Vietnam, China celebrate 20th anniversary of land border treaty

Linh Pham

Aug 24, 2020 / 12:56 PM

Vietnam and China reached consensus on land border after 36 years of negotiations.

Hanoi and Beijing on Sunday [August 23] celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Land Border Treaty that ended 36 years of negotiations on land boundary delimitation and demarcation between the two countries.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh (right) and China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a border marker on August 23. Photo: Baoquocte

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh and China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the event held in Mong Cai city in the Vietnamese northern province of Quang Ninh, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The treaty was signed in 1999, ratified in 2000 and took effect on July 6 that year. But it took the two countries nine years to demarcate the 1,350-kilometer frontier.

Following the treaty, the process of planting border markers was complete by the end of 2008, with some 2,000 land markers having been erected.

In 2010, the two sides signed three agreements including the Protocol on Border Demarcation and Marker Planting, the Agreement on Border Management and the Agreement on Border Gates and Border Gate Management.

Since the signing of the treaty, a joint committee for boundary demarcation was set up in 2001 to oversee the issues.

According to the journal article “The Management of Vietnam’s Border Disputes: What Impact on Its Sovereignty and Regional Integration?” by Ramses Amer and Nguyen Hong Thao published by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in 2005, “Vietnam has made considerable progress in managing and resolving its border disputes.”

“So Vietnam is actively trying to resolve its border disputes. This is part of a continuous policy pursued since the early 1990s,” said the article. “Demarcated land borders will enable its [Vietnam’s] armed forces and customs personnel to better protect the country and control activities along the borders.”

The two foreign ministers meet at the event. Photo: Baoquocte

Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the anniversary. Photo: Baoquocte

China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Photo: Baoquocte

Vietnam’s Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh repainted marker 1369, the first marker of the Vietnam-China borderline built on October 14, 2010. Photo: Baoquocte

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