The tensions leading up to the border dispute between the two countries centred on the Amur river on China’s northeastern edge and Russia’s southeast. In the 1828 Aigun Treaty, The Russian Empire and Qing Dynasty agreed to keep the territory open to both parties. Russia seized complete control of the region two years after signing the treaty, leaving many in China believing the deal was unfair.
The first round of conflict came on March 2, 1969, when Chinese soldiers launched a stealthy and ruthless attack on Soviet border guards.
The CIA believed that the order came directly from Chairman Mao Zedong in Beijing, and the assault saw KGB border troops ambushed. More than 300 PLA (Chinese People’s Liberation Army) soldiers burst out of foxholes and shot and killed the Soviet KGB personnel.
The attack took place on the disputed Zhendao Island, lying in the Ussuri River.
The Soviets launched a counter-ambush on the PLA forces, leading to hundreds of Chinese casualties according to the CIA.
Then came the real threat of nuclear war.
As Michael Gerson highlights in his 2010 paper ‘The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict’ paper, at one stage the Soviets even broadcast a radio address to China in Mandarin that warned: “The whole world knows that the main striking force of the Soviet Armed Forces is its rocket units.
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“The destruction range of these rockets is practically unlimited. They are capable of carrying nuclear warheads many times stronger than all the explosives used in past wars put together.”
China believed the threat was credible because the Soviets had shown they were serious about combating Beijing during the exchange of ambushes, but they were also concerned because they had caught wind that the Soviets had informed another nation of their potential nuclear plot.
Mr Gerson said on August 27, 1969, CIA Director Richard Helms told reporters Moscow had approached other Eastern European leaders to discuss an attack on China’s own nuclear facility.
Chinese leader Mao Zedong then accused Russia of stepping up “anti-China military deployment”, waving “nuclear weapons” and threatening “our country with nuclear blackmail”.
Beijing then immediately began war preparations in what turned out to be a huge escalation.
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Despite this, nuclear war was something the Chinese were desperate to avoid. Mao understood that the Soviet Union had possessed nuclear weapons for longer, and could therefore easily outgun its counterparts in Beijing.
China, under Mao’s rule, had always adopted what their leader described as a “man over weapons” approach, and this would suit their forces in the conflict due to their numerical advantage.
The conflict ended in September 1969 with no nuclear clash, and slowly but surely tensions in the region between Russia and China today have decreased, culminating in a huge gas pipeline between the two countries commencing operations last week.