China and Vietnam opened two temporary corridors crossing the border on Sunday to facilitate travel, trade and people-to-people exchanges.
The two corridors connect Babu Township and Yangwan Township in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Yunnan Province respectively with two locations in Vietnam's An Minh and Quan Ba counties.
"It's quite convenient and fast. Once we obtain our border resident certificates, we can just cross the border with them, and the customs clearance takes just a few minutes," said Zhou Jinchang, a villager in Yangwan Township.
"In terms of trade, it will bring income to businesses. For example, daily necessities, agricultural tools are all allowed to trade," said Xiang Minghe, another Yangwan resident.
In the first half of the year, Wenshan registered 386,000 entry and exit trips, up 385.4 percent year on year.
This growth is driven by surging trips of not only Chinese and Vietnamese residents and tourists, but also travelers from other countries, owing to China's expanding visa-free policies and thriving economic activities in the border areas.
China, Vietnam open two temporary cross-border corridors to facilitate trips, trade
Officials from the European Union (EU) and Finland have voiced concerns after the White House said it has been discussing "a range of options" to acquire Greenland, including the use of the military.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told a press briefing in Cairo on Thursday that the message from the U.S. is "extremely concerning," and "not really helping the stability of the world."
Kallas called on all parties to stick to international law, adding that relevant response measures has been discussed among EU members.
"The international law is very clear, and we have to stick to it. It is clear that it is the only thing that protects smaller countries, and that is why it is in the interest of all of us. And we discussed this today, as well, that we uphold the international law on all levels," she said.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Thursday described recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump and members of his administration on Greenland as "worrying," while reiterating Finland's support for Denmark and Greenland's right to self-determination.
"Finland and the other Nordic countries have exceptional expertise in Arctic conditions, and we are happy to make use of that together with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to strengthen Arctic security, but it cannot be done by threatening allies," she said at a press conference at Finnish parliament after an extraordinary meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee.
Johannes Koskinen, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said it was "unprecedented" for threats of violence to be made within NATO against another member in connection with seizing territory, adding that such threats run counter to the United Nations Charter and that their inconsistency with international law should be underscored at all levels.
EU, Finnish officials express concerns over US remarks on Greenland
