Good morning Vietnam

By Wen Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-05 10:33

However, China's relations with Vietnam began to deteriorate in the mid-1970s after Vietnam forged closer ties with the then Soviet Union, which was expanding its presence in South-East Asia, especially in Cambodia.

In December 1978 Vietnam, with the backing of the Soviets, invaded Cambodia, which had allied itself with Beijing.

China-Soviet relations were at a low point, and China was concerned over a build-up of Soviet presence on both its northern and southern borders.

In February 1979, Chinese troops crossed the border in a brief campaign in response to Hanoi's policies, including the mistreatment of ethnic Chinese in Vietnam. On March 16, the Chinese announced the campaign was over. Both nations suffered heavy losses.

Over the next decade, tensions on the border waned until relations were normalized in 1991. Eight years later, leaders of the two countries issued a joint statement, setting forth the principle of building long-term, stable and good-neighborly relations.

This spirit can be seen on the border today.

Youyiguan, or Friendship Gate, is one of China's key border passes. It is more than 2,000 years old and has witnessed a number of historic wars, including the fight against French invaders in 1885 after they stormed Vietnam.

"We need to make some minor adjustments to the original map because of geological conditions," says Huang Liuran, who worked for three years with the No 10 demarcation team for the Pingxiang border section.

"Sometimes we ate together and celebrated each other's festivals. We sent them gifts or bought them Chinese medicines when they got sick," adds Huang, 31, who learned the Vietnamese language at a university in Guangxi.

Huang, also a captain of Pingxiang's border brigade, notes that there were frequent reports of disputes over land use between residents on both sides owing to the undefined boundary.

With more border stones being put in place in recent years, the number of such incidents has dropped drastically.

"An explicit border is a premise of stable life for border residents and will help us to better regulate the area," he says.

For Yan Tingwan, a native of Pingxiang who lives just 200 m away from the No 1055 boundary stone, the demarcation holds the promise of a better life.

Yan, 51, a father of three living in Yingyang village, says his family income is about 10,000 yuan ($1,470) a year. Yan and his wife opened a 50-sq-m grocery shop nine years ago, but profits are low. The couple also offer passenger and cargo transportation across the border.

"A border trade zone is expected to be opened at the village next month. Maybe it will bring more people here and boost my business," Yan says.

In Puzhai, a bustling border trade market in Pingxiang, throngs of Vietnamese peddlers selling fruits, rosewood and various specialties flood in every day.

Cai Guodui and his wife, who have run a small grocery store for almost a decade, have witnessed the rapidly growing border trade.

"It was very easy to earn more than a million yuan a year at the beginning. As more and more businessmen flocked here, competition became extremely intense. In recent years, my shop has earned just about 10,000 yuan a month," says Cai, 45, a native of eastern China's Fujian province.

Vietnamese woodwork, coffee, snacks, and spices sell well here while Chinese fruits, garments, home appliances and industrial products are popular in the Vietnamese market.

"I hope more people will be able to travel across the border to experience the beautiful landscape on both sides," says Nguyen Thu Ha, 35, a Vietnamese tourist guide.

Vietnam has become a popular vacation destination for Chinese tourists, who can get a visa on arrival.

"Vietnamese people hail the completion of the land border demarcation as it will promote exchanges of all kinds across the border, especially trade and tourism," says Bui Hong Phuc, vice chairman of the Vietnam-China Friendship Association (VCFA).

The VCFA is planning to organize a cultural exchange event in border areas this summer along with their Chinese counterparts, in an effort to consolidate the traditional friendship between the two people.

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