Chinese premier Wen Jiabao will make an official visit to Myanmar this month, the first by the communist country’s top leader in nearly 10 years.
China is the closest and most powerful ally of Myanmar’s military leaders.
But Chinese policy towards Myanmar is not as homogenous as many might expect.
Provinces along the border often take their own decisions over its relations with Myanmar.
Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett reports from the southern province of Yunnan (02 Jun 2010).
Duration : 0:3:2
India and China have played down reports of renewed tension between them over a long-running border dispute. But the two Asian countries have been arguing about the demarcation of their 4000km-long border for several decades.
There is now renewed tension on the border issue over which the two countries fought a brief war in 1962.
Parts of the frontier are still in dispute, including a portion of Kashmir and the eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Indian military recently accused China of launching incursions and have stepped up its presence in Kashmir.
However, in an interview with Al Jazeera’s Hamish Macdonald, P Chidambaram, India’s interior minister, did not rule out error.
“It is a disputed border. There could be navigational errors. What we think are violations have taken place and these are resolved by talking to each other,” he said.
“But please remember that the India-China border is not the same as the LoC between India and Pakistan, where infiltration takes place, violence takes place.”
In the latest development, the government of Arunachal Pradesh urged New Delhi on Tuesday to act tough on Chinese claims over the state.
“Chinese claims over Arunachal Pradesh are simply baseless and not correct. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and would continue to do so,” Dorjee Khandu, the state’s chief minister, told the Times of India newspaper.
Conflicting claims
Beijing gave up its territorial claim over Sikkim in 2003 but still holds on to its stand that nearly all of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to it.
The mountainous state shares a 1,030km unfenced border with China.
“The government of India should be more assertive and make its stand on Arunachal Pradesh very clear to China. New Delhi needs to make a bold statement about frequent Chinese claims,” Takam Sanjay, a ruling congress party leader from Arunachal Pradesh, told Times of India.
Such concerns are also borne out by confidential communication from local Indian government officials seen by Al Jazeera.
China’s foreign ministry has issued an official response saying: “China’s border patrol is conducted in strict accordance with rules. Chinese border troops never trespass on other countries’ territories.
“Before the final settlement of the China-India boundary issue, the two countries should make joint efforts to safeguard peace and tranquillity along the border.”
Duration : 0:3:41
Palestinians have poured into the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing through holes blown along the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland reports from Gaza, where, due to the border breach, she is joined by Amr el-Kahky, Al Jazeera’s Cairo correspondent.
Duration : 0:5:14
Undocumented immigrants in the US have often been accused of stealing jobs from citizens, and the current economic downturn has only worsened the blame game.
A second barrier along the San Diego stretch of the US-Mexico border literally widens the distance between immigrants and their families already forced apart by circumstances.
Gabriel Elizondo reports from the Mexican border town of Tijuana.
Duration : 0:2:45
Israel’s government has approved plans for the construction of a barrier along its border with Egypt in a bid to stop illegal entry, particularly by militants.
The latest Israeli move could divert some of the attention caused by the Egyptian plan to build a wall. Israel believes this is the best option to protect its borders with Egypt. The other option would be to amend the EgyptianIsraeli peace treaty to allow for more Egyptian border troops to be deployed.
Can fences and walls provide the security a nation seeks and where does it leave genuine asylum seekers from Africa?
Duration : 0:23:44
Israel has approved plans to erect a wall along part of its southern border with Egypt, a project that will cost at least $270 million dollars.
Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said in a statement on Sunday that the wall is a “strategic decision to ensure the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel.”
However, Palestinians believe the new barrier is another example of Israeli land grab.
Israeli police estimate that 100 to 200 people infiltrate Israeli’s 210-kilometer southern border every week while a large majority of those are refugees from northern Africa illegaly crossing the border.
Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland reports from Jerusalem.
Jan 11, 2010
Duration : 0:2:4