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A still from a YouTube video depicting a wall in Wanding, China's border town with Myanmar, which has sparked concerns from Myanmar Government officials.(YouTube: A'Mu)
Border closures have become a key feature of the COVID-19 era, but China's decision to reinforce border walls with its South-East Asian neighbours has stirred up fresh controversy.
Key points:
But on the other side of the Pacific, China is working on its own lesser-known projects along the borders of Vietnam and Myanmar.
"It looks like a national program," South-East Asia expert and emeritus professor Carl Thayer of UNSW Canberra told the ABC.
The project in Vietnam, according to Chinese state media Xinhua, involves a 4.5-metre-high iron fence, topped with barbed wire, along the Beilun River.
Built between 2012 and 2017, the $29 million project reportedly stretches 12 kilometres, and is there to curb the smuggling of goods, drugs and people.
It continues to be extended as additional phases are rolled out.
A section of China's border wall with Vietnam, which is being extended.(Bilibili: Hahaqulvxing)
Meanwhile, a 659-kilometre-long fence has reportedly been completed along China's 2,000-kilometre border with Myanmar in December, in between China's Yunnan province and Myanmar's northern Shan State, according to Radio Free Asia and Myanmar's The Irrawaddy.
While jingoistic tabloid Global Times has cited China's need to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to prevent smuggling, in some cases the walls are designed not just to keep the virus out, but to keep people in.
Stopping smugglers and COVID-19 spread
The illegal trafficking of women to China is a cause for concern in Vietnam.(Supplied)
According to Professor Thayer, although smuggling might not be the main reason behind China's recent border reinforcement measures, illegal cross-border activity has been a major headache for both China and Vietnam since 1979, when the war between the two countries ceased.
The persistent criminal network of smugglers on both sides, with the help of local officials and security forces, led to a series of issues, including the illicit trafficking of Vietnamese women to China, Professor Thayer said.
The ABC reported in 2018 that at least 100 girls were repatriated to Lao Cai province of Vietnam from China every year, but many more were stolen, sold and never returned.
YOUTUBEChinese Youtuber A'Mu shows upgrades to China's border wall with Myanmar.(Yurenamu)
China's more recent explanation for the wall construction described the urgent need to stop illegal border-crossers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Global Times.
Vietnam has reported just 1,500 cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths, compared to 98,000 cases and 4,798 deaths in China.
But Myanmar has reported more than 130,000 cases of COVID-19 and almost 3,000 deaths, and an outbreak in migrant workers from Myanmar last month has led to a second wave of the virus in neighbouring Thailand.
In video clips posted by a Chinese YouTuber A'Mu, part of the border wall in Wanding,China's border town with Myanmar, was seen being upgraded, including security cameras installed every couple of metres.
A'Mu is one of many Chinese YouTubers to post videos of the border wall being recently reinforced.
China's anxiety over losing workers to Vietnam
Experts say Vietnam's quick recovery from the pandemic is one of the reasons for some Chinese workers migrating to Vietnam.(Reuters: Kham)
Apart from the need to control the spread of COVID-19, experts say China's wall-building on the Vietnamese border reveals increasing economic anxiety, as the flow of migration has become two-way instead of one.
Professor Tran Ly of Deakin University, who studies international graduate employability, said the reason Chinese migrant workers were moving to Vietnam is multi-faceted.
China drives Myanmar's booming child bride trade
China's gaping gender gap, a direct result of its one-child policy, has created tens of millions of single men and not enough women — as a result, women from Myanmar are being trafficked as brides.
Read more
"[They are] attracted by not only job prospects but also life opportunities associated with fast economic growth, political stability and effective management of COVID-19 by Vietnam, one of their closest neighbouring countries," Professor Ly said.
"[Vietnam] has created a favourable and secure market condition for foreign investment… and attracted manufacturing companies originally based in China to relocate to Vietnam."
Tens of thousands of skilled Chinese workers left China for Vietnam in recent years, according to local media VnExpress, which reported some 33,770 Chinese nationals were working legally in Vietnam before the pandemic.
And according to a Radio Free Asia report from October, hundreds of skilled Chinese workers left China for Vietnam and some manufacturing companies relocated, due to Vietnam's rising economic status.
Illegal immigration is a problem for both countries — last month, Vietnam repatriated at least 29 illegal migrants from China, according to Vietnamese local media.
More than 100 Vietnamese people, who had gone to work in China illegally, were also found to have crossed back into Vietnam illegally in a four-day period in September last year.
Apart from Vietnam's favourable investment environment, Professor Ly also pointed out that geopolitical factors have impacted the relocation and change in the employment market.
As a result, they face significant barriers in finding jobs after arriving in Vietnam, she said.
Walls cement geopolitical tensions
Myanmar's military objects to the barrier China has constructed along their shared border.(AP: Aung Shine Oo)
However, the tightened border doesn't just impact on the lives of migrant workers — a commonly shared view among many critics is that the border wall China is constructing targets Chinese dissidents.
China's Yunnan province, which borders Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, has "long served as an outlet for ethnic Uyghurs and others seeking to gain asylum in the West", as well as a corridor for refugees escaping North Korea, according to an article published by The Diplomat.
Myanmar's military also expressed to China its objection over the new border structure in November, according to The Irrawaddy.
Even though China referred to COVID-19 as the reason for the recent construction, the Irrawaddy suggested the building has actually been taking place on and off since 2018, and has long been a source of tension between the two nations.
The ABC has contacted the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Myanmar's Government spokesperson for a response.
Border closures have become a key feature of the COVID-19 era, but China's decision to reinforce border walls with its South-East Asian neighbours has stirred up fresh controversy.
Key points:
- China strengthens borders with Vietnam and Myanmar
- Beijing says the aim is to target smuggling and control COVID-19
- Experts say the walls are there to curb the outflow of migrants and dissidents
But on the other side of the Pacific, China is working on its own lesser-known projects along the borders of Vietnam and Myanmar.
"It looks like a national program," South-East Asia expert and emeritus professor Carl Thayer of UNSW Canberra told the ABC.
The project in Vietnam, according to Chinese state media Xinhua, involves a 4.5-metre-high iron fence, topped with barbed wire, along the Beilun River.
Built between 2012 and 2017, the $29 million project reportedly stretches 12 kilometres, and is there to curb the smuggling of goods, drugs and people.
It continues to be extended as additional phases are rolled out.
Meanwhile, a 659-kilometre-long fence has reportedly been completed along China's 2,000-kilometre border with Myanmar in December, in between China's Yunnan province and Myanmar's northern Shan State, according to Radio Free Asia and Myanmar's The Irrawaddy.
While jingoistic tabloid Global Times has cited China's need to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to prevent smuggling, in some cases the walls are designed not just to keep the virus out, but to keep people in.
Stopping smugglers and COVID-19 spread
According to Professor Thayer, although smuggling might not be the main reason behind China's recent border reinforcement measures, illegal cross-border activity has been a major headache for both China and Vietnam since 1979, when the war between the two countries ceased.
The persistent criminal network of smugglers on both sides, with the help of local officials and security forces, led to a series of issues, including the illicit trafficking of Vietnamese women to China, Professor Thayer said.
The ABC reported in 2018 that at least 100 girls were repatriated to Lao Cai province of Vietnam from China every year, but many more were stolen, sold and never returned.
China's more recent explanation for the wall construction described the urgent need to stop illegal border-crossers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Global Times.
Vietnam has reported just 1,500 cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths, compared to 98,000 cases and 4,798 deaths in China.
But Myanmar has reported more than 130,000 cases of COVID-19 and almost 3,000 deaths, and an outbreak in migrant workers from Myanmar last month has led to a second wave of the virus in neighbouring Thailand.
In video clips posted by a Chinese YouTuber A'Mu, part of the border wall in Wanding,China's border town with Myanmar, was seen being upgraded, including security cameras installed every couple of metres.
A'Mu is one of many Chinese YouTubers to post videos of the border wall being recently reinforced.
China's anxiety over losing workers to Vietnam
Apart from the need to control the spread of COVID-19, experts say China's wall-building on the Vietnamese border reveals increasing economic anxiety, as the flow of migration has become two-way instead of one.
Professor Tran Ly of Deakin University, who studies international graduate employability, said the reason Chinese migrant workers were moving to Vietnam is multi-faceted.
China drives Myanmar's booming child bride trade
China's gaping gender gap, a direct result of its one-child policy, has created tens of millions of single men and not enough women — as a result, women from Myanmar are being trafficked as brides.
Read more
"[They are] attracted by not only job prospects but also life opportunities associated with fast economic growth, political stability and effective management of COVID-19 by Vietnam, one of their closest neighbouring countries," Professor Ly said.
"[Vietnam] has created a favourable and secure market condition for foreign investment… and attracted manufacturing companies originally based in China to relocate to Vietnam."
Tens of thousands of skilled Chinese workers left China for Vietnam in recent years, according to local media VnExpress, which reported some 33,770 Chinese nationals were working legally in Vietnam before the pandemic.
And according to a Radio Free Asia report from October, hundreds of skilled Chinese workers left China for Vietnam and some manufacturing companies relocated, due to Vietnam's rising economic status.
Illegal immigration is a problem for both countries — last month, Vietnam repatriated at least 29 illegal migrants from China, according to Vietnamese local media.
More than 100 Vietnamese people, who had gone to work in China illegally, were also found to have crossed back into Vietnam illegally in a four-day period in September last year.
Apart from Vietnam's favourable investment environment, Professor Ly also pointed out that geopolitical factors have impacted the relocation and change in the employment market.
While some skilled workers have found a legal way to migrate, Professor Ly said many workers have crossed the border illegally.
As a result, they face significant barriers in finding jobs after arriving in Vietnam, she said.
Walls cement geopolitical tensions
However, the tightened border doesn't just impact on the lives of migrant workers — a commonly shared view among many critics is that the border wall China is constructing targets Chinese dissidents.
The ABC has approached the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment about the Beijing's reasons for the border walls.
China's Yunnan province, which borders Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos, has "long served as an outlet for ethnic Uyghurs and others seeking to gain asylum in the West", as well as a corridor for refugees escaping North Korea, according to an article published by The Diplomat.
Myanmar's military also expressed to China its objection over the new border structure in November, according to The Irrawaddy.
Even though China referred to COVID-19 as the reason for the recent construction, the Irrawaddy suggested the building has actually been taking place on and off since 2018, and has long been a source of tension between the two nations.
The ABC has contacted the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Myanmar's Government spokesperson for a response.
