Vietnam's new Communist Party leader

The installation of the new leadership has renewed hopes for a quickening of Vietnam's seemingly glacial march toward a free market economy.

A political report adopted at the party convention admitted the sorry state of the party, saying that corruption among the top brass and rank-and-file members has "incurred wrath of the people and undermined their confidence in the party." Pointing to intensifying international competition, the report emphasized the urgent need of reform, saying "we will even further behind economically unless we move ahead."

The rhetoric couldn't be better, but it makes little difference as long as it remains only hot air. The country's new leadership needs to implement the report's proposals to stamp out corruption, including the publication of assets of party executives and their families.

If the party tries to ram through market reforms, it will face the tough question of how to deal with the diversification of values among the people. Sooner or later, the country will have to embark on the hard road toward democratization. The rest of the world will be watching closely to see how Vietnam's new leadership will map the nation's future.

-- The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo