China builds Great Wall along Myanmar border
China has started building a barbed-wire fence along its 2,100-kilometer southern border with Myanmar, officially to prevent illegal crossings, Newsweek wrote, referring to various local media reports.
Social media images from China’s southwestern Yunnan Province showed barbed-wire metal fences as high as three meters separating the two countries, according to US government-funded Radio Free Asia.
While media reports in China say the fence has helped prevent illegal crossings and by extension COVID-19 outbreaks, the Radio Free Asia report suggested it could also keep Chinese dissidents from fleeing the country.
Last month, Myanmar news site The Irrawaddy said the Myanmar military and officials lodged objections with Beijing as the wall was built without any prior notice given to Yangon, the report said.
Completion of the “Great Southern Wall” planned for 2022
Currently, the wall stretches some 670 kilometers along the border of Myanmar’s northeastern Shan state. China plans to complete what is dubbed the “Great Southern Wall” by October 2022, with key crossings to be fortified with high-voltage fences, surveillance cameras and infrared sensors, according to Radio Free Asia.
Chinese media reports about the border wall say its construction has helped prevent the import of Covid-19 cases and also has deterred smuggling.
Protests by the Myanmar government and by local leaders in the affected areas have fallen on deaf ears, the report said.
Insiders noted that the wall would stop Chinese citizens from frequently crossing into Myanmar to do business, with some choosing never to return.
A section of a fence set up by China in the town of Wanding, Yunnan, on its border with Myanmar (Picture: Yuren Amu) China has started building a barbed-wire fence along its 2,100-kilometer southern border with Myanmar, officially to prevent illegal crossings, Newsweek wrote, referring to various local media reports. Social media images from China’s southwestern Yunnan Province showed barbed-wire metal fences as high as three meters separating the two countries, according to US government-funded Radio Free Asia. While media reports in China say the fence has helped prevent illegal crossings and by extension COVID-19 outbreaks, the Radio Free Asia...
China has started building a barbed-wire fence along its 2,100-kilometer southern border with Myanmar, officially to prevent illegal crossings, Newsweek wrote, referring to various local media reports.
Social media images from China’s southwestern Yunnan Province showed barbed-wire metal fences as high as three meters separating the two countries, according to US government-funded Radio Free Asia.
While media reports in China say the fence has helped prevent illegal crossings and by extension COVID-19 outbreaks, the Radio Free Asia report suggested it could also keep Chinese dissidents from fleeing the country.
Last month, Myanmar news site The Irrawaddy said the Myanmar military and officials lodged objections with Beijing as the wall was built without any prior notice given to Yangon, the report said.
Completion of the “Great Southern Wall” planned for 2022
Currently, the wall stretches some 670 kilometers along the border of Myanmar’s northeastern Shan state. China plans to complete what is dubbed the “Great Southern Wall” by October 2022, with key crossings to be fortified with high-voltage fences, surveillance cameras and infrared sensors, according to Radio Free Asia.
Chinese media reports about the border wall say its construction has helped prevent the import of Covid-19 cases and also has deterred smuggling.
Protests by the Myanmar government and by local leaders in the affected areas have fallen on deaf ears, the report said.
Insiders noted that the wall would stop Chinese citizens from frequently crossing into Myanmar to do business, with some choosing never to return.
