Vo Van Than arrived in France in 1979 after fleeing the Communist government of Vietnam. His rage against the regime dissipated only with time and the happiness he found in cooking. But now the government has tried to cast him out again, this time as manager of a popular Paris restaurant.

When Vo Van Than heard a rattling noise, he thought it was the garbage collectors. It was shortly after 8 a.m., and he was lying in bed on the second floor of the Paris restaurant he manages, the "Foyer Vietnam."

When he heard loud footsteps on the stairs, he knew that something was wrong, but by then it was too late. When Than opened his door to see what was happening, he was suddenly face-to-face with a broad-shouldered man who pushed him back into the room. "Stay in there," the man said to Than. "We're from the Vietnamese Embassy."

Ten men had broken into the restaurant, after smashing a glass panel in the front door. Now they covered the windows with cardboard and attached signs that read: "Closed for renovation." They connected the phone line to an answering machine, and they installed a door on the second floor to prevent Than from getting into his restaurant.

It was a well-planned operation, but how could it have come to that?