China says 150 Viets killed in border clash

China said its forces killed more than 150 Vietnamese soldiers in a battle on the Chinese side of the frontier Saturday, the worst reported clash since the month-long border war two years ago. The New China News Agency said the battle took place after a Vietnamese force about the size of a regiment intruded into a Chinese border commune under cover of heavy artillery fire.

The fighting apparently preceded a Chinese protest note to the Vietnamese Embassy in Peking accusing Vietnam of repeated armed provocations and intrusions in the past two weeks. The scene of the battle, Fakashan, is the site of an earlier clash reported in the Chinese protest t o have taken place May 5.