A closed, backward and confrontational border could become hotbeds for breeding terrorism or trigger wars between countries, China’s vice foreign minister Luo Zhaohui said on Tuesday.
The only way to avoid a crisis is to build a border of peace and friendship, Luo said at what the state media called the “first international border cooperation seminar” organised by the Chinese government.
Officials, representatives, ambassadors, and experts from China and 14 neighbouring countries and border authorities attended the seminar. The Indian embassy didn’t respond to queries whether India,which had nearly 45 rounds of border talks with China, was represented.
Luo, who was ambassador to India until recently, said China had resolved land border issues with 12 of its 14 neighbours, with two exceptions: India and Bhutan. “History and practice have shown that a closed, backward and confrontational border is often a hotbed of humanitarian crises, terrorism, transnational crime and even war,” Luo said, according to a report in Chinese released by Xinhua news agency.
“Building a border of peace, friendship and cooperation is not only an objective need for the development of all countries, but also the common aspiration of the countries of the region.”