"Good fences make good neighbors," Robert Frost once wrote. For Russia and China, who share a 4,300-kilometer border, building a good fence is not easy. In northeast Asia, the border between the two has opened up since the break up of the Soviet Union. Russians and Chinese rub elbows in border towns abuzz with trade. But smuggling and illegal migration are jeopardizing neighborly relations. The Vladivostok News examines Russia-China relations in a special series. Note: These stories are filed in the Vladivostok News' archives. To return to the current issue, click on your browser's "back" button until you see this page.

July 30, 1999 Nakhodka cracks down on Chinese The Vladivostok Only 1,200 Chinese citizens with work visas can enter Nakhodka until the end of the year, and Chinese tourists must stay in special hotels that charge $40 per day, Nakhodka city hall announced recently. July 30, 1999 PEN to speak out for jailed Chinese writers By Anatoly Medetsky Russian PEN may ask Chinese authorities to free several writers and reporters jailed for free speech, PEN leaders told a Vladivotok press conference July 27. July 30, 1999 2 truckers bring cholera from China By Nonna Chernyakova Two truck drivers who drank infected water in the Chinese city of Dunnin were hospitalized this week after they came home with cholera, health officials reported August 2.   Russia, China eager for trade growth By Russell Working Along the border, China is ready to do business. And Russia is barely prepared to handle the growing commerce between the two nations.     Russia's Chinese population grows By Russell Working They live everywhere from hotels to cargo containers, and fill the markets of the Far East. Why are the Chinese coming to Primorye? Tourists throng to border towns Russell Working Russian tourists - and all of China - helped build Suifenhe, Heihe and other Chinese cities. And the visitors arrive with wallets full of dollars.     The land across the Amur Janina de Guzman Getting from Blagoveschensk to Beijing can be trickier than it looks.         Primorye Enlists Cossacks to Patrol Border By Russell Working VLADIMIRO-ALEXANDROVSKOYE -- As during tsarist times, Russia's fearsome Cossacks are waiting for their riding orders. Ruble slump hurts Chinese traders By Russell Working USSURISK, Russia - During a trip home to China this summer, Jin Lian Sun invested $1,129 in leather coats of a style she thought she could sell in Russia as autumn approached. Russia's patchwork economy: South Korean companies, Chinese workers and U.S. entree By Russell Working It is well after dark on a recent evening, but the red brick garment factory on a bluff overlooking the Sea of Japan is ablaze with light. From inside the building comes a haunting song, unfamiliar in this overwhelmingly Russian city: the seamstresses are singing in Chinese. China-related Web sites © copyright 1998 the Vladivostok News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any form.