Frontier areas see decade of transformation

Hu Dexue, the former Party secretary of a border village in Cangyuan Wa autonomous county, Yunnan province, said he has witnessed China's efforts in transforming the border areas over the years.

That's why Hu and nine other veteran Party secretaries of villages on the border of China and Myanmar decided to write a letter to President Xi Jinping about how people's lives in border areas have improved.

On Aug 19, 2021, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, replied to the letter.

Xi said that he was happy to learn about the great changes brought to local people by targeted poverty-relief efforts. Continued efforts should be made to step up rural vitalization and facilitate people's prosperity in border areas, he said.

"For many people, the border is just something they see on maps. For us, it's our home. So people living in border areas know better than others what territorial integrity means," said Hu, the 72-year-old former Party secretary of Banhong village.

Thanks to the targeted poverty-relief efforts undertaken since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, living conditions in those areas have improved markedly, particularly in terms of infrastructure, housing, healthcare and children's education, said Hu, a member of the Wa ethnic group.

"The villagers can now live a comfortable life in border areas. In addition, many young people have returned after new opportunities emerged in their hometowns, which are no longer poverty-stricken," he added.

Such change isn't unique in Banhong. It has been happening in villages along China's 22,000-kilometer land border－the longest in the world. The nation's central leadership believes achieving prosperity is key to making the border areas stable.

On March 9, 2013, when joining the delegation from the Tibet autonomous region in a panel discussion at the first session of the 12th National People's Congress, Xi said that "to govern the country well we must first govern the frontiers well", highlighting the importance of border security to China and its development.

When joining the delegation from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in a panel discussion at the fifth session of the 13th NPC on March 5, Xi said that Inner Mongolia, as one of the regions along the border areas, bears a major responsibility for safeguarding border security.

Xi urged officials in the region to strengthen their awareness of the risks, improve their capabilities in terms of strategic thinking, and take effective measures to guard against various dangers and risks to ensure the security of the country's northern border.

China's nine border provinces and regions on land cover an area of 5.77 million square kilometers, about 60 percent of the country's territory.

Due to historical, natural and geological reasons, border areas in China have been traditionally less developed, so the task of boosting their development has been very challenging but necessary, said Lyu Wenli, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies.

Rapeseed flowers bloom in Tengchong, Southwest China's Yunnan province, recently. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To support such development, the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly introduced an action plan in 1999 to bring prosperity to border areas.

Boosting border development was first included in China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) and has remained in the three subsequent five-year plans.

"Socioeconomic development in border areas has entered a new phase since Xi highlighted the importance of governing the frontiers, and such work has been integrated with targeted poverty-alleviation projects," Lyu said.

"China can only further prosper when development in border areas is accelerated. Also, continuous efforts need to be made to improve people's lives in those areas after they have shaken off poverty, because they play a key role in border security," he said.

Wang Yao, another researcher at the CASS' Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, said transportation infrastructure is key to supporting the development of border areas.

"Border areas have the natural advantages of opening-up to neighboring countries and taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative. More roads, railways and airports need to be constructed to solve the problem of poor connectivity," she said.

In addition, construction of infrastructure, such as the 5G network, in certain border areas should be stepped up to support the development of border industrial parks and free-trade centers, she added.

As many border areas in China are also home to people from different ethnic groups, such as Tibetan, Mongolian, Uygur and Tajik, promoting ethnic unity there is particularly important, Lyu said.

During an inspection tour in Inner Mongolia in July 2019, Xi stressed ethnic unity in the region, and called for efforts to ensure that people of all ethnic groups make joint efforts in safeguarding the country's border and creating better lives.

Wubulikasmu Memeturson, head of Awat county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, said safeguarding national sovereignty will come naturally when people from different ethnic groups feel that they are all proud members of the Chinese nation.

"Also, it will then be difficult for separatist and extremist forces to brainwash people," he said.

Bordering eight countries, Xinjiang has always been the target of overseas separatist and extremist forces, he added.

In a letter in 2017 to Zhoigar and Yangzom－two sisters living in the border area of Tibet's Yumai township, which sits at the southern foot of the Himalayas, Xi praised the family's efforts in safeguarding national territory for two consecutive generations, and thanked those who made contributions to safeguarding and strengthening the country's borders.

The two sisters and their father were once the only residents of the township, Zhoigar said. Influenced by their father, the sisters firmly believe that protecting the land beneath their feet is to protect the country.

Now, the once three-person township is home to over 200 people and oversees two villages. Living conditions and infrastructure have also improved. In 2021, the per capita annual income of the township reached about 40,000 yuan ($4,980), with a new kindergarten and a primary school built for local children.

"After graduation from university, my eldest daughter has returned to Yumai to help the township achieve rural vitalization," Zhoigar said. "I'm so glad to see that more and more young people are returning home to border areas to pursue their careers."