An outdated tourism sign extols the virtues of having a border with Myanmar composed solely of “bamboo fences, ditches, and earth ridges”—a reference to the smooth commercial ties Beijing had hoped to establish with its neighbor.
A tall, metal fence that crosses the county of Ruili in Yunnan province now serves as a marker for the border the news visited. It divides once-connected streets and meanders through rice fields, interspersed with security cameras and barbed wire at times.
But since a violent coup in 2021, it has become entrenched in an unwinnable civil war in Myanmar. Now, the military government is engaged in combat.
China, having spent millions of dollars in Myanmar to establish a vital commercial corridor, is finding it increasingly expensive to deal with the issue at its doorstep—a border spanning nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).
The ambitious proposal intends to use Myanmar as a bridge to connect China’s landlocked southwest to the Indian Ocean. However, the tunnel is now the scene of fighting between the army and rebels in Myanmar.
