New Delhi, Dec 24: China’s plan to construct a 2000-km high-tech border fence on its southern border has riled Myanmar. China argues that the fence will curb coronavirus spread by stopping illegal border crossings. The generals in Naypyitaw will have none of that. On the contrary, the Myanmar military has accused China of violating the 1961 border pact.
Myanmarese media reports that the military has written to Chinese officials objecting to the unilateral construction of the barbed fence in the northern Shan state. Major General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy newspaper: “The local battalion sent a letter of objection to the Chinese side. We objected based on our 1961 treaty on the China-Myanmar boundary,”
Even the Myanmarese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged a complaint with the Chinese government. The two sides now plan to hold talks about the border fence. One point in the 1961 treaty says that no structures shall be built within 10 metres of the demarcation line by either side.
The Voice of America (VoA) reports that China has already completed approximately 660 km of the fence. China also hopes that smugglers, gamblers and various kinds of anti-social gangs from its side will be prevented from crossing over into Myanmar’s Shan state. The fence is topped with barbed wire and has surveillance cameras.
The Myanmar-China border regions inside Myanmar are a hotbed of illegal activities with a flourishing drug trade, casinos, gambling and other criminal pursuits, mostly run by Chinese nationals.
Besides curbing coronavirus, China also says that it is a recipient of Myanmar-made drugs and will curb it through the border fence.
The construction of the border fence also runs contradictory to Chinese investments under the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) project, which connects China’s Yunnan province to Myanmar’s Shan and Kachin states – both of which form the border with China. (IANS)
