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New-style Vietnamese leader hosts online chat

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published February 10, 2007

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnam's prime minister hosted the country's highest-level online chat Friday, answering questions about everything from corruption to his personal life - a clear break from old-style communism in the rapidly changing country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung answered questions preselected from more than 20,000 sent from across Vietnam and abroad. He also fielded a few live questions during the 2 1/2 hour chat, and did not shy away from thorny issues, including the lack of press freedom, the Vietnam War and government seizure of farmers' land for development.

"Why did you sign a decree strictly banning privatization of the press in any form?" asked someone with the screen name Pham Duong Quoc Tuan. "Doesn't it go against the goal of freedom and democracy that you are striving for?"

Dung defended the recent decision to keep all of the country's 600 media outlets under state control, prohibiting a free press.

"The decree was in line with Vietnamese law and in accordance with the aspirations of most of the people," he answered.

Dung, 57, is the country's youngest prime minister and is known as a reformer. Appointed in June, he had long been groomed for the job and has a record of fostering economic growth.

Despite the frank online discussion, Internet use is still tightly controlled in Vietnam. Cyber dissidents have been jailed after posting pro-democracy messages online, and users at Internet cafes are monitored.

Many rules, however, are largely ignored as Web use booms in a country where two-thirds of its 84-million people are under 30.

[Last modified February 10, 2007, 01:51:15]