Why did Beijing soon reveal its plan to support To Lam to replace General Secretary Trong?

Up to now, the fact that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has health problems and has to be treated at Central Military Hospital 108, Hanoi, but is not “seriously ill” is quite a clear problem.

On social networks, there are two different, even opposing trends. The first trend is that Trong suffered a recurrence of his stroke like in 2019, to the point of being in a state of “coma, unconsciousness” even in a critical state. The second trend says that he is at the level of “not at the level of coma, but at the level of active emergency only.”

Most recently, the Facebook page namely Hau Cung revealed:

“I have an uncle in my hometown who is 80 years old this year. Suffered from asthma for many years. It was cold recently, my uncle woke up early and caught a cold, so he had difficulty breathing.

The family took him to the hospital and discovered a small tumor in his lung. Doctors said radiotherapy with new drugs was needed.

He still speaks and listens but is isolated due to fear of airborne infections. Anyone who visits him today can look through the glass.

This incident happened by accident and had nothing to do with the current General Secretary.”

The information just mentioned is basically the same as the information that is being widely spread on social networks these days. However, the theory that General Secretary Trong “pretends to be dead to catch crows” to test the hearts of his juniors is frequently mentioned by “loyal critical intellectuals” with the purpose of reminding those who do not want to lose “VND7.5 milion” of fines, or charges under Article 331 of the Criminal Code 2015.

The story of “pretending to be sincere” is still a hypothesis in contrast to the scenario of pretending to be sick – pretending to be dead to catch crows. Almost certainly, Trong is really sick, not just acting, that has been confirmed by reputable Western news agencies.

According to observers, if “Mr. Trong is really sick” is true, then the hypothesis that Beijing is behind his illness is difficult to rule out. In the not-too-distant past, there were many Vietnamese leaders who were overly excited in their relations with the United States, but were “disappeared.”

Standing member of the 12th Party Central Committee Secretariate Dinh The Huynh is a harsh lesson. Therefore, this time, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will not be an exception. Especially recently, Vietnam-China relations are clearly deteriorating.

Experts say that the leadership team to replace General Trong has long been carefully prepared by Beijing according to a single-line plan and absolute secrecy. That is completely consistent with the assessment of knowledgeable people, asserting that “Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security To Lam is relying on China to hold the highest power in the Party.”

On January 10, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported, “Minister To Lam wants China to help maintain the absolute ruling position of the Communist Party, the Socialist regime.”

The US-based agency quoted a news report from the Cong An Nhan Dan newspaper of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam, saying:

“On January 10, 2024, Minister of Public Security To Lam met with Chinese Deputy Minister of Public Security Chen Siyuan who came to Vietnam this time, on the occasion of the first deputy minister-level dialogue conference on Political Security, between the Ministries of Public Security of Vietnam and China.”

Accordingly, during the meeting, Minister To Lam proposed to the leaders of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, “theoretical and practical help in maintaining the absolute leadership of the Communist Party and the Socialist regime as well as the mechanisms for Party leadership and State management, anti-corruption, and absolute protection of the ruling position of the Communist Party and the Socialist regime.”

What was just mentioned is just one of countless pieces of evidence to prove that, for a long time, Beijing has been preparing a plan to replace General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong with a pro-China figure. It may even be a more fierce character in maintaining the totalitarian, authoritarian regime of the Communist state of Vietnam, which is inherently considered a copy of China.

A question that arises is, why did Xi Jinping and his leadership hastily “reveal” their plan to appoint Minister of Public Security To Lam to succeed Trong as General Secretary?

According to analysts, in addition to the reason that General Secretary Trong has turned 80 years old, he is old, weak, and has no use value. Publicly supporting To Lam is a message to individuals on the list participating in the race to win seats, as well as political factions within the current Communist Party of Vietnam, that they should be careful to not disobey Beijing’s will.

As a reminder, in early 2023, it was reported that, at that time, Minister of Public Security To Lam had refused the State President’s position left by Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The real reason is that To Lam wants to wait for the right time to replace Trong’s position as General Secretary, and does not want to hold the position of State President, which is considered formal figure without real authority.

Whether that is in the plan of Beijing or not, Thoibao.de will send you the answer in the following program./.