Location Lake Zhalanashkol, Kazakhstan Similar Sino‑Soviet border conflict, Battle of Lesnaya, Battle of the Paracel Islands, Sino‑Soviet conflict, Dongshan Island Campaign | ||
Tielieketi (Chinese: 铁列克提) is a locality in Yumin County in Xinjiang, the People's Republic of China, adjacent to the border with Kazakhstan. The name comes from the Terekty River, an intermittent stream which flows China to Kazakhstan.
Contents
Tielieketi Incident
There was a famous military incident (known in Soviet sources as the border conflict near Lake Zhalanashkol – Russian: пограничный конфликт у озера Жаланашколь) happened between China and Soviet Union during Sino-Soviet split in 1969. On August 13, 1969, when a Chinese frontier squadron composed of some 30 soldiers entered the Chinese border zone, the Soviet soldiers crossed the border to attack. The Soviets eliminated the Chinese patrol squadron, occupied the Chinese border zone and killed about 30 Chinese soldiers. For a long time, Chinese Government did not clarify this incident to the public.
Soviet sources claim that the Soviet border guard’s attack on the Chinese military of August 13 was triggered by a persistent violation of Soviet border by Chinese soldiers, which allegedly started at the previous night. The incident is described even as an arranged Maoist provocation like famous Zhenbao Island incident 5 months earlier. The Chinese military unit which took part in the incident was allegedly equipped with photo and video recording devices, including a professional video camera. Also note that Zhalanashkol itself is situated [1] deeply inside (about 5 km / 3 miles) the territory of Kazakhstan (then a constituent part of the Soviet Union).
Returned to China
After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1990s, Tielieketi was administered by Kazakhstan. In 1999, China and Kazakhstan signed a joint declaration to resolve their long-term border issues, and Tielieketi was returned to China.