Vietnam's usually docile National Assembly has mounted a rare display of independence by voting down a controversial $56bn high-speed rail project linking the capital Hanoi with Ho Chi Minh City in the country's south.
Nguyen Sinh Hung, the deputy prime minister, and the transportation minister had staked their prestige on the project, which was scheduled for completion with Japanese aid by 2035.
The plan was derailed when only 209 of the 493 deputies voted for the project in a ballot that required majority support. Vietnamese law mandates that all projects with budgets over $1.9bn get Assembly approval.
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