Support The Moscow Times!

Tunnel Used to Smuggle Chinese-Soviet Intelligence Found – Report

A local expert told Tszunzhen during the trip that he had helped construct the tunnel.

A secret passage used to smuggle intelligence out of Communist China and into the Soviet Union has been discovered in the northern Heilongjiang province, a news report said Monday.

The tunnel, located in the Dongning district, was found by researchers who have spent years trying to locate its whereabouts, Interfax quoted China's Xinhua news agency as saying.

It was built in the 1930s and was used during World War II to allow Chinese intelligence officials to exchange intelligence with Communist allies the Soviet Union, Interfax reported, citing Xinhua. Both countries were then at war with the Empire of Japan.

The Moscow Times was unable to verify the original Chinese report as Xinhua's English-language agency had not published the story by the time this article went to print.

Rumors of the existence of the secret passage surfaced several years ago when an employee of the Dongning fortress museum named Van Tszunzhen went on a visit to North Korea, Interfax reported, citing the Xinhua report.

A local expert told Tszunzhen during the trip that he had helped construct the tunnel. Further research confirmed the existence of the passage, after which the Chinese side started trying to find it, Interfax cited the Xinhua report as saying.

The passage is located 55 kilometers from the Russian city of Ussuriysk in the Primorye region, and 153 kilometers from the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Interfax reported.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more