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Original title: After the epidemic rebounded, what kind of city is Ruili, Yunnan?
Source: Outlook Oriental Weekly
Text | Wang Siyu
In the past two days, Ruili City, Yunnan Province, a county-level city with a population of just over 200,000 (2019), caused concern due to the sudden spike in the epidemic.
According to the Yunnan Provincial Health Commission, as of 24:00 on March 31, there were 15 confirmed cases and 45 asymptomatic infections in Yunnan, all of which were isolated for treatment and medical observation at designated medical institutions.
On April 1, the third press conference on the prevention and control of the new corona pneumonia epidemic was held in the city of Ruili to inform that the nucleic acid testing and current sampling of all employees in the city of Ruili. At 8:00 am on April 1, a total of 309,448 samples were collected and shipped, 235,991 copies were inspected, and 105,530 copies were completed.
The City of Ruili conducts nucleic acid testing and sampling for all employees in the main urban area. Photo / Xinhua ViewpointWhat kind of city is Ruili?
Long borders without natural barriers
Ruili City, under the jurisdiction of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, is a county-level city located on the China-Myanmar border.
Ruili borders Myanmar on three sides, connected by mountains and rivers, and the villages face each other. The border line is 169.8 kilometers long and has 4 cross-border highways. There are 65 border landmarks and attached monuments, 36 crossings, and large and small ferry passages. There are no natural barriers in the border area and there are countless private roads. It is the densest cairn and the largest number of ferry crossings on the Yunnan border. In such a natural environment, Ruili herself is at high risk of importing infectious diseases abroad. As early as 2015, the port of Ruili became the only high-risk port in the risk classification of infectious diseases imported from China’s border ports.
“One people and two countries”
In Ruili, the “one village and two countries” situation is very common.
Located more than 10 kilometers from the city of Ruili, is the famous scenic spot “One people and two countries”, which is a typical geographical marvel of two countries. The border divides a Dai village in two, the Chinese side is called Yinjing Village and the Myanmar side is called Mangxiu Village.Today, the daily life of the villagers on both sides is closely related. They speak the same language, have the same customs and live together every day, using the same well and the same land.
Zhaizhong’s national border is bounded by bamboo fences, village roads, water ditches, and earth ridges. Thus, Chinese melon vines crawled up Myanmar’s bamboo fences to form melons, and Burmese chickens went to Chinese residents’ homes to lay eggs. tourists say with a smile that they can “go abroad in an instant” by swinging here.
There are complicated historical factors behind “one village and two countries.”
Historically, China and Burma did not demarcate a border. The border between the two countries was officially delimited after the British annexation of “Upper Burma” (referring to the central and northern regions of Burma) in 1886. However, due to the contradiction in the treaty text at that time and other For reasons, China and Britain had differences, which paved the way for the subsequent series of border problems between China and Myanmar. In the aftermath of the Beiyang government and the Nanjing national government, the issue of the China-Myanmar border remained unresolved and disputes continued.
After the founding of New China, the border between China and Myanmar was officially demarcated. The lives of people in border areas are deeply integrated. Even after the border was delimited, residents on both sides have had very frequent exchanges and the number of cross-border population flows is enormous.
The image shows the data map of “one village and two countries” on the border of Ruili, Yunnan. This type of village is widespread in the border areas of China and Myanmar.Frequent bilateral economic activities
In recent years, China has actively advocated the “Belt and Road” initiative and promoted the construction of cross-border tourism cooperation zones, and achieved world-renowned results. China’s good border opening policy and booming border trade industry economy have contributed to the prosperity of the border cities between China and Myanmar.
Furthermore, since the country’s founding in 1948, Burma has been in constant civil war due to inter-ethnic relations, and conflicts have been frequent in northern Burma. Many border residents in Myanmar have family and friends in our country due to historical reasons, which is why border residents fleeing the war flock to our border areas.
Through the specific data on the rebound of the Ruili epidemic, we can also feel more intuitively the population movement in Ruili, especially the population movement abroad. Of the 29 newly confirmed cases and asymptomatic infections added on March 31, 12 were Myanmar nationals. According to relevant statistics, at the end of 2019, the total permanent population of Ruili City (the population of Chinese nationality who lived in Ruili for more than half a year) was approximately 210,000. However, according to a report from the Yunnan Provincial Health Commission on April 1, at 8 am that day, a total of 300,000 nucleic acid tests had been completed. The difference of nearly 100,000 is the floating population in Ruili City, and a considerable part of it is the overseas population.
Although the current domestic epidemic has been effectively controlled, it still does not mean that the epidemic is gone. In September 2020, Ruili reported two imported cases from Myanmar, both of which were illegal smuggling. The rebound in the Ruili epidemic this year has once again sounded the alarm for us. On the afternoon of March 31, Ruan Chengfa, Secretary of the Yunnan Party Provincial Committee, organized the on-site meeting “March 29” on epidemic management in Ruili City, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. The responsibility to “import” is to fully carry out vaccination work, to manage the border and prevent the epidemic. China’s epidemic prevention work still has a long way to go, and alarm bells must be forever ringing in unity to overcome difficulties together.
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