Vietnamese see special economic zones as assault from China

The South China Sea dispute, along with memories of the 1979 border war, run deep in the Vietnamese national psyche, making SEZs viscerally unpopular

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Vietnamese protest against China’s deployment of an oil rig in the disputed South China Sea. Photo: AP

Published: 8:55pm, 7 Jun 2018Updated: 9:52pm, 7 Jun 2018

The Vietnamese government is confronting a rising tide of public anger as its parliament debates a controversial bill to create three new special economic zones (SEZs), raising fears of Chinese encroachment on Vietnamese soil.

Although Vietnam already has 18 SEZs, the new concerns largely stem from a provision that would allow 99-year leases in some cases within the three new zones in Quang Ninh and Khanh Hoa provinces, as well as on Phu Quoc Island. The bill does not explicitly mention any particular country but it is widely presumed China, Vietnam’s largest trading partner, would dominate investments in the SEZs.

Attempting to allay concerns, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc announced on Thursday the government would adjust the 99-year time frame but did not elaborate.

“In recent days, we have listened to a lot of intellectuals, the people, members of the National Assembly, senior citizens and overseas Vietnamese,” Phuc said.

Activists stage a rally marking the 42nd anniversary of the 1974 naval battle between China and then-South Vietnamese troops over the Paracel Islands, in front of the statue of Vietnamese King Ly Cong Uan in Hanoi. Photo: AFP

Nguyen Chi Tuyen, a Hanoi-based dissident blogger with 42,500 Facebook followers, said he rarely saw such public interest in the National Assembly, a legislature that usually acts as a rubber stamp for the Communist Party’s Central Committee.