Redai dili (Jul 2024)
Spatiotemporal Process and Operational Mechanism of Illegal Cross-Border Cattle Trade between China and Myanmar
Abstract
Since the 1990s, border security has been a pressing issue in political geography. With the increasing interactions between China and its neighboring countries, border security has increased the attention of scholars and government officials. Security issues along the China-Myanmar border are particularly eye-catching owing to Myanmar's fast-changing social and political reforms and unrest, as well as the complicated situation in Northern Myanmar that has gathered a large number of armed ethnic minorities. Tensions have resulted in prominent traditional and non-traditional security issues along the China-Myanmar border. Illegal cross-border trade is one non-traditional security problem in the region; specifically, illegal cross-border cattle trade is a particular but understudied case. This study investigates the actors, transportation, and social networks involved in illegal cross-border cattle trade. Using first-hand materials collected in the border area and secondary archives, the study analyzes the spatial and temporal features and operation mechanisms of smuggling. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) From the perspective of the time stage, the study identifies approximately three stages. Before 2004, the illegal cross-border cattle trade, relying on kin relationships, was in its embryonic stage. From 2004 to 2018, the domestic beef market was in short supply, and the illegal cross-border cattle trade, this time relying on nepotism, gradually became more frequent, reaching 1.6-2 million heads per year and entering the development stage. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2018 and 2020, owing to the enhanced border control, the volume of illegal cross-border trade has plummeted, decreasing by around tens of thousands to more than 100,000 each year, and then entering a period of extinction. (2) Spatially, illegal cross-border trade mainly comprises three routes: the northern, central, and southern routes, from northern India to China's Yunnan Province through northern Myanmar. Among the three routes, the middle route sees the largest number of cross-border cattle, among which, the cross-border flow of cattle from Myanmar through the Yunnan Ruili Nongdao channel is the largest, followed by the northern route; the southern route sees the lowest number. (3) The China-Myanmar illegal cross-border cattle trade relies on the trust bond, regulation, and enforcement mechanism provided by the natural geographical environment and cross-border nepotism, thus forming a complete social network trade chain. The study suggests methods to control illegal cross-border trade by simplifying formal trade and strengthening the construction of smart borders. The findings provide reference for the prevention and control of illegal cross-border trade. Although illegal cross-border cattle trade can be regarded as a type of illegal cross-border trade, owing to the large volume of live cattle, the transportation is more difficult, and it is easier to detect. As such, the choice of illegal cross-border routes is quite different from that of general small goods and is more obviously affected by natural geographical conditions and social and interpersonal network factors. Thus, illegal cross-border cattle trade provides a unique case study of the relations between illegal cross-border trade and human, physical, and geographical conditions.
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