The parliament in Hanoi is meeting Thursday in a special session on “personnel matters,” fueling speculation that President Vo Van Thuong may be pushed out. The official reason is likely to be related to provincial corruption scandals – but behind the scenes, Vietnam’s top leaders are vying for a position to replace ailing Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong.
Trong is 79 and was hospitalized in January with an undisclosed illness. Rumors even swirled that he had died before he appeared in parliament, still alive, but looking feeble.
“Since then, there has been increased politicking within the Communist Party, as people try to gain a lead over the others in succeeding Trong,” says Melinda Hoe, a Vietnam expert at the Eurasia Group.
Vietnam’s presidency is largely ceremonial, but whoever holds it is in serious contention to succeed Trong after the 2026 Party Congress. And Vietnam’s in need of capable leadership: With falling birthrates and low incomes, the country needs to get rich – before it gets old.
Xi Jinping has spent three years gutting his own military leadership. Five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission – China's supreme military authority – have been purged since 2023, all of whom were handpicked by Xi himself back in 2022.
In this episode of GZERO Europe, Carl Bildt examines how an eventful week in Davos further strained transatlantic relations and reignited tensions over Greenland.
In this episode of "ask ian," Ian Bremmer breaks down the growing rift between the US and Canada, calling it “permanent damage” to one of the world’s closest alliances.
For China, hitting its annual growth target is as much a political victory as an economic one. It is proof that Beijing can weather slowing global demand, a slumping housing sector, and mounting pressure from Washington.