Vietnam's China Mining Plans Spark Rare Criticism

A plan to let a Chinese company build a bauxite mine in Vietnam has triggered rare public outcry from critics, who say the environmental and social damage would far outweigh any economic benefit.

Some even fear the plan, agreed to by leaders of the two communist countries without broader dialogue, could ultimately mean the de facto seizure by Beijing of a strategic region of Vietnam.

Vietnam's government estimates the country's bauxite reserves at 5.5 billion tons - a major draw for the world's mining giants.

In 2007 it approved a plan for two major mining operations to be run by state- owned Vietnam National Coal, or Vinacomin, and Mineral Industries Group in the Central Highlands.

A subsidiary of Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, has been granted a contract to build one mine, while the U.S. aluminum company Alcoa Inc. (AA) has partnered with Vinacomin to explore the feasibility of a second.

But in a country that bitterly recalls 1,000 years of Chinese occupation - and more recently a brief 1979 border war - any presence of Vietnam's big neighbor on its territory is perceived by some as a menace.

Nguyen Ngoc, a writer whose work focuses on the Central Highlands and its people, said there was a longer-term risk of seeing the region come under strong Chinese influence.

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