The trial of Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan of Advanced International Company (AIC) at Quang Ninh Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital did not stir up public opinion in the country much, because in the past few days, public opinion has focused on the story of top model Ngoc Trinh.
However, international public opinion is very interested in Nhan’s case. On October 24, Nikkei Asia published a commentary titled “Nhan’s corruption case is political one.”
According to Nikkei Asia, the trial taking place in Quang Ninh is aimed at incumbent Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh because he was the party’s Secretary of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee in the 2011-2015 period. Chinh is considered an opponent of Minister of Public Security To Lam in the Communist Party, and the case may be related to a power competition within the Party. It is not difficult to realize that this is the competition for the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party in the next term.
Nhan’s complicated relationships with the political apparatus of the Communist Party of Vietnam were revealed abroad. After that, overseas Vietnamese newspapers reported the information to domestic readers. Even though the Communist government tried everything to stop it, news still leaked into the country from outside. Currently, Vietnamese people tend to look for Vietnamese-language news sites based abroad to get news.
The trial in absence of Nhan is a failure of Minister To Lam and also of CPV’s General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Nikkei Asia quoted Trong as saying in August: “The criminals can not escape, we will do everything in our power to bring Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan to justice.”
This statement from Trong will put great pressure on police chief To Lam. And perhaps, To Lam tried everything to arrest Nhan, but was not successful. This Japanese newspaper reiterated the information that in August, a German newspaper reported that Nhan was hiding in Germany. This is reminiscent of a previous case, which occurred in 2017, when another corruption suspect fled to Germany from Vietnam.
In the report to the National Assembly on mutual legal assistance activities in 2023, Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long said that Vietnam has sent 13 extradition requests to countries and 40 requests to hand over people serving prison sentences. As for the German newspaper TAZ, the Vietnamese side sent a request to extradite Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, but the German side refused. Perhaps, the extradition request sent by the Vietnamese side to the German side is one of the 13 requests above.
Up to this point, Minister To Lam has not been able to complete the task of arresting. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan that the General Secretary requested. To Lam is facing a very difficult time, because arresting Nhan can only be done in two ways, either by requesting extradition, or by kidnapping, and calling for her to surrender to receive leniency is just a wish for luck and cannot threaten Nhan.
The extradition request was rejected, and kidnapping again would be very risky. If To Lam commits another kidnapping in Germany, the victim will not be Nhan, but the kidnapping group under To Lam’s orders. Arresting Nhan is an impossible task for Mr. To Lam.
On May 4, 2022, the British newspaper The Diplomat published an article by author David Hutt, mentioning the role of Nhan in Vietnamese politics. This author said that, according to unverifiable sources, she is the former lover of both PM Chinh and incumbent Defense Minister Phan Van Giang. To some, the arrest warrant for Ms. Nhan stems from the ongoing battle between the country’s highest-ranking politicians.
Author David Hutt did not name “some people” who wanted to arrest Nhan. However, it is not difficult to guess that it is Nguyen Phu Trong. In addition, there are Vuong Dinh Hue and To Lam, who are on the same side as the General Secretary. And the Nikkei Asia newspaper also quoted Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong’s words like that.
Ms. Nhan is a big pawn on the Communist Party’s political chessboard. Nguyen Phu Trong is trying to force To Lam to capture this businesswoman, however, until now, the police chief is still at a loss, with no possible solution.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
