A sobering reminder that, as the journey of the Olympic torch has so ably served to raise consciousness about the plight of Tibet, there are journalists and writers in need of attention as the Beijing flame passes through Ho Chi Minh City on April 29. (This after a stop Pyongyang, a true predator of press freedom and any free expression.)

Father Nguyen Van Ly, editor of Free Expression magazine, remains behind bars -- unable, my sources have told me, to receive visitors. Journalist Truong Minh Duc recently received a five-year sentence. Journalist Nguyen Hoang Hai, who blogs under Dieu Cay, was arrested April 19 -- according to Reporters Without Borders, "He had participated in protests against Chinese policy in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this year and was being closely watched by police, who had threatened to let Chinese agents kill him."

Pham Hông Son, a writer and translator of pro-democracy articles who is currently under house arrest (and was once a cellmate of Father Ly), recently penned a commentary on the Beijing Olympics:

"...There is no doubt that a growing number of people around the world, including several world's powerful politicians and celebrities, are acting against the upcoming Beijing Olympics, from delicate gestures to overt calls for boycott. Many see the recent anti-human rights-conduct of Chinese Authorities as a main cause for the heat in the current protest but a root-cause seems further beyond.

First it needs to be made clear that no one opposes the noble-spirited games of the Olympics. Most people also can agree that the pride and great benefits in hosting Olympics should be shared among people around the world. So it might be welcome when such a big country as China is to host the Olympic Games. But history tells us a case in which a rogue regime took advantage of Olympics to advance a sinister hidden ambition. The 1936 Olympics in Berlin under Hitler's regime was the case. And now consider China's case."