Vietnam province defends decision to license Chinese resort project in defense-sensitive location
Vietnam province defends decision to license Chinese resort project in defense-sensitive location
The location where a Chinese-invested resort has been licensed to be built in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue poses no major national defense problems, the provincial administration said Thursday, defending its decision to green-light the controversial US$250 million project.
The World Shine – Hue international resort, to be developed by World Shine Hong Kong Co. Ltd., whose representatives are Chinese businesspeople, has raised eyebrows among experts as it is located in an area deemed sensitive to national defense.
The project is located on Cua Khem Cape, a border area between the central hub of Da Nang and Thua Thien-Hue. Cua Khem Cape is where the Hai Van Mountain meets the East Vietnam Sea.
World Shine Hong Kong Co. Ltd., through its Vietnam unit The Dieu Co., obtained an investment license for a 50-year term from Thua Thien-Hue authorities in October of last year.
“The investment license was granted appropriately as per procedures,” provincial deputy chairman Nguyen Dung said at a media meeting on Thursday, adding the province’s administration is seeking feedback from the Prime Minister on the project.
The press briefing was hosted to announce information related to the controversial project.
Asked why a Chinese-developed project has been licensed at a location that is sensitive in respect of national defense, Colonel Tran Dinh Phong, the province’s military commander, said it is not a big issue.
“We had carefully examined and evaluated the mutual defense systems between Hue – Da Nang and Da Nang Bay before giving advice to the administration to green-light the project,” Phong said.
“The resort will be set up in the low areas, while the higher ones are controlled by our military forces. So there are no major problems for national defense here.”
Phong pressed that his view is to support the project, but the final decision whether it will be implemented or not is “in the hands of the Ministry of National Defense and the government.”
The investment license for the project was signed in October 2013 by Ho Sy Nguyen, who was then head of the management board of the Chan May – Lang Co economic zone.
“The Cua Khem Cape, as well as the nearby Son Cha Isle, are not prohibited zones,” Nguyen, now director of the province’s agriculture department, said at the media meeting.
“Instead, they are areas where investment attraction is allowed, a fact which is stated clearly in a directive approved by the Prime Minister in 2008.”
Such an affirmation would not please former national defense minister Colonel General Nguyen Van Rinh.
Too sensitive
“The Hai Van Mountain Pass is a crucial area that holds significant value in terms of national defense, especially as a defensive posture for Da Nang and Hue,” Rinh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on the sidelines of the law-making National Assembly session in Hanoi on Thursday.
“The implementation of a project at a sensitive location like this normally requires consultancy from the national defense ministry.
“My point of view is that the government should carefully consider the project and evaluate between gains and losses,” he said.
The former minister said the government must “stay firm” toward foreign-invested projects on the country’s borders and islands.
A resort project will open doors for many people of different nationalities to the area, and such a project “should not be located at too-sensitive locations,” he said.
“There are many other locations out there across the country for projects like that,” he added.
The 200-hectare retreat complex is designed to include a 450-room five-star hotel, a 2,000-seat international convention center, a five-story block of 200 deluxe apartments, and 350 villas, according to the investment certificate.
Total capital for the project is around $250 million.
The first phase of the project, estimated to cost $115 million, will see construction of the villas and hotel.
The Thua Thien-Hue administration has invested VND50 billion ($2.35 million) in building a 5-km road leading to Cua Khem Cape to facilitate the development of the complex.
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