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Article

25 Feb 2016

Laos: Opposition to Chinese investment grows as locals experience negative impacts, such as illnesses in banana plantations

“The true cost of Laos’ banana plantations”, 10 Feb 2016

When Chinese businessmen offered to rent land from impoverished Laotian farmers the deal was too good to turn down. Thousands of hectares of ruined rice paddies and numerous life-threatening illnesses later, the true cost of banana plantations is finally being counted in northern Laos…

Such situations are feeding an anti-Chinese sentiment that is beginning to bubble over in Laos’ northern regions. Demonstrations are rare in tightly controlled Laos, but in August the residents of Sibounheung village took to the streets to protest when they faced displacement after their land was included in a 99-year concession for a private Chinese company to extend its hotel-casino complex. Perhaps surprisingly, the villagers were successful in stalling the plan….

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