World: VIOLENCE ON THE SINO-SOVIET BORDER

THE Chinese call it Chen Pao, or Treasure. The Russians call it Damansky. Both claim the tiny, uninhabited island, located in the midst of the frozen Ussuri river that forms the common border of Communism's premier countries. Precisely what happened there last week, in the bleak, snow-swept wilderness of eastern Asia, may never be fully known. Only Moscow has offered the world a reasonably detailed—but doubtless in part self-serving—account. Both Moscow and Peking agree, however, that the violence along the Ussuri was for several hours as close to war as the two countries have...