The General Department of Defense Intelligence, also known as General Department II, is an agency of Vietnam’s Defense Ministry. This is a strategic intelligence agency of the Party and State of Vietnam, and a specialized military intelligence agency of the Central Military Commission and the Defense Ministry. The strong forces in the Four Pillars, usually the General Secretary and the Prime Minister, always seek to influence this unit, because when grasping this agency, they grasp the death graves of political opponents.
Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong is the Secretary of the Central Military Commission, which means that Mr. Trong is the highest leader in the Defense Ministry in terms of the Party. However, the size of the Ministry of Defense is very large. There are 22 members of the Party Central Committee, including 2 members of the Politburo. Therefore, the factions in this ministry are very complicated, it is intertwined with interests.
The Defense Ministry has annual budgets highest among budgets of all the ministries and branches. In 2022, the Communist Party of Vietnam spent more than $7 billion on the defense budget. In particular, the annual budget to buy weapons is very large. But for diplomacy with foreign partners to buy weapons, the military intelligence will be responsible for taking the lead in this regard. Therefore, who controls the General Department, will know the secrets of political opponents and have huge profits related to lucrative arms deals.
The head of General Department II from 2014 to present is Lieutenant General Pham Ngoc Hung, also known as Hung Tut. Mr. Hung is too old to hold this position since 2014. However, with the advantage of keeping the boss’s secret in his hands, Mr. Hung has been able to extend his term at General Department II until now, and still refuses to give up.
Pham Ngoc Hung is said to be close to Pham Minh Chinh. and turned Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan into an arms dealer, under the guise of a businessman. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan is also acquainted with Mr. Pham Minh Chinh. According to inside information, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan ran away before the probe against her was ordered, because of intelligence sources from Mr. Pham Ngoc Hung. Now, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan is causing Mr. To Lam a headache to track down, because there is news that she is hiding abroad.
Currently, the case of Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan is very tense. Mr. To Lam has reportedly sent people around the world to search for whereabouts and could kidnap people if needed. In the newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan violated economic contracts between her AIC company and local authorities. Behind the scenes, however, is a bigger problem. The billion-dollar contracts of the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense with the Israeli military contractor are the graves of Mr. Pham Minh Chinh’s faction.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan’s crime has been investigated by the police and the court, but that is only a reason to pursue and arrest this woman. Once she is captured, the political situation between the General Secretary’s faction and the Prime Minister’s faction will change much. But in order to find out Ms. Nhan’s mistakes, General Department II is the clue.
On January 7, Mr. Pham Minh Chinh signed a decision to appoint Major General Tran Cong Chinh, Deputy Director of General Department II to hold the position of Political Commissar of General Department II. This is the proposal of Mr. Pham Ngoc Hung, because the Political Commissar is where Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong’s faction has the strongest influence in the Defense Ministry. Before that, at the end of December 2022, Mr. Pham Minh Chinh also appointed Lieutenant General Le Quang Minh, Political Commissar of General Department II to hold the position of Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army.
Currently, the power of Mr. Pham Minh Chinh is seriously injured, when up to 3 Deputy Prime Ministers have to leave their positions. The General Department of Military Intelligence is the place for him to protect his political power, otherwise it will be difficult to maintain his position until the end of the Prime Minister’s term.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
