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widespread. To protect the regime's legitimacy, the government began to <br />openly call for an end to corruption, and acknowledged that some reforms <br />were needed. The leadership also focused on closing the widening income <br />gap between rural and urban populations. <br />At the 10th party congress in April 2006, Nong Duc Manh was reelected as <br />CPV general secretary, and the delegates approved a proposal to allow CPV <br />members to engage in business, partly to attract young entrepreneurs into <br />the party. Nguyen Minh Triet was elected state president by the National <br />Assembly in June, and Nguyen Tan Dung was chosen as prime minister. <br />National Assembly elections were held in May 2007; only 50 of the 500 <br />deputies chosen did not belong to the CPV, and all were preapproved by the <br />party. <br />Vietnam secured entry into the World Trade Organization in 2007, and the <br />government subsequently embarked on a serious and extended crackdown <br />on peaceful dissent, displaying a sharply reduced tolerance for open criticism <br />and prodemocracy activism. Dozens of dissidents were arrested, and many <br />were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. This process continued unabated in <br />2010. Among other cases during the year, the authorities arrested at least <br />seven independent bloggers, sentenced three prodemocracy activists to long <br />terms in jail for allegedly "attempting to overthrow the government," and <br />sentenced two other prominent dissidents to jail for disseminating <br />antigovernment propaganda. Also during the year, the government <br />expanded its attempts to censor and block critical media content, particularly <br />on the internet. Many observers attributed the latest wave of repression to <br />preparations for the CPV's 11th party congress, scheduled to take place in <br />January 2011. <br />Despite concerns about Vietnam's human rights record, the United States <br />dramatically deepened its relationship with the country in 2010, responding <br />in part to growing regional tensions over China's territorial claims in the <br />2 <br />