Vietnam: PM hosts online chat with frank Q&A
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is noted for signing a decree strictly banning privatisation of the press in any form. But on Friday, he hosted the country's highest-level online chat, answering questions about everything from corruption to his personal life.
Associated Press described it as a clear break from old-style communism in the rapidly changing country.
Questions for the 2-hour online chat were preselected from more than 20,000 sent from across Vietnam and abroad.
Fielding a few live questions, the 57-year-old premier did not shy away from thorny issues, including the lack of press freedom, the Vietnam War and government seizure of farmers' land for development.
The Ap story highlighted that Internet use is tightly controlled in Vietnam. Cyber dissidents have been jailed after posting pro-democracy messages online, and Vietnam requires identification at Internet cafes, where users are monitored and some sites are blocked.
Interestingly, two-thirds of Vietnam's 84 million people are under 30, and those online largely ignore the rules as Web use is booming in the country.
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