Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong dies
Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong (Kyodo)
Vietnam’s Communist Party chief, Nguyen Phu Trong, died on Friday, state media reported. He was 80.
Trong had served as the party’s general secretary, the country’s highest position, since 2011.
The state-run Vietnam News Agency report said Trong died on Friday afternoon “after a period of illness” at a hospital in Hanoi.
In January 2021, Trong secured a third term as general secretary despite a party rule limiting the position to two terms.
The party said Thursday that President To Lam had taken over Trong’s duties as the top leader needed to focus on his health.
During his tenure, Trong had consolidated the party’s power. After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hanoi in June, there had been no confirmed reports of his public activities.
As the country under Trong’s initiative strived to root out corruption, its decision-making Politburo lost seven of its 16 members in the past one and a half years.
Lam was elected as president in May following his predecessor Vo Van Thuong’s resignation in March after serving just over a year in office.
