Word: recentered
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...consecutive years of 8% growth - a rate only slightly behind China's - that lifted millions out of poverty. Economic liberalization, however, has not been accompanied by similar political freedoms. While Vietnam continued to grow and its citizens prospered, there was little groundswell of support for multiparty democracy. But the recent economic downturn, coupled with several high-profile corruption scandals where officials have been caught with their hands in the till, has hurt the Communist Party's image and threatens to undermine its rule...
...posted a online translation of a U.S. government document entitled "What is Democracy?" Son believes authorities' cozy relationship with China has little benefit to most Vietnamese, and that authorities are only interested in protecting their own interests at the expense of the country. He doesn't expect the recent verdicts to have the intended effect of muffling discontent. The sham trial, he says, only further illustrates the corruption within the regime, and will only encourage people "to throw themselves into the cause against the monopoly in power...
...court in Ho Chi Minh City found a prominent Vietnamese human rights lawyer and three other pro-democracy activists guilty of trying to overthrow the government. Though the defendants avoided possible death sentences, the widely publicized trial, part of a broader recent crackdown on dissidents, is seen as a signal that Vietnam's communist leadership is growing increasingly intolerant of criticism of the regime...
...spreading propaganda against the state. Hanoi has also been particularly prickly over accusations that officials have caved in to pressure from China, claiming that they are on Beijing's payroll in exchange for unfettered access to the country's natural resources. Authorities detained several bloggers and journalists in recent months who openly criticized Vietnam for allowing China to set up large bauxite mining operations in the country, which China needs to manufacture aluminum. The government has also tried to block the popular social networking site, Facebook, in order to limit political discourse as well as criticism of the bauxite projects...
...also been linked to internal struggles between communist hardliners and reformers within the secretive Politburo, the inner circle of communist party leaders. Even though the next big political event - the national congress in which key officials will be elevated (and demoted) - isn't scheduled until 2011, analysts say the recent crackdown is part of a jockeying for power in the run up to the meeting...