General Giap is now nearly 100 year old (98 to be exact). Do you believe he is still having a sound mind to involve and suggest in this matter. I don't mean to play down the his great contribution and merit to this country and the current Communist Party (he is the hero in my heart). However, please be realistic and see his general health condition recently, you can easily think that he has been taken advantage of his famous to voice up for some interest groups. These groups may compose of some people who really concern about the country security and Chinese immigrant of Vietnam, BUT of majority of reactionary people who want to take this opportunity to humble the government credit. There are also involving some people from overseas who don't have much information and still have prejudice about Vietnam. Please don't use General Giap, a most respected person in Vietnam, for a political game!!! I think the policy for resource exploitation in Vietnam is a right policy in the current context. Vietnam is a poor countries and just imagine it as a poor family. If it want to have some capital for development, it needs to (or has to) depend on resources to gain some inital capital as a jumb start to finance the development for a brighter future. Like a poor family, you need a jump start capital to find a new jobs or create a small business, so you need to save or sell some things to get the needed capital. The question of resource dependence should not be asked for the poor countries. Vietnam is luckier to have that resources. Moreover, global crisis is knocking every country doors, self saving ourself is needed more than anytimes. So the policy for resource exploitation should be seen as a right policy. Question should be asked here is how to spend and invest this money. From the current debate on Central Highland exploitation projects, there are two most concerned questions, environment and technology and Chinese influence. First question on environment and technology is currently investigating and answering. But in my opinion, in current situation with government awareness and also Vietnamese citizen and parliament, question of technology selection is not hard to answer. In fact, the environment pollution depends very much on the selected technology. If technology seclection is solved the environment pollution is minimised its impacts. I think the government has full capacity to choose a good technology that don't affect the environments. In fact, the reforestation of the mining site if done properly can do more good than harm as evident from many other countries. The second question on Chinese immigrant is really a concern. However, i think it is exaggerated. It few thousand chinese workers are a real concern however, with proper immigration policy this can be solved. Furthermore, the historical and current conflicts with China, settlement of Chinese workers in Vietnam is not easy process as many people think. The lesson of 1978-1979 is still there and vivid. Each Vietnamese is very vigilant to any Chinese living in this country. Central Highland Mining Exploitation should be the appropriate policy for the current situation. However, the current concern and debate are not without its evidence. If the government can manage the issue of technology and Chinese worker immigrants, it should be good project for Vietnam development

Posted by Minh Le at 1:38pm on May 29, 2009

It is such a funny thing to read the first comment. General Giap is a famous person of the country and he should be a representative for the voices of Vietnamese people who don't want the country to be get worse. Do not be discriminated about the age of a person, just try to have critical thinking, when there is an important project, it should be carefully discussed and debated by different groups in society. Environment is a crucial factor of not only Vietnam but will be a global issue and for our next generation, the technology of China is not good and they are famous of copying the things from the others every one knows, will it be confident to give the future of the environment of the South Vietnam, the rivers and the Mekong Delta for that questioning project?. Think about what the China Govt did in Africa to use the resources in those poor countries, what the China Govt did in their country, how much pollution in China right now and what they will do it in Vietnam? Vietnam is a poor country but just think why it is poor after many years of independence??? It is a big question to be concerned. Yes, Vietnam is a poor country but as in a poor family,they do not have to sell everything they have in order for living and to be rich. Life is for happiness, and there are more green ways to develop the economy rather than just selling the natural resources, it is a wrong way to do. I do not want to imagine a lot, but for a better Vietnam, we, Vietnamese people should be more critical, more independent and have responsibility with our homeland.

Posted by Tony Ng at 3:47pm on May 29, 2009

I think the first comment from Minh Le make a lot of sense, if you're a junkie. Normal people don't sell every valuable thing they have unless they need to finance some drug habit. Also Minh Le's suggestion for poor family and poor country is brilliant, but what happens when they sold every thing they own and they're still poor, what do they do then? The key for getting rich is not sell all of your natural resources the key is to developed your people. If Vietnam continue on the path of exploiting our natural resources one day we will have nothing, our land and river will be polluted our children and grand children will curse us for leaving them the Southeast Asia version of Haiti. As a Vietnamese who love his country and his people I don't want to see my country and my people selling cheap raw materials to the Chinese then buying expensive process goods from them. This is at best neo-colonialism and at worst slavery. This is why General Giap is speaking out, I'm sure he doesn't want to be a Chinese slave. Look at what happened to Tibet and her people; don't think for a second that this can't or wont happen to Vietnam.

Posted by Nguoi Viet at 9:56am on May 31, 2009

Dear our good Friend, Minh Le, I respectfully disagree with your comments and thought that it might be just because you're lack of information, the knowledge about the EIA of bauxite mining itself (?). Please go to this comprehensive, non-bias, non-governmental, transparent, independent, complete, scientific website http://www.bauxitevietnam.info/ - to learn more about the cause vs. the effect of the ongoing Bauxite mining projects in the Central Highlands of Vietnam - once and for all. ********* DEAR CITIZENS OF THE WORLD, Please help stop this destructive, short-sighted ongoing massive Bauxite mining ambition in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. My name is Tran DinhDung and I am currently a volunteer for an international environmental NGO, Viet Ecology Foundation, http://www.vietecology.org. Our organization has just published a petition entitled "Petition For the Immediate Halt On the Bauxite Mining Projects in Central Highlands of Vietnam in the Pending of Environmental Impact Assessments in Accordance with International Treaties and Vietnamese Environmental Laws and Regulations" - which is now being posted at: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-bauxite-mining-projects-in-central-highlands-of-vietnam.html We sincerely ask for your support and greatly appreciate your kindness if you could further the cause by circulating the Petition to your worldwide networking circles: we're racing to save the UNESCO-recognized Space of Gong Culture, the living treasure of our humankind in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Thanks so much!******* "You are responsible for the period of history that you are living in. You have not only the right to choose, but the duty to choose and if you are now surrounded by poverty, by war, by oppression, by cruelty - that is what you have chosen.", Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 - 1980)

Posted by HonSuViet at 7:23pm on May 31, 2009