Border patrol teams from Việt Nam's Lai Châu Province and China's Honghe County perform a mutual salute at Marker No. 63 of the shared border during a joint border patrol on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

LAI CHÂU — The Border Guard of Việt Nam's northern province of Lai Châu, the Honghe border management team and the Jin Shuihe border immigration checkpoint of China conducted a joint patrol along the Việt Nam-China border on Wednesday.

Under the agreed patrol plan, the two sides established a joint patrol command, with each side forming four land patrol teams. They also exchanged two liaison officer teams comprising four officers in total, two from each side. The joint patrol covered the border section from Marker No 17 to Marker No 71.

The joint patrol command and patrol teams exchanged views on the operation and briefed each other on recent border management.

The patrol combined vehicle and foot patrols and followed the principle of “border-to-border, point-to-point and route-to-route” in two periods of time, totalling four hours.

A total of eight patrol teams involving 68 officers and soldiers took part in the operation. They distributed more than 400 legal education leaflets to over 400 border residents, and covered a total patrol distance of more than 150km.

Following the patrol, the joint patrol command reviewed and assessed the operation and exchanged information on the recent situation along the border.

The two sides agreed that the joint patrol was successfully conducted, achieving its intended objectives and effectiveness, while reaching consensus on directions for future cooperation. They pledged to continue sharing border-related information through correspondence and hotlines to promptly and appropriately handle incidents arising along the border.

The two sides will also step up border patrol and control, and strengthen efforts to combat violations and crimes such as illegal entry and exit, human trafficking and smuggling, contributing to maintaining security, order and stability in the border areas.

They also agreed to enhance dissemination and education on border-related policies and laws, raise border residents’ awareness of legal compliance and border protection, and help prevent and reduce cross-border crimes. — VNA/VNS