ramming Chinese fishing boats robbing nets high pressure hoses on Chinese fisherman assaulting and wounding Chinese border guards seizing arms and ammunitions and violating air space by overflights