Iron Fortress (Photo : Getty Images)
On Monday, China said that it will create an “Iron Fortress” along its Asian borders.
Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun said that civilians must cooperate with authorities to build "a fortress of iron and a wall of bronze" along its borders. Guo gave the statement on the last day of his three-day visit to the troubled border with Myanmar.
The Chinese military has been deployed to the area for a series of annual military drills. The government intended to display China’s defense capabilities.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted a Chinese army colonel saying that the Chinese forces comprising its "Southern Theater Command" conducted joint exercises. The drills included both land and air units firing at random targets.
According to reports, the training operations were meant to highlight the Chinese government’s commitment to protecting its national security in the border region. Thousands have crossed China's roughly 1367-mile-long border with Myanmar to escape the world's longest running civil war.
There has been a rampant sectarian conflict in Myanmar since 1948 when the United Kingdom left the country. For decades no less than 15 armed rebel groups have competed for power, fighting over territory in the Southeast Asian state.
In 2015, Myanmar had its first open elections where activist Aung San Suu Kyi won. She has made efforts to address long-held grievances through extensive institutional reforms. However, violence continued raging across the country.
According to Associated Press, as many as 30 people perished in a confrontation in a Chinese-speaking town in Myanmar last month.
BBC News reported that the Chinese government has been impelled to take a firmer stance on border security after 5 people from Yunnan Province were killed by a bomb dropped by a Myanmar warplane in 2015.
China has since struggled to stabilize the area and intercede in the conflict. Beijing used its influence over some of the rebel groups which are actively contending one another, The Diplomat said.
The military drills on Tuesday coincided with paramilitary police training in the city of Guigang of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, along China’s Vietnam borders.
China’s “Iron Fortress” signals the country’s commitment to defend its territories.
