News In Brief

Vietnam says US, Peking in border-friction plot

Vietnam charged Monday that recent battles along the China-Vietnam and Kampuchea-Thailand borders are linked to a ''global strategy'' by Peking and Washington to stem the spread of socialism.

''To prevent the newly independent (Indochinese) countries from advancing toward socialism is a crucial point in the global strategy of the US imperialists in collusion with the Chinese expansionists and hegemonists,'' official Radio Hanoi said in a broadcast monitored here.

On Sunday, Vietnam accused Peking of committing a ''very serious act of war'' by crossing the border into the northern Vietnamese province of Lang Son last Friday.