Vietnam: A sign of insecurity?

As The Diplomat reported on 13 February 2023, Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, has recently been mentioned as “embodying the virtue of core leadership”.

World Watch Research analyst Thomas Muller comments: “As an analyst following China closely, the phrase ‘core leadership’ rings a bell, even more so as this term has never been used before by Vietnamese Communists to describe an individual’s role, not even Ho Chi Minh’s. So the question has been raised whether the Vietnamese Communist Party is now following its Chinese sister in elevating an individual in this way. However, this is unlikely, as Trong himself has consistently warned of the dangers of concentrating too much power in the hands of one person. Additionally, Secretary General Trong will turn 80 in April 2023 and is reportedly not enjoying the best of health.”

Thomas Muller continues: “It is more likely that the term ‘core leadership’ has been used in reaction to the recent political tumult within the Communist Party when, in January, the incumbent president and two deputy prime ministers resigned, and other former ministers faced corruption charges in court (The Diplomat, 17 January 2023). It seems that the Communist Party saw it necessary to remind its members and the general public of the virtues of Communist rule.”

Thomas Muller adds: “Whenever the Communist Party feels insecure and needs to consolidate its power, those are the times which are particularly dangerous for dissenting minorities, especially when – like Christians – they are seen as being in contact with foreign powers.”