SOCIALIST ASIAN NEIGHBOURS SETTLE BORDER ISSUES

China, Vietnam settle land border issue

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China and Vietnam Monday
marked the final demarcation of their land border at the
Youyiguan border gate in Pingxiang City in south China's
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The completion of the demarcation would be conducive to
peace and stability of the border area, promote trade and
exchanges, and push forward their comprehensive and
strategic partnership of the two countries, said a
statement from China's Foreign Ministry.

The 1,300-kilometer border starts at the junction of China,
Vietnam and Laos and continues along the Beilun River to
the coast. Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region are on Chinese side, and Cao Bang, Lang Son, Dien
Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Guang Ninh are in
Vietnam.

In the late 19th Century, China's Qing Dynasty and the
French colonial administration in Vietnam concluded a
treaty delineating the border. The border negotiations
started in the 1970s and were suspended later that decade.

In the early 1990s, China and Vietnam resumed negotiations,
and agreed to discuss a new treaty based on that signed in
the 19th Century. They finalized the land boundary treaty
on Dec. 30, 1999.They started demarcation work in 2001 and
finished late last year.

The China-Vietnam joint committee for land border
demarcation was established by both governments in November
2001. The committee was in charge of border demarcation and
marker planting as well as drafting a protocol on border
demarcation and marker planting.

The joint committee comprised 12 joint working teams. These
teams were responsible for on-site demarcation work. In
December 2001, the first marker on the border was installed
at the Mong Cai-Dong Xing border gate.

The two sides reached an agreement on the remaining issues
related to the land boundary survey on Dec. 31, 2008. The
agreement achieved the goal set by leaders of China and
Vietnam to complete the survey and the erection of boundary
markers this year.

During the eight-year effort, Chinese and Vietnamese
officials worked almost one million days on the demarcation
work and held 14rounds of meetings between the heads of the
two governmental-level delegations, 34 rounds joint
committee's meetings and 15 rounds of expert group
meetings, which enabled the completion of the demarcation
along the entire length of China-Vietnam land border with
2,000 border markers erected.

Advanced technologies were applied in the demarcation work,
such as the geography information, global positioning and
remote sensing systems, which ensured the accuracy of the
demarcation work and a clear borderline.

The outcome was achieved under the direction of leaders of
the two countries, said the ministry statement. It was also
the result of concerted efforts of government delegations,
experts, departments such as ministries of foreign affairs,
national defense, public security, finance,
survey-cartography and provinces along both sides of the
border.

Working staff from the joint survey teams also contributed
to the success, working with extraordinary difficulties
caused by complicated landscapes and bad weather
conditions.

The two sides resolved complicated issues in a frank and
friendly manner, said the statement.

By taking into account mutual concerns and trying to
mitigate negative impacts on the lives and production of
residents along the border, they finally achieved a
mutually beneficial result.