Introduction

Since market reforms in the 1980s, foreign investment has been and continues to be a driving force for Vietnam's economic development. Since normalization of bilateral relations in 1991, Chinese economic investments in Vietnam have increased dramatically. More recently, they have also shown a growing interest in Vietnam's rich mineral and energy resources. Geographical proximity makes Vietnam particularly interesting to Chinese resource companies, especially for minerals that have high transportation costs. Furthermore, shared histories, cultures and socio-political organizations have facilitated trade and business relations between these two nations.

On the surface of it, Chinese demand for natural resources and Vietnam's need for foreign investment is a perfect match. Yet one does not have to dig very deep below the surface to find a much more problematic situation. Recently, the General Director of the Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam publicly complained that up to 60 per cent of mineral licenses in northern Vietnam showed “Chinese traces”. It was as if, he suggested, “the Chinese were standing behind our back and controlling our own mining industry”. While the widespread opposition towards Chinese involvement in bauxite mining in the late 2000s was perhaps a first signal of unrest, the riots that targeted mainland Chinese workers at a Taiwanese-owned steel factory in Central Vietnam in 2014 demonstrated just how grave the matter can become.