As Wang Yi Visits Yangon, Myanmar Ups The Ante On Fencing Along China Border

Jan 12, 2021

He said barbed-wire fences, which China said were preventing the spread of COVID-19, encroach on neutral land. Foreign ministry from both countries are set to discuss the issue this month and Myanmar will only allow temporary fencing, he added.

NEW DELHI: Myanmar had upped the ante ahead of Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit and asserted that China will have to remove any new permanent fences which encroach on the buffer zone between the two countries.

Government spokesman U Zaw Htay, in response to a query by leading Myanmar media outlet The Irrawaddy said last Friday. “There is a border agreement. No side can build permanently within 10 meters of the border on either side.”

He said barbed-wire fences, which China said were preventing the spread of COVID-19, encroach on neutral land. Foreign ministry from both countries are set to discuss the issue this month and Myanmar will only allow temporary fencing, he added.

Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, has arrived in Myanmar on a two-day visit and the border is expected to be on the agenda. Myanmar and China signed border management and cooperation agreements in 1997 to solve disputes. Myanmar says it is working to settle the issue to avoid further disputes.

China started erecting the fence in October along the border in Kachin and Shan states of Myanmar.

Courtesy: ET