Relatives under the Barbed Wire Fence: The Impact of Physical Isolation on Cross-Border Civil Mutual Aid Networks

Qiao Yuechen

The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China

Abstract：

The kinship, marriage, labor, and trade relationships between villages along the China Myanmar border have long crossed national borders. The epidemic prevention and control, cross-border crime governance, and changes in neighboring countries' situations have driven the continuous strengthening of border barriers and inspection systems, shifting the reliance on geographical familiarity and personal trust to licensing, certification, and port passage. This article is based on field investigations and twelve interview materials from places such as Ruili, Houqiao Port, and Guomen New Village, and uses thematic analysis to examine how physical isolation changes cross-border civil mutual aid networks. Research has found that barbed wire does not reset cross-border connections but rather forms selective and transparent boundary structures. The continuation of bulk freight and proven transportation has resulted in higher time, institutional, and uncertainty costs for temporary, small-scale, and familiar production mutual assistance and social interaction. At the same time, risk narratives such as telecom fraud, illegal immigration, war, and marriage fraud have entered daily conversations, making people on the other side of the internet gradually have both the image of relatives and risk objects. Border residents have demonstrated the adaptability of the mutual aid network through village level certification, border travel arrangements, and humanitarian mutual assistance in emergency situations. Border governance therefore needs to refine legal channels for family visits, livelihood exchanges, and emergency mutual assistance beyond the safety bottom line, to reduce the collateral impact of hard isolation on normal social relations.

Key Words：

China–Myanmar border; physical isolation; transnational kinship; civilian mutual aid network; topic analysis