Asian Neighbors Sign Border Agreement

China and four neighbors - Russia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - will sign an agreement on peaceful borders on April 26 in Shanghai, a Chinese government spokesman announced Thursday.

The five countries will promise that their border troops will not attack each other and they will not target their military exercises at one another. It also will limit the amount of live ammunition used in border exercises and ensure that observers may be sent.

The signing ceremony will be held during a state visit by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The presidents of the other three former Soviet states also will attend, Foreign Ministry spokesman Chen Jian said.