Vietnam's secretive, twice-a-decade political transition kicked off Tuesday, with the Communist Party poised to select its future leaders who will have to contend with an increasingly assertive China and ramped-up trade tensions with the United States (US).The country's party general secretary, as well as three other key leadership "pillars", are up for grabs at the congress in Hanoi, which is taking place largely behind closed doors, and will run until 2 February.The lead

For more than two years, China has waged a campaign of unparalleled repression against its Islamic minorities, incarcerating an estimated one-sixth of the adult Muslim population of the Xinjiang region at one point or another.