On 9 November 2018, an article appeared in the English language stateowned Vientiane Times, commonly recognized as the mouthpiece of the Lao government and a source of communication from the government to foreign businesses and expatriates in Laos. The article was entitled ‘Lao – People's Dream: Laos-China Railway takes away Poverty’. The article extolled the advantages of the railway project and interviewed apparently happy Lao citizens about how they thought it would improve their lives. Rebutting Western concerns about the railway by stating that Laos has sufficiently strong legislation and governance in place, the article ended with the words: ‘Thanks to the Laos-China Railway, all things will be better, wherever in China or Laos’. The official view on the railway is very clear: the railway has official support and the population must support that, whatever the cost.

There is likely to be a heavy cost, with people being relocated and concerns rising about compensation for lost land and livelihoods. Many Lao have articulated to me repeatedly that they fear that the Chinese presence will be felt increasingly in Laos, and that Laos will become increasingly Chinese. It is not difficult to see why. In March 2019 and on a break from a bus trip from Luang Prabang to Sam Neua, I wandered into a shop to buy phone credit. Several minutes later, I walked out again having been unable to communicate with the owners, who were not Lao and spoke to me only in Mandarin, in which my linguistic ability is zero.