PLANNED CHINESE DEVELOPMENT IN VIENTIANE GENERATES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 VIENTIANE 000202 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS (BESTIC) STATE PASS USTR FOR BISBEE PACOM FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2018 TAGS: PREL ECON EINV SOCI LA CH SUBJECT: PLANNED CHINESE DEVELOPMENT IN VIENTIANE GENERATES A QUIET BACKLASH VIENTIANE 00000202 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: CDA Mary Grace McGeehan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: A public controversy -- a rare thing in Laos -- is brewing over government plans to give a Chinese firm a large 1600-hectare concession near the revered That Luang monument close to the Vientiane city center. Although originally described as a location for 2,000-3,000 workers (and their families) constructing facilities for the 2009 Southeast Asia (SEA) games, rumors soon spread that up to 50,000 Chinese families would settle in the development. This has spurred Lao anxieties about a large-scale permanent influx of Chinese workers. In response, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Somsavat Lengsavad, who is ethnically half Chinese and is considered close to the Chinese government, took the highly unusual step of giving a press conference to "dispel rumors" about the project. Somsavat acknowledged that the land concession was an explicit quid pro quo for the construction of a stadium for the SEA games. He noted however that any Lao with sufficient money will be able to purchase property or a business area within the concession, and stated that there will be no favoritism given to Chinese citizens. Since the press conference, contacts have reported continued unhappiness about the project among local residents, and the mayor of Vientiane has publicly acknowledged environmental concerns and described aspects of the project designed to address those concerns. End Summary. ¶2. (C) In September 2007 rumors began to reach the Embassy that the Lao Government (GOL) was going to allow a large number of ethnic Chinese workers to move to Vientiane in an area near That Luang. The That Luang stupa is the cultural and religious heart of the nation. The That Luang marsh also has a strong cultural association with the Lao because of pre-1975 traditions. The marsh was the site of a traditional royal ceremony in which the Lao kings came by royal barge to the That Luang stupa in an annual procession well remembered by older members of the local population. ¶3. (U) In October 2007 The Nation, a Bangkok newspaper, reported rumors that 2,000-3,000 Chinese workers would be allowed to move to Vientiane to work on the stadium for the December 2009 SEA games. In November 2007 a number of articles in the Vientiane Times and KPL News, the two English language newspapers in Laos, discussed the planned conversion of the That Luang marsh--a several hundred hectare wetland near That Luang itself--into a special economic zone by a Chinese company. A Lao project manager for the stadium -- which is being constructed by Chinese workers -- denied rumors that the marsh was being handed over to Chinese firms as a quid pro quo for development of the stadium, although KPL news reported that he did confirm that 3,000 Chinese workers would be living on land to be developed for that purpose. ¶4. (C) Following publication of the articles, rumors spread that a much larger number of Chinese workers would be allowed to settle in the area -- up to 50,000 families. The Vientiane Times reported in October that the Lao government had originally offered the Chinese land closer to the stadium, but that the Chinese rejected this plot as being too far from the city center. (The stadium is located 20 minutes by car from the city center). The That Luang marsh area was selected instead, and plans developed to turn about 1600 hectares in and around the marsh into a mixed use residential and business development. According to an official at the Singaporean Embassy (protect),popular resentment within the Lao community originally caused the government to withdraw the offer of land at the marsh and to offer another large plot to the Chinese developer. The Singaporean diplomat indicated that DPM Somsavat had intervened to have this decision reversed after the developer rejected the alternative plot of land as too remote. The Deputy Prime Minister, who served as Foreign Minister from 1993 to 2006, is ethnically half Chinese and is widely regarded as being close to the Chinese government. ¶5. (C) On February 11, DPM Somsavat gave a press conference to "dispel rumors" that the government had entered into an agreement with a developer to bring in 50,000 Chinese families to live in the marsh area. He said that the VIENTIANE 00000202 002.2 OF 003 government had awarded the development to a joint venture between a Lao company (which would hold a five percent share) and a Chinese company that had successfully developed the Suzhou Industrial Park in China. This would be a 50-year concession after which the developed property would be handed over to the Lao government. (Note: It is illegal for foreigners to own land in Laos. End note.) According to DPM Somsavat, any Lao with sufficient money will be able to purchase property or a business area within the concession, and there will be no favoritism given to Chinese citizens. Somsavat said that the project had originated when the Lao government was seeking funding for the building of the SEA games stadium. He had met with the governor of the Chinese Development Bank, who offered to find a company to lend money for the building of the stadium, with the quid pro quo that the Lao government would offer a suitable piece of land for a joint venture. The That Luang marsh was the agreed-upon site. ¶6. (C) Since Laos's communist government rarely feels the need to explain its actions to the public, this was a highly unusual step. According to numerous Embassy sources, the press conference came as resentment continued to build among the Lao population in Vientiane and spread even to distant provinces. While there had not been any open political protest, public unhappiness with the planned development--or at least its rumored contours--had been enough to cause the government to hold a press conference featuring the DPM and devote two consecutive days of front-page newspaper coverage to the issue. Critics noted that several hundred families were currently living in the area and would need to be relocated. Most families there probably do not have legal title to the land they occupy and residents seem anxious that they will receive little or no compensation if forced to resettle. The Vientiane Times reported in more detail February 13 on the government,s compensation plan, describing four categories of people who would be compensated, based upon their legal title and previous development of the land. Current land owners will, according to the government, be compensated for their losses of land "in accordance with the law." Of note was the DPM,s reported comment that the government would offer "only reasonable compensation, rather than the amount being demanded by the landowners." (Comment: The expropriation of land with no or minimal compensation is common in Laos and is a leading source of discontent with the government. An Embassy employee had a farm, on which he had paid taxes since 1982, expropriated without payment for the construction of the SEA Games stadium. End Comment.) ¶7. (C) According to a March 21 Vientiane Times article, Dr. Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune, the mayor of Vientiane, acknowledged environmental concerns about the project in an interview with Japanese journalists. He noted that the marsh had in fact been shrinking for most of the past century, leaving only a small wetland area remaining, and claimed that population growth in that area and the resulting loss of the wetlands could be responsible for flooding in Vientiane during the rainy season in recent years. Dr. Sinlavong said that plans for the area also call for a "large pond" capable of holding 70 days of rainfall, which is intended to replace the flood abatement role of the marsh. Other reports clarified that approximately 450-600 hectares of land will be used to store water, with the remainder developed for industrial, retail, and residential use. (Note: Another recent Vientiane Times article celebrated the recent completion of Vientiane,s sixth drainage canal. It, like the other five, drains directly into the That Luang marsh. Vientiane currently lacks a water treatment system. End Note.) ¶8. (C) The controversy over the marsh development is a subject of intense interest among Vientiane's international community. One expatriate Embassy contact noted in early February that he had never seen so many locals upset. He pointed out that a video of the marsh had been posted on YouTube; it ends with a number of Chinese trucks driving into the picture. Some sources said that a march to "Save the Marsh" was also being considered. This would not be a political protest march but instead would stress the VIENTIANE 00000202 003.2 OF 003 ecological role the marsh plays in absorbing water and preventing flooding in Vientiane. Still, such an action would be highly unusual here and participants would risk arrest. Another expatriate contact with long ties to Laos noted that many war veterans are upset with the concession and predicted the decision to locate the Chinese in the marsh area would be reversed or that the scale of the concession would at least be sharply reduced. ¶9. (C) Comment: Numerous Embassy sources have commented on the That Luang development as being something of a catalyst for the Vientiane population. The role of Chinese companies in moving farmers off their land to make way for plantation development, especially in the north, was already a matter of concern to many Lao. The government has made efforts over the past year to reform the land allocation and concession process to help reduce the number of people negatively impacted by concessions. However, the That Luang development appears to have crystallized discontent among the Vientiane population with the leadership's willingness to give land and influence to China or other regional investors. The government's highly unusual public acknowledgement of concerns about the planned development, and its efforts to justify it, shows that official realize that they have touched a nerve among the usually compliant population. This has not been enough, at least so far, to reverse the granting of the land concession. However, it is likely that this issue is the subject of ongoing debate within the government and the party, as pro-Chinese officials press for a large-scale concession and others warily monitor public reaction. McGeehan