Thayer Consultancy Background Briefing:

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Vietnam: Anti-Corruption
Campaign Assessed
Carlyle A. Thayer
January 5, 2018

Q1. What is your assessment about the downfall of Dinh La Thang (in compared with
previous members of Politburo) as well as the first and unprecedented public trial
for former Politburo-member Dinh La Thang?
ANSWER: Of the five Politburo member disciplined since 1976, Dinh La Thang is the
only one to stand trial and face a lengthy term in prison. The first case was
exceptional and involved the defection of Hoang Van Hoan to China in 1979. He was
condemned to death in absentia. The other three cases included: In 1990, Tran Xuan
Bach was summarily expelled from the Politburo for holding views on political and
economic reform that differed from party policy. In 1996, Nguyen Ha Phan was
expelled from the party for views on the economy that ran counter to party policy
and for the fact that he was not honest in confessing past mistakes during the
American War. Also in 1996, Dao Duy Tung was suspended from his activities as a
Politburo member. In 2003 Le Hong Anh was relieved from his membership on the
Politburo, while Truong Tan Sang was reprimanded for failing in his duties as party
secretary in Ho Chi Minh City to prevent the Nam Cam criminal gang from
conducting its activities, and for committing mistakes in personnel work.
Q2. Trinh Xuan Thanh is facing the death penalty, while Dinh La Thang may receive
20 years in prison. Will this harsh punishment have a strong impact in curbing large-
scale corruption?
ANSWER: Trinh Xuan Thanh is the only one of twenty or so defendants to be given
the death penalty. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate concluded that Thanh was
not sincere, attempted to escape arrest and obstructed the investigation. Dinh La
Thang failed to effectively supervise his subordinates.
If Thanh is executed it will have an chilling effect on high-level officials who are
involved in massive fraud leading to major losses for the state. However, even in the
most advanced countries major fraud cannot be eliminated entirely. Individuals are
greedy and willing to take risks for the large benefits they hope to receive. In
Vietnam’s case, massive high-level corruption can only be curbed by having
autonomous investigative and audit agencies as well as a freer media that are
independent from political influence.
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Q3. What can be said about the determination of party Secretary General Nguyen
Phu Trong and his“iron fist” style to tackle corruption? What should be the bottom
line to fight against deep-rooted graft in Vietnam?
ANSWER: If the anti-corruption campaign continues at its present pace, at national
and provincial level, it will demonstrate the resolve of Secretary General Nguyen Phu
Trong to root out major corruption and graft.
The present anti-corruption campaign is the largest in scope since Vietnam was
reunified in 1976. This is the first time a member of the Politburo will suffer judicial
penalties for failure to curb corruption and fraud in the agency (PetroVietnam) over
which he had responsibility.
The bottom line in the anti-corruption campaign at the national level should be the
certification that all ministries and agencies represented in the Cabinet have
undertaken a proper audit to check for corruption and have taken steps against any
officials concerned. The certification should be extended to all state-owned
enterprises. A similar certification program should be conducted at provincial and
municipal level as well as in the private sector.
Q4. Some people compare the anti-corruption drive in Vietnam with what’s going on
in China. What is your view?
ANSWER: China and Vietnam, to a certain extent, share similar political systems and
models of development. It would be surprising if Vietnam’s leaders did not study
China’s experiences and the lessons learned. Two points should be made, however.
First, historically Vietnam learned from the land reform campaign in the 1950’s not
to adopt uncritically China’s experience. When Vietnam launched the campaign to
create high-level agricultural producers’ cooperatives it did not extend this campaign
to create Chinese-style communes. Second, China’s anti-corruption campaign is
being carried out by Xi Jinping, a party leader who has arguably accumulated more
power that Mao Zedong. In Vietnam’s case, while the anti-corruption campaign is
being led by the party Secretary General, it is being implemented by a collective
leadership.
Q5. What is your overall assessment of the anti-graft campaign in Vietnam right
now?
ANSWER: Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign has probably only discovered the tip
of the iceberg. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions
Index 2017, Vietnam ranked 113 of 176 countries that were surveyed. The anti-
corruption campaign has certainly uncovered fraud of large proportions – valued in
the millions of U.S. dollars – in one network. It remains to be seen if investigative
authorities can uncover and take action against other large-scale corruption
networks.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Vietnam: Anti-Corruption Campaign

Assessed,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, January 5, 2018. All background
briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the
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