The chain is difficult to follow, but it's very deep and profound. Links in the chain include a second call by a respected retired general for dialogue about democracy, and continuing sporadic rural protests against local corruption. On the streets of Hanoi, many residents are increasingly concerned about bizarre acts of random violence and a seeming erosion of respect for authority among Vietnam's youth. These events, compounded by a slowing economy with predictions of worse to come, are being met with a renewed climate of intimidation in Hanoi as a new leadership tries to grapple with change. In recent weeks, foreign diplomats have reported more surveillance and harassment of firms.
Reporters also say they notice more obvious surveillance.
And Vietnamese employees of at least two foreign enterprises have been arrested, one reportedly for possessing confidential documents. Gen. Le Kha Phieu, the little-known political commissar of the army who became Communist Party chief in December, is showing his true colours, say some political observers. Still others say the crackdown may not represent the will of one man, but an intensifying struggle for power within the party leadership. Since he was detained on March 6, the firm has received no offici al notice of his arrest, says managing partner Peter Tibbitts. That's all we know.