The socialist spaces within the upland Southeast Asian Massif are home to over 70 million people
belonging to geographically dispersed and politically fragmented ethnic minority populations. State
authorities have long considered these upland margins as frontier regions where ‘inconsequential
peoples’ lag behind national standards. Over time, the Chinese and Vietnamese states have worked to
enclose these spaces through a range of ‘development’ programmes and politico-economic strategies.
Undertaking qualitative social science research here is underscored by a specific set of challenges (red
stamps), dilemmas and negotiations (green tea). In a contemporary context that interweaves economic
liberalisation with centralised and authoritarian political structures, I explore how I have negotiated and
manoeuvred access to ethnic minority voices. Specifically, I focus on fieldwork endeavours in the
Sino-Vietnamese borderlands to answer two core questions. First, in these socialist arenas, how can
researchers negotiate access to still-marginalised groups misunderstood by the central state? And
second, what are the most pressing ethical questions raised by cross-cultural fieldwork in these spaces
and how might these be addressed? While debating these ethical and methodological challenges, I
reflect upon the numerous roles of gatekeepers, concerns over the well-being of interviewees and the
importance of self-censorship.