Thousands of Chinese expelled from Mongolia

Thousands of Chinese are being expelled from Mongolia, Western travelers said. The reason: They refused orders from the pro-Soviet Mongolian government to move to the desert.

The travelers, who took the Trans-Siberian Express through Mongolia, quoted expelled Chinese as saying 8,000 people holding Chinese passports were to leave by August, having rejected the choice to move out of the towns. They said the Chinese immigrants had lived in Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capital, since the 1950s and were reluctant to leave Mongolia, where they had well-paid construction jobs. Diplomats said the expulsion was surprising in view of a slight thaw recently in Moscow-Peking relations.