Just two days ago, Vietnamese doctor and activist Nguyen Dan Que wrote this in a Washington Post op-ed:
"While the world's attention is riveted on the Middle East, democracy continues to struggle to take root in other regions."
Tonight, he's in prison.
The outspoken 69-year-old is accused of calling for strikes against Vietnam's one-party system from “reactionary and hostile elements" both inside and outside the country, according to the Financial Times. His long-running bid to stoke reform in Vietnam has earned Nguyen Dan Que a total of 20 years in prison.
As in China, where Middle East-inspired protests were immediately crushed, it appears Vietnam will not tolerate even the tiniest buds of a potential uprising.