Sino - Soviet border conflict The Sino - Soviet border conflict ( 中苏边界冲突 ) was a seven - month military conflict between the Soviet Union and China at the height of the Sino - Soviet split in 1969 . The most serious of these border clashes occurred in March 1969 in the vicinity of Zhenbao Island ( 珍宝岛 ) on the Ussuri River , also known as Damanskii Island ( Остров Даманский ) in Russia . Chinese historians most commonly refer to the conflict as the Zhenbao Island incident ( 珍宝岛自卫反击战 ) The conflict was finally resolved with future border demarcations . Background and border tensions . The deterioration of Sino - Soviet relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s resulted in tensions along the 4 , 380 km ( 2 , 738 mi ) border between China and the Soviet Union . A particularly serious incident occurred in May , 1962 , when 60 , 000 ethnic Uyghurs in China ' s Xinjiang Province crossed the frontier into the Soviet Union , fleeing the desperate economic conditions . Beijing immediately accused the Soviets of subverting the Uyghur population , a charge that was later supported by some Chinese historiography , though never independently verified . Amid heightening tensions , the Soviet Union and China began border talks . The Chinese position was that the 19th - century border treaties , concluded by the Qing dynasty China and the Tsarist Russia , were " unequal " , and amounted to unfair annexation of the Chinese territory . Moscow could not accept this interpretation . By 1964 the two sides were able to reach a preliminary agreement on the eastern section of the border , including Zhenbao Island , which , it was agreed , would be handed over to the Chinese side . The border dispute in the west centered on of Soviet - controlled land in the Pamirs that lay on the border of China ' s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Soviet Republic of Tajikistan . In 1892 , the Russian Empire and the Qing Dynasty had agreed to mark the border along the ridge of the Sarikol Range , but the exact location of the border remained an area of contention throughout the 20th century . Beginning in the 1960s , the Chinese demanded that the Soviet Union evacuate the region . 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 . Mao announced that China still had not presented a bill for this list . Outraged by Mao ' s comments , which were leaked to the public , Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev refused to approve the border agreements , which had already been reached . Since around 1900 , after the Treaty of Beijing , 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 . Because of Chinese weakness , the Ussuri River was demarcated in non - standard manner : the demarcation line was on the right ( Chinese ) side of the river , putting the river with all islands in Russian possession . 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 . Border conflict of 1969 . The number of troops on both sides of the Sino - Soviet border increased dramatically after 1964 . Eastern border . On March 2 , 1969 , a group of People ' s Liberation Army ( PLA ) troops ambushed Soviet border guards on Zhenbao Island . The Soviets suffered 59 dead , including a senior colonel , and 94 wounded . They retaliated on March 15 by bombarding Chinese troop concentrations on the Chinese bank of the Ussuri River and by storming Zhenbao Island . The Soviets sent four then - secret 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 March 16 , 1969 , the Soviets entered the island to collect their dead , the Chinese held their fire . On March 17 , 1969 , the Soviets tried to recover the disabled tank , but their effort was repelled by the Chinese artillery . On March 21 , the Soviets sent a demolition team attempting to destroy the tank . The Chinese opened fire and thwarted the Soviets . 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 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 . Western border . Further border clashes occurred in August 1969 , this time along the western section of the Sino - Soviet border in Xinjiang . After Tasiti incident and Bacha Dao incident , Tielieketi Incident finally broke out . Chinese troops suffered 28 loss . Heightened tensions raised the prospect of a nuclear war between China and the Soviet Union . 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 . Consequences of 1969 . As war fever gripped China , Moscow and Beijing took steps to lower the danger of a large - scale conflict . On September 11 , 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 Chinese tell a different version of the conflict . The Chinese Cultural Revolution increased tensions between China and the USSR . This lead 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 the 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 - 60 s and in a second attack some 100 troops backed up by ten tanks and 14 APCs including artillery . 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 , 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 . The PRC began ideological preparation for the split with the USSR in the late 1950s , and that 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 . 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 Mongolia . 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 . 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 October 17 , 1995 , an agreement over the last 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 October 14 , 2004 , 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 April 27 , 2005 , with the Russian Duma following suit on May 20 . On June 2 , Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov exchanged the ratification documents from their respective governments . On July 21 , 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 return of Yinlong / Tarabarov Island and half of Heixiazi / Bolshoi Ussuriysky Island . Notes . 1 , 2 . Exploring Chinese History , 1969 Border Conflict