Vietnam's newly-elected president linked to abduction incident.
A new president has taken office in Vietnam for the third time within three years. His name is To Lam, and he isn't a stranger to Germany either. Rumors suggest that he played a significant role in a kidnapping case in Berlin, which created a severe diplomatic crisis between Berlin and Hanoi.
Recently, the former Vietnamese Minister of Public Security, To Lam, was sworn in as the new President of Vietnam. The National Assembly elected the 66-year-old Politburo member to replace Vo Van Thuong, who stepped down in March due to a corruption scandal. However, Lam also has a history with German authorities. He is suspected of being involved in a 2017 kidnapping case that rocked the relationship between Germany and Vietnam.
Lam became the Public Security Minister in Vietnam in 2016, and the same year, the former Vietnamese politician and CEO, Trinh Xuan Thanh, was abducted from Berlin's Tiergarten park and taken to Vietnam. The Berlin Court of Appeal ruled that Lam, now the president, had personally ordered the abduction of his former party member by the Vietnamese secret service in his capacity as security minister at the time.
German authorities found that Lam was on the plane that carried Thanh from Slovakia to Vietnam. The German government considered this a violation of its sovereignty, which resulted in the expulsion of some Vietnamese diplomats. The 'strategic partnership' between the two countries, established in 2011, was temporarily suspended.
Relations between the countries have since normalised. In January, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid a state visit to Vietnam. Nonetheless, political analysts predict that interaction with the country might get more intricate with Lam as the head of state. It remains unclear if Steinmeier will congratulate his counterpart on the new position.
Multiple corruption scandals
However, Lam's reputation isn't spotless in Vietnam either. A video of the new president circulating on social media shows him eating a steak decorated with gold leaf. Lam is also known as a hardliner in his dealings with the Vietnamese democracy movement. In his role as security minister, he ordered arrests of activists and bloggers.
Lam's appointment marks a third regime change in Vietnam in just three years. This is unusual for a country known for political stability, with the resignation of his predecessor Vo Van Thuong compelled by the Communist Party. Vo Van Thuong had also departed under allegations of corruption.
In reality, the Vietnamese president holds little political power. The role is considered a more representative one, ranking third in the political hierarchy after the Party leader and head of government. The anti-corruption campaign is spearheaded by CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the most powerful person in the Southeast Asian one-party state. Lam has been instrumental in implementing the measures thus far.
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Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German President, visited Vietnam recently, despite Lam's involvement in a corruption scandal and the 2017 kidnapping case involving Trinh Xuan Thanh. In Vietnam, President Lam is under scrutiny for his luxurious lifestyle, including eating a gold-leaf decorated steak, and his hardline approach towards the Vietnamese democracy movement, leading to arrests of activists and bloggers.
Source: www.ntv.de
