• CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    French capital is not investing for the sake of Viet rail and the wild returns that would bring in

    This is quid pro quo under the table deal making and graft, the French are purchasing access to something they think will make real money and definitely something they shouldn’t have access to

    • Southern Boy@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 month ago

      I mean feel free to back any of that up but it really just seems like bong rip paranoia that flies in the face of how these cooperation agreements work and the competition and diplomatic pressure France is facing

      Capital outflows from imperialist countries have not created rail development abroad beyond what was needed to extract resources for a century in many places so imperialists paying for infrastructure is symbolically a reversal, it’s bringing them to heel

      • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        Capital outflows from imperialist countries have not created rail development abroad beyond what was needed to extract resources for a century in many places so imperialists paying for infrastructure is symbolically a reversal, it’s bringing them to heel

        That’s my point, the French wouldn’t pay for infrastructure unless they thought they were getting something out of it, if there’s a clear reversal (symbolic or otherwise) the French wouldn’t so much as return Hanoi’s calls

        Obviously the French see a door that is open or appears to be open, a door that most likely has nothing to do with rail (considering the comically low amount they’re investing) and shouldn’t be open to begin with

        Whether that “door” is actually open and the Vietnamese aren’t just playing 4d chess on Paris is up for debate, I hope they are

      • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.net
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        1 month ago

        The french corporations are not interested in selling trains, they’re interested in making Profit ON selling trains, and the lack of profitability is blatantly clear in light of the low amounts they’ve invested in the form of loans

        Selling trains to a public service state entity in Vietnam is not profitable in itself, the loan is a ticket purchase for access to Vietnamese resources or industries that are profitable when invested in

        What the French are purchasing access to isn’t specified publicly, but it sure as shit ain’t access to build rail for working class Vietnamese in the form of sub-strandard inter-industry foreign loans