Tuesday February 26, 2:22 PM
HANOI (AFP) - Chinese number one Jiang Zemin is travelling to Vietnam for only his second visit since the communist neighbours reopened ties after a short but bloody 1979 border war.
But whereas his 1994 visit sealed the rapprochement between the estranged ideological soulmates, his new one comes amid mounting criticism here of its territorial cost.
In recent months, Vietnamese dissidents have orchestrated a campaign against twin agreements the authorities signed with China in 1999 and 2000 demarcating their common border on land and in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Journalist Bui Minh Quoc was placed under house arrest in January after making a two-month tour of the border region in a bid to expose the concessions made under the accords, which have never been published.
The neighbours only began installing new border posts in December, giving the first concrete indication of the changed frontier.
Diplomats say the issue remains highly sensitive for Hanoi as the agreements angered nationalist hardliners within the Vietnamese armed forces as well as government critics.
"Dissatisfaction over the concessions made in the agreements was one pretext advanced for the ouster of communist party chief Le Kha Phieu last April," an Asian diplomat told AFP.
Jiang will have the opportunity during his visit to meet both Phieu and his estranged predecessor Do Muoi, who diplomats say used the nationalist card against his heir and longtime protege during his ouster.
In an indication of the importance Hanoi attaches to relations with its giant neighbour, the Chinese leader is to meet both former party chiefs as well as the whole of Vietnam's current leadership.
The Vietnamese foreign ministry said just one agreement was due to be signed during the visit but declined to give any details.
Diplomats said it was unlikely to include the border issue as the neighbours remain at odds over a fisheries deal required to implement the Tonkin Gulf border agreement signed in December 2000.
Attention is likely to focus instead on the rapidly growing commercial ties between the two "socialist market economies" -- much the fastest growing in the Far East.
Jiang is due to travel to Vietnam's central coast on Friday and Saturday on a tour that will take him to a textile factory in the third city of Danang as well as the region's main heritage sites.
Hanoi has been seeking soft loans from Beijing to help finance several key infrastructure projects, including the controversial Son La hydroelectric scheme, which it has been unable to finance from Western sources, diplomats said.
Vietnam's importance to Beijing has fallen massively since the close of the Cold War brought an end to the superpower involvement here of first Washington and then Moscow.
But analysts say that in China's eyes Vietnam's historical rivalry with its giant neighbour still makes it a potential ally for any future opponent.
Beijing will be particularly keen to clarify Hanoi's plans for a key Russian naval base on Vietnam's central coast after Moscow gives up its lease in 2004, analysts said.
Washington announced earlier this month that it had begun negotiations with Hanoi for access to the Cam Ranh Bay base after the Russian lease expires.
The base, which was originally built by the Americans before being lost to Russia after the US humiliation in the Vietnam War, has long been a source of concern to China.