Good morning! Hello to new readers, and welcome to the latest edition of the Vietnam Weekly, written by Ho Chi Minh City-based reporter Mike Tatarski.
This week for paying subscribers, I published a travelogue on the 400-kilometer cycling trip from Đồng Hới to Vinh that I enjoyed last weekend. The response to that shows I should step outside of straight news analysis more often.
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The highly anticipated decision by the U.S. Commerce Department on whether or not Vietnam qualifies as a ‘market economy’ was delayed from July 26 to today (August 2, U.S. time) in part because of the CrowdStrike computer outage. This announcement will be closely watched by anyone with business interests here.
On to the news.
The Canal Groundbreaking
Ready or not, the Cambodian government is moving forward with extravagant plans to begin work on the divisive Funan Techo Canal on Monday. Officials expect over 10,000 people to attend the groundbreaking ceremony in Kandal Province.
According to the Phnom Penh Post, it “will be marked by the sound of bells, gongs and drums across the country at 9:09am when Prime Minister Hun Manet presses the symbolic button to kick-start the construction.”
Students and workers have been given the day off.
For background, check out my previous newsletter on the canal and my March podcast conversation with Brian Eyler, one of the top international observers of this topic.
However, even with groundbreaking days away, Cambodians who will be impacted by the US$1.7 billion project remain in the dark - a reality that doesn’t bode well for transparency regarding its impact on Vietnam.
One resident told AFP: “We don't have any official information. We have only heard about it from social media."
Friend of the newsletter
noted the almost complete lack of information in her latest Campuccino written from Phnom Penh: “The plan is shrouded in many unanswered questions, including its primary purpose, funding source, and potential impact on the Mekong River.”Even by the standards of the Cambodian government, the lack of detail for a project this size is stunning. It would be like Vietnam building a canal from HCMC to Phan Thiết without even pretending to explain it to local residents, let alone anyone else.
In late May, CamboJA News reported that residents along the canal’s proposed route were “clueless on compensation,” while reporter Phoung Vantha tweeted this week that the situation hasn’t changed.
CamboJA provided a helpful look at how the Cambodian government has used social media and nationalist rhetoric to whip up support for the project. Officials continue to claim the canal will have minimal social and environmental impact, even as its financing remains murky at best.
Mekong Eye and Mongabay both published strong recent articles on this, and I’ll paraphrase what Eyler told me: the canal isn’t necessarily something to oppose since there are potential ways to mitigate its impact and every country deserves economic autonomy, but vanishingly little is known about how this will be executed.
Vietnamese officials have expressed concern over a lack of information, though the Phnom Penh Post reported that this topic was not discussed during President Tô Lâm’s official visit to Cambodia last month.
Another Real Estate Empire Implodes
On July 19th, the Ministry of Public Security arrested Nguyễn Thị Như Loan, CEO of Quốc Cường Gia Lai, on allegations of “violating regulations on the management and use of state assets causing losses and waste."
This is related to a case involving state-owned Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), Ba Ria Rubber JSC, Dong Nai Rubber Corporation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and other organizations.
A few days earlier, police arrested four others related to this investigation including Nguyễn Thị Hồng, former Vice Chairwoman of the HCMC People’s Committee, for “abusing position and power while performing official duties;” and Trần Ngọc Thuận, former General Director of VRG, for “receiving bribes.”
Nine former VRG executives were arrested in May.
I’ve struggled to work out what this is all about, as the case hasn’t been explained well, but it appears to center on one specific land plot at 39-39B Bến Vân Đồn Street in District 4.
You may be wondering why, exactly, VRG would be involved in District 4 land - this is just the latest example of Vietnam’s convoluted real estate market and how many companies/organizations/state agencies have their fingers in numerous property pies.
It’s also why there’s so much skepticism regarding the limited government-level punishments for the sprawling Vạn Thịnh Phát scandal, which involves thousands of properties and tens of billions of dollars.
Quốc Cường Gia Lai, for those unfamiliar, is a multi-sector conglomerate that came out of Gia Lai Province in the 1990s - not to be confused with the similarly multi-tentacled Hoàng Anh Gia Lai from the same province. The former also just reported the worst quarterly losses in 12 years.
The company’s website features a statement (in Vietnamese) on the District 4 property in question - in exhausting detail, it lays out numerous ownership transfers involving many stakeholders since 2010 when the HCMC government allocated the state-owned land to a company that two VRG subsidiaries had stakes in. (Insert Charlie Day meme.)
Today, the property is a Novaland apartment complex called The Tresor - there’s no telling how much deeper this rabbit hole may go.
Meanwhile, Quốc Cường Gia Lai has appointed a new CEO to replace the detained Loan: her son, Nguyễn Quốc Cường.
The Funeral
State media devoted major coverage to General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s funeral last week. Photo essays showed the many, many leaders in attendance, huge crowds of people lined up at memorials in both Hanoi and HCMC, and the procession through central Hanoi.
If you want to hear some of my thoughts on this, check out my appearance on the Reformasi Dispatch Podcast.
I mentioned in last week’s newsletter that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to attend the funeral, but he missed it after delaying his Asia trip due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington D.C.
I saw some social media commentary portraying this as a slight against Vietnam, but Blinken arrived on Saturday and state media covered him paying tribute at Trọng’s home and meeting President Tô Lâm.
For one final piece of analysis on the late leader, I recommend this Fulcrum piece arguing that Trọng’s death “leaves Vietnam short of ideological cover to pursue the country’s policies.”
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Data Corner:
53: The number of earthquakes that struck Kon Plông District in Kon Tum Province this week, rattling buildings as far as away as Thailand. Kon Tum has experienced hundreds of small earthquakes since April 2021 - in the 100+ years before that, roughly 30 were recorded.
Zero: The number of Vietnamese TV stations that bought broadcast rights for the ongoing Paris Olympics. Sixteen Vietnamese athletes are competing in 11 sports.
11 million: The number of people still using Vietnam’s 2G cell network, which will be shut down on September 15.
Extra Links:
Revisiting Vietnam's past through my parents' eyes (Nikkei Asia)
Chinese E.V. Makers Rush In and Upend a Country’s Entire Auto Market (The New York Times)
William Calley Jr, convicted for My Lai massacre in Vietnam, dies aged 80 (Al Jazeera)
Tracing arsenic contamination in Viet Nam’s rice paddies (Mekong Eye)
Have a great weekend!
The Wikipedia article about the Funan Techo Canal may be of interest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funan_Techo_Canal
This canal will certainly change things over there.
Oh I wanted to know, if you also write about Vietnamese festivals and history? As the culture and history are of great interest to me.