Vietnam’s Marxist-Leninist veteran leader and former president Nguyen Phu Trong has died. He was 80. He led Vietnam for more than a decade overseeing rapid economic growth and more recently trod a fine line in elevating ties with both China and the U.S. with his ‘bamboo diplomacy.’
- Trong became the Communist Party’s general secretary in 2011, a position that in one-party authoritarian Vietnam gave him the key levers of power. He also served as Vietnam’s president from 2018 to 2020.
- In foreign policy, Trong advocated having “more friends, fewer foes” while being as flexible as bamboo.
- Vietnam’s leaders followed the so-called “bamboo diplomacy,” under which the country’s approach to fortifying ties with major powers and growing foreign investment amid rising geopolitical competition is said to resemble bamboo that bends in the wind without breaking.
