Vietnam: less progress than desirable

I was all for normalizing relations with Vietnam, and I still think that the most constructive approach is to engage the country economically in the hope -- I think it will happen eventually but no one can predict the time frame -- that encouraging a more commercial society and a freer economy will create pressure for political reform. However, the evidence is that it Vietnam has a long way to go. It just convicted a journalist of harming the state for publishing a story of corruption in the Ministry of Transport. Two years in prison. Too bad.