General Secretary cum State President To Lam has achieved some results during his working trip to the US. This is an unexpected result, although, nominally, these are just activities of the head of state of Vietnam within the framework of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
Despite pressure from the “conservative” elements in the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, including figures who were close associates of the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and dominated by the military leadership, Lam’s staff was still able to arrange for him to meet US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the UN Summit.
According to insiders, in order to meet Joe Biden this time, General Secretary cum State President Lam decided to shorten his visit to Cuba – a communist ally in the Western Hemisphere.
Observers believe that Lam’s visit to Cuba is only aimed at appeasing the resistance of conservative elements within the party, especially the military generals.
According to some comments, the purpose of Lam’s visit to the US is to prove to Vietnam’s senior leaders that he can ensure a balance in relations between the US, China and Russia, especially in defending and protecting Vietnam’s sovereignty, in the face of increasing encroachment from Beijing.
Notably, during the meeting with President Biden, the seat to the right of Lam had 4 members of the Politburo.
The fact that Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Nghia – Head of the Central Committee’s Commission on Propaganda and Education, sat in a higher position than Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang, is a very unusual manifestation. Meanwhile, General Nghia often showed signs of disagreement with Lam.
What does that have to do with the information that the Commission on Propaganda and Education ordered the removal of To Lam’s statement about “American friends”
The BBC reported that Lam attended an event to celebrate the 1st anniversary of upgrading relations, and towards the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the US, organized by the Asia Society on September 23. The event was attended by former Democratic Senator and former US Secretary of State John Kerry, Senator Dan Sullivan, and many other high-ranking US officials and former officials, Vietnamese people in the US as well as American friends.
Immediately afterwards, on the same day, September 23, the online newspaper Tuoi Tre published Lam’s original speech at the event.
The speech reads:
“During the August Revolution, the American friends were the only foreign force besides President Ho Chi Minh, and were invited to attend the Declaration of Independence Ceremony on September 2, 1945, and witnessed President Ho quoting the American Declaration of Independence. That day, at the historic Ba Dinh Square, the slogan ‘Welcome the American delegation’ stood out on the stage.” This speech was shared and commented on by many people on Facebook.
But on September 26, when a BBC reporter accessed the above article of Tuoi Tre online, this paragraph was no longer there. It is currently unclear why this was removed, and who ordered it.
What does the above have to do with Beijing’s reactions to launching intercontinental missiles before the meeting between Biden and Lam?
There are opinions that Beijing is pulling the strings of its “conservative” henchmen, who are still numerous in the Communist Party of Vietnam, to overthrow General Secretary Lam. Lam will likely face no small “disasters.”
Tra My – Thoibao.de
