Vietnam Today

Vietnam Parliament chief resigns amid anti-corruption probe

The head of Vietnam’s Parliament, Vuong Dinh Hue — who was believed to be a leading contender for Vietnam’s top office — has resigned amid a corruption investigation into a real estate firm. Some activists say a power struggle within the Communist Party is the underlying cause of Hue’s downfall.

Facebook helped bring free speech to Vietnam. Now it’s helping stifle it.

When Facebook took off in Vietnam about a decade ago, it was like a “revolution,” said two of the company’s early employees in Asia. For the first time, people across the country could communicate directly about current affairs. Users posted about police abuse and government waste, poking holes in the propaganda of the ruling Communist Party. “It felt like a liberation,” said one of the Facebook employees, “and we were part of it.”

Hanoi’s Beijing Syndrome

The “Vietnamese street” and especially the activist community is known to be anti-China, but the Vietnamese Communist Party is keen to cultivate closer ties.