Vietnam Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong passes away

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong has passed away after holding the top position for more than a decade.

Trong’s heart stopped beating at 1:38 p.m. Friday, at the age of 80.

President To Lam on Thursday was temporarily assigned to preside over the tasks of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo and the Party Secretariat.

Trong achieved a professor ranking and held a Ph.D. in politics.

He was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) for three consecutive terms, from the 11th to the 13th (from 2011 until his death). As Party chief, he was also Secretary of the Central Military Commission.

Trong was a member of the Politburo, the nation’s supreme decision-making body, for six tenures and a member of the CPV’s Central Committee for seven terms.

He held dual positions, General Secretary and State President, between October 2018 and April 2021 after President Tran Dai Quang died while in office.

Before becoming Chairman of the National Assembly between 2006 and 2011, Trong was Secretary of Hanoi’s Party Committee for six years.

For his numerous contributions and special merits, he was conferred the Gold Star Order, the country’s highest distinction, on Thursday.

He is remembered for his aggressive stance against corruption among Party cadres and in the private sector, a campaign popularly known as 'the burning furnace.