Practically benefiting local people and border protection forces
Before and during a Vietnam-China border defense friendship exchange, the Ministries of National Defense of the two countries usually organize such activities as providing free health check-ups and medicines, granting scholarships, presenting breeding cows to disadvantaged households living on both sides of the shared borderline; and handing over memorial facilities and friendship houses to border localities.
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Delegates from Hekou Talks Station (the Chinese People’s Liberation Army) and troops of Ban Lau and Nam Chay Border Posts exchange at the border demarcation line at Lao Cai International Border Gate in August 2019. |
In particular, the Vietnam-China friendship houses built in host localities of the exchange have shown their high efficiency, becoming the places where the two countries’ border people gather for community activities and cultural exchanges, and share experience in doing business, applying science to production reality, and building wealthy and happy life.
Since the first exchange in 2014, border units have given recommendations to local party committees and authorities to twin 59 pairs of residential areas on both sides of the Vietnam-China borderline. They have also boosted information dissemination and launched a number of effective movements and programs to help border people develop economy, eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, actively engage in activities to uphold local security and order, thus building stable and developing Vietnam-China borderline. These include “The public self-manage borderline, border markers” movement, “The military joins hands in building new-style rural areas,” “Paving the way to school for children,” “Cultural highlight in border areas,” “Breeding cows for the poor in border areas,” programs, among others.
Moreover, the border guard commands of provinces sharing the border with China have well coordinated with Chinese border protection forces to implement many effective and substantive friendship cooperation models, such as “Posts and battalions of friendship, peaceful borderline,” “Posts and stations of friendship, peaceful border gates,” “Building exemplary border road,” “Patrol of solidarity,” and “Vietnam-China border friendship forests.” In addition, the two sides have regularly maintained talks, meetings, exchanges, joint patrols, and hotline mechanism.
Thanks to these activities, the border management forces of the two countries have found, prevented, and handled numerous cases occurring in border areas in a timely manner. They have also shared experience in managing and protecting border, border gates, updated each other on activities of crimes to effectively deal with them, contributing to upholding security, social order and safety and boosting socio-economic development in the shared border areas.
With its practical outcomes, the Vietnam-China border defense friendship exchange has continuously received due attention and support from the leadership of the two countries, two militaries, and two peoples.
Continuing the journey with “bright spots”
According to Senior Colonel Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Deputy Political Director of the Vietnam Border Guard, the most obvious imprint of the border defense friendship exchange is its positive spillover and profound influence at home and abroad, especially among local authorities and people, thereby strengthening the people's confidence, conveying the message of peace, stability, cooperation and development in border areas between Vietnam and neighboring countries, including China.
Colonel Pan Tao, former Chinese defense attaché to Vietnam, underlined that the Vietnam-China border defense friendship exchange has become one of the important cooperation mechanisms in the two countries’ bilateral defense ties. In the framework of this mechanism, the two defense ministries have periodically met, exchanged on border cooperation and important issues of common concern, thus enhancing traditional friendship, mutual understanding and trust, actively contributing to developing the bilateral defense cooperation. Both sides agreed that such an exchange has been one of the “bright spots” of the Vietnam-China defense relations.
Actually, through these exchanges, the border guard force of Vietnam and the border protection forces of neighboring countries have implemented a number of cooperation models in an intensive, effective, and practical fashion. These have formed a foundation to lift the exchanges to a new height in the future with the participation of the border protection forces of ASEAN members.
Continuing to carry out the border defense friendship exchange is an important content included in the Vietnam-China Joint Statement on continuing to promote and deepen the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership issued during the official China visit in 2022 of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. It demonstrates the two countries’ senior leaders’ high appreciation and great attention to the exchange and proves its significance, importance and effectiveness.
In each exchange, more friendship facilities built and more activities with practical benefits to people and border protection forces of Vietnam and China held are imprints and motivations for the two sides to keep building the Vietnam-China borderline of peace, stability, cooperation and development.
Translated by Mai Huong