Vietnam's top leader Trong dies at 80 after long rule

By Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio

HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam's ruling Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong died on Friday after holding the country's most powerful position for 13 years during which he oversaw fast economic growth, a years-long anti-graft crackdown and a pragmatic foreign policy. He was 80.

Trong's duties have been temporarily assigned to President To Lam, a rising star within the party who could further consolidate his powers if he is allowed to keep the two roles.

Trong died in the early afternoon "due to old age and serious illness", the Communist Party said in a statement, without elaborating further on the nature of the illness.

The statement cited information from Trong's medical team, saying he died "after a period of illness, despite being wholeheartedly treated by the Party, the State, a collective of professors, doctors, leading medical experts".

Lam had taken over Trong's duties on Thursday as the party chief was ailing. The party will now need to decide whether Lam will be formally appointed as acting party chief until the current term for the post expires in 2026, or whether it will elect a new head before then from within its ranks.

Trong hosted both U.S. President Joe Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping in Hanoi last year, boosting relations with both countries despite increasing tensions between the U.S. and China.

Biden expressed his condolences, saying he was a champion of deep ties between the United States and Vietnam. The people of both countries "enjoy greater security and opportunity today because of the friendship between our two countries. That is thanks to him," Biden said, praising him for being the first Vietnamese party leader to visit the United States

Although Vietnam officially has no paramount ruler, Trong was the country's most powerful figure as party general secretary and had been in the post since 2011.

He secured a third term in 2021 after a rule limiting holders to two terms as party boss was waived, demonstrating his strength and significant political clout in a party that has ruled unified Vietnam for nearly half a century.

But in recent months, he appeared fragile in public events and missed several top-level meetings.

A consolidation of power under Lam was seen by some business people and analysts as potentially positive to speed up decision-making in the Southeast Asian nation, which is home to large factories of top multinationals, including Samsung, Intel, Canon and Apple's top supplier Foxconn.

A clear shift to Lam's leadership "could moderate political instability and factional infighting, at least in the short term," said Peter Mumford, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Eurasia Group, saying that would be beneficial to economic growth.

But some diplomats and activists saw also risks of a crackdown on civil liberties and a drift toward more autocratic, China-style rule, if Lam were allowed to concentrate more unchecked powers in his hands, in a break with the party's tradition of collegial decision-making.

After Trong's death was announced, public events were cancelled across the country until July 25 while state-run websites had their banners turned black and white.

State broadcasters ran a documentary about Trong titled: "General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong: a steadfast, intellectual, exemplary leader".

Bars in the capital, Hanoi, declined to serve drinks or play music on Friday evening. Several Vietnamese Facebook users changed their profile picture into a national mourning flag.

MARXIST-LENINIST

Trong was educated in the Soviet Union and was regarded as a Marxist-Leninist ideologue, but he nonetheless nurtured ties with the United States.

In 2017 he unleashed what many saw as a China-style crackdown on corruption, known as "blazing furnace", under which hundreds of officials were investigated for graft and many forced to quit, including cabinet ministers, a parliament chairman and two state presidents.

The operation had a chilling effect on investment.

Lam, a former chief of the powerful internal security agency, has been a key player in that campaign and was elected president in May after his predecessor resigned amid accusations of unspecified wrongdoing.

China's Communist Party also sent a message of condolence to Vietnam, calling him a "staunch Marxist" and "a good comrade, brother and friend," state media reported.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Martin Petty and Frances Kerry)