China, Vietnam Report Exchange of 86 Prisoners
China and Vietnam exchanged a total of 86 prisoners Wednesday at the Friendship Pass between the two feuding countries.
China said it released 15 Vietnamese who had confessed to armed provocations, reconnaissance and sabotage within China.
Vietnam said it freed four fishermen and 67 other Chinese arrested for intruding into its territory.
China said the 15 it released were captured “carrying out armed provocations, reconnaissance and sabotage in China’s Guangxi and Yunnan” provinces, the official New China News Agency said. It said China took back a number of fishermen.
The Vietnam News Agency, monitored in Bangkok, Thailand, described Hanoi’s release of the Chinese as proof of its desire “for restoration of the traditional friendship between the two nations.” It did not say when the Chinese were arrested.
But the Vietnamese agency said it was regrettable that Peking had rejected Hanoi’s proposal for a border cease-fire from Wednesday to Feb. 26 to observe the lunar new year.
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