the General's last campaign

 But first, the giant sucking sound:

Although many Vietnamese remain highly suspicious of China, which ruled Vietnam for 1,000 years and launched a short but bloody border war against it in 1979, the Communist government has become increasingly nervous about criticism of its northern neighbor. The rationale for this crackdown is not communist solidarity or a new drive to stamp out xenophobia but cold, hard cash.

The global financial crisis has left Vietnam more dependent than ever on investment from China, its biggest trading partner. With the Chinese hyper-sensitive to any criticism, the Vietnamese government, which already ranks toward the bottom of most press freedom league tables, has intensified its crackdown on those who question the nature of China-Vietnam relations.

I don’t think that the Vietnamese government would actually need Chinese sensitivities to launch a crackdown. But it’s interesting that they’re now on the wrong side of Vietnamese nationalist sentiment, given that it’s historically been quite a hard force to suppress. Which brings us to the general:

Concerns have coalesced around the involvement of Chinalco, a state-owned Chinese mining group, in a large bauxite extraction project in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Critics ranging from monks to scientists and even war-hero General Vo Nguyen Giap have spoken out against the plan because of fears over national security and the poor environmental record of Chinese mining companies.

After Giap, who masterminded the defeat of the French and Americans in two successive wars, voiced his concerns publicly earlier this year, the government seemed to allow an unprecedented level of debate about such an important policy, even letting skeptical scientists hold a conference to discuss the mining project.

However, this "Hanoi spring" was sadly, if predictably, short-lived.

Shame. It should have at least amounted to a Giap year. Anyway, 98 and still kicking ass.

Fans of obscure (to Europeans) forms of revanchism should also check out the comments. I especially enjoyed the Chinese commenter who said that the Vietnamese victories over the French and Americans were “entirely accidental”, along with the Vietnamese chap who taunts the Chinese over the Mongol conquest back in the 13th century.

Comments

[Richard J]

Noted in comments:-

The Vietnamese women are being sold off to SIngapore to marry the the unmarketable men that Singaporean women have rejected.

Also noted by a friend currently expatriated in Singapore, with particular reference to the Four Floors.

[mtm]

99% of these "Vietnamese" who infests blogs and comment pages to post anti-Chinese trollbait are actually Vietkhieu (overseas Vietnamese). Most aren't in favour of the Hanoi gov't either. Actual Vietnamese from Vietnam have a far better "balanced" attitude to China than Western media would indicate.

The problem I have with Viets and Vietkhieus in particular is the extent in which anti-Chineseness is a core part of their cultural identity. This is from a culture that who's surnames are of entirely Chinese origin. Tran=Chan, Ngyuen=Yuan etc. Then there is their language which was originally written entirely in Chinese script until the French changed it. Incidentally, the French were also enthusiastic supporters of the Trung sisters and other legendary figures of resistance to central gov't (ie Chinese rule). Any guesses what the French were trying to achieve here? The truth is that the much mythologised Vietnamese resistance to Chinese rule were no more unique than any other peasant rebellion that fills Chinese history books.