HANOI — At least eight political
activists have been arrested on subversion charges in Vietnam, their
legal adviser said on Tuesday, in a crackdown that began after the prime
minister was re-appointed.

The suspects, who have been
involved in recent anti-China protests and other activities, were
rounded up in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and the north-central province of
Nghe An, Le Quoc Quan told AFP.

The eight, all of them belonging
to the minority Catholic faith, have been formally arrested for
"activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration", he said.
They include Paulus Le Van Son, a blogger.

Rights campaigners have
expressed concern that the re-appointment of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan
Dung for a second term in late July heralds a tougher climate for
dissidents in the authoritarian one-party communist state.

The suspects are among at least
13 activists targeted in the crackdown who are still being held, Quan
said, adding there were "many reasons" why the other five may have been
detained.

There was no immediate comment
from Vietnamese officials, but the country says it has achieved
significant progress on human rights.

Under Vietnam's legal system, people can be held for initial questioning before being formally arrested on a charge.

Quan said he was familiar with
the suspects' cases through his membership of the Vinh Diocese Committee
for Peace and Justice, and his role as chief of the management board of
a Catholic professionals' association.

"I am worried for them," he added.

He said the activists had
participated in recent demonstrations against China's actions in the
South China Sea, where maritime tensions between Hanoi and Beijing
escalated this year.

They had also studied
"non-violent struggles", signed a petition for the release of prominent
dissident Cu Huy Ha Vu, and opposed a controversial bauxite mining
project in the Central Highlands, Quan said.

The Paris-based press freedom
watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in an earlier statement
that it was "appalled by the brutality" used in the arrest of the
blogger, Son, outside his Hanoi home.

The arrest "has all the hallmarks of a police kidnapping," the group said.

Another blogger told AFP the
detention of Son and the other Catholic activists could be linked to
authorities' fear of a Middle East-style uprising against
authoritarianism.

"At this time I think they are
so scared of such a revolution coming up, so they have to extinguish all
fires," said the blogger, asking for anonymity.

The anti-subversion charge has
been used against other dissidents, including French-Vietnamese lecturer
and blogger Pham Minh Hoang who was sentenced to three years in prison
this month.

His sentencing was the latest
Vietnamese judicial decision to raise concerns from Western governments,
after a seven-year jail term was upheld in early August for the
dissident Vu; and the re-incarceration in July of a Catholic priest,
Nguyen Van Ly, who has a brain tumour.

On Monday officials said two
democracy activists were among more than 10,000 prisoners granted
amnesty to mark September 2 National Day.