Vietnam’s Trong, advocate of ‘bamboo diplomacy’, dies

Hanoi, July 19

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Nguyen Phu Trong, the Marxist-Leninist who led Vietnam for more than a decade overseeing rapid economic growth and more recently trod a fine line in elevating ties with both China and the US with his ‘bamboo diplomacy’, has died. He was 80.

For months Trong had appeared frail at public events or missed them outright and on Thursday his duties as party chief were taken over by President To Lam. He died “due to old age and serious illness,” the ruling Communist Party said on Friday.

Trong became the Communist Party’s general secretary in 2011, a position that in one-party authoritarian Vietnam gave him the key levers of power. He also served as Vietnam’s president from 2018 to 2020.

He cultivated an image of moderation but from 2017 unleashed what many saw as a China-style crackdown on corruption, known as “blazing furnace” that in the past year has had a chilling effect on the economy and at times paralysed public administration.

In foreign policy, Trong advocated having “more friends, fewer foes” while being as flexible as bamboo. That stance culminated in a visit by President Joe Biden to Hanoi last September that saw Vietnam lift the US to its highest diplomatic status alongside China, Russia, India and South Korea.

Three months later, ties with Beijing — a major Communist economic partner — were further boosted when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited. — Reuters