作者：本报记者阿图尔·阿内加  

发布时间：印度时间2017年7月1日19:26

位于中国西南的瑞丽市是通往缅甸的大门。到了瑞丽，人们会惊讶地发现，当地以一种简单又实用的方式得心应手地划定并管理着浑然无隙的国际边境线。这里没有华丽的队列，没有繁复的武装警卫换岗仪式，也没有大喇叭广播的声响，只有一条简单显眼的黄线，将缅甸的芒秀村与中国的银井村区分开来。在那些没有黄线标识的地方，则以村道、水沟、竹棚，甚至以被爬藤植物层层叠叠的绿叶盖住的土埂为界。

“我们常说，缅甸芒秀村的母鸡会跑到中国银井村下蛋。”当地资深政府官员崔宏继笑道。此时，一位年轻妇女骑着摩托车从芒秀村驶来，打崔宏继身旁路过。她没有熄火，在一栋装有白色大门的建筑物窗前停下，给她的特殊通行证（面向两国边民发放）办理盖章手续，楼体上还能看出昨夜倾盆大雨的痕迹。不到30秒的时间，她就离开了，对眼前瑞丽市郊附近那些阳光灿烂的稻田风光熟视无睹。

“缅甸芒秀村的居民用特殊通行证可在中国瑞丽市范围内活动，常常可以见到他们来中国购买日用杂货，天黑前又回缅甸去。”当地的中国政府官员介绍说。近年来，这边境地区已成为主要旅游景点，许多游客因受玉石的吸引而纷纷慕名前来。出于文化方面的原因，玉石这种珍贵的宝石在中国的需求量很大。“玉石因其温润的质感与刚韧的硬度被视作美德的象征，还意味着好运气。”当地政府官员易鑫说。

瑞丽市是缅甸合法输出玉石的天然通道。距瑞丽市不远处便是位于缅甸克钦邦隆肯镇的缅北玉石矿区，该矿区的玉石毛料矿储量巨大，而玉石便取自从矿区开采出的毛料矿石。可想而知，那些在中国边境地区一排排棚屋搭建起来的外国宝石市场售卖玉石等珍贵宝石的商贩肯定生意兴隆。此外，当地人对手工艺品、服装等货物的快速流通也已习以为常了。一块翻译不太恰当的指示牌立在中缅“玉桥”边，告诫来到缅甸的游客，禁止偷撬玉石，违者重罚。

民族纽带

强有力的民族宗教纽带是当地跨境商贸兴旺发展的保证。“生活在这边境地区的中缅人民大部分都是傣族和景颇族，”瑞丽市所属德宏州对外宣传办公室主任赵云山说道。中国的景颇族与生活在缅甸克钦山区的景颇族之间民族关系密切，玉石矿区就分布在克钦山区。由缅甸克钦山区40块土地上流出的几条河流全汇入浩瀚的伊落瓦底江，伊落瓦底江又注入安达曼海。赵云山先生指出，在瑞丽市及其周边随处可见的傣族与缅甸的掸族归属于同种民族，掸族多居住在缅甸常处动荡状态的掸邦。

“居住在边境地区的中国傣族与缅甸掸族，他们之间的通婚是很常见的，”赵云山先生说。他介绍说，尽管是跨境婚姻，但是嫁到中国来的缅甸妇女仍然可以从夫方继承财产。同时，跨境婚姻的离婚率很低，他将这种牢固的家庭关系归因于这片地区佛教的普遍传承。

密切的跨境文化联系已对政治造成了深远影响。普遍存在于同种民族间的纽带已自然而然地将中国的影响延伸到了缅甸广阔的土地上，包括民族反动群体频频在首都内比都市争权夺利的克钦邦和掸邦。

A Frontier Marked by Soft Power

Atul Aneja                 JULY 01, 2017 19:26 IST

In southwest China’s city of Ruili, the gateway to Myanmar, visitors are surprised by the simple and practical ease with which a seamless international border has been drawn — and managed. There is no pageantry here, no elaborate change of armed guards and no bugles. A simple but prominent yellow line divides Myanmar’s Mangxiu village from Yinjing on the Chinese side. At other places, a village road, a ditch, scaffolding and even an accumulation of soil greened by heavy foliage of creepers define the frontier.

“We often say that the hen from Mangxiu can lay eggs in Yinjing,” laughs Cui Hongji, a senior local official. As he speaks, a young woman on a two-wheeler from Mangxiu passes by. Without switching off the engine, she stops at the window of a white-gated structure, dampened by the previous night’s downpour. Her special pass, issued to residents on either side, is stamped here. In less than 30 seconds, she is off, indifferent to the sunlit view of vast paddy fields that lies ahead, as the outskirts of Ruili are approached.

“The special pass allows residents of Mangxiu to visit Ruili but not beyond. It is common to see them buy daily groceries in China, and head back before sunset,” explains a local Chinese official. In recent years, the border zone has become a major tourist attraction, much amplified by the allure of jade, the precious stone, which, for reasons of culture, is in high demand in China. “Jade, because of its lustre and toughness, is a symbol of virtue. It also symbolises fortune and good luck,” says Yi Xin, a local official.

Ruili is the natural conduit for moving jade, legally, out of Myanmar. It is not far from northern Myanmar’s “jade tract” — located at Lonkin Township in the Kachin State. Large reserves of jadeite, the original mineral from which the stone is derived, are mined there. Unsurprisingly, traders do brisk business in jade and other precious stones in the exotic gems bazaar — a row of sheds — on the Chinese side of the border. A swift exchange of local handicraft, clothing and much more is also routine here. An ill-translated signboard, signalling that the visitor is now in the exotic precincts of jade-country reads: “It is forbidden to steal, pry jade, otherwise heavy fines.”

Ethnic Bonds

Strong ethnic and religious bonds ensure that crossborder commerce flourishes in this area. “Most of the people on either side of the border are of Dai and Jingpo ethnicity,” says Zhao Yunshan, director in the International Publicity Office in Dehong prefecture, of which Ruili is a part. The Jingpo in China share strong ethnic ties with their counterparts in Myanmar’s Kachin hill tracts — home to the jade mines. Several rivers flow out of the 40 hill tracts, all joining the mighty Irrawaddy River, which drains into the Andaman Sea. Mr. Zhao points out that the Dai people, whose presence is strong in Ruili and its surroundings, belong to the same ethnic stock as Myanmar’s Shan, mostly residing in the country’s often turbulent Shan State.

“Inter-marriages among the Dai and the Shan on either side of the border are commonplace,” says Mr. Zhao. He explains that despite cross-border marriages, the women from Myanmar marrying Chinese men can inherit property. Also, divorce is rare, and he attributes the strong family ties to the common heritage of Buddhism followed in this region.

The intimate cross-border cultural connect has had a major political fall-out. The common intra-ethnic bonds have naturally extended Chinese influence within large tracts of Myanmar, including Kachin and Shan States, where ethnic insurgent groups have frequently battled authorities in Nay Pyi Taw.