Vietnam’s new PM a surprise, but won’t herald change in approach to US, China: analysts
- Former intelligence agent Pham Minh Chinh was a dark horse candidate to head the government, observers say
- His bid to set up three special economic zones for foreign investment sparked public protests in 2018 over concerns of Chinese influence
“Only a small segment of the people know him. That is why almost all Vietnamese people were shocked and surprised when they learned the news that he would be the new prime minister,” said Pham Quang Minh, a former dean of the University for Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi.
But with collective leadership still the norm in Vietnam’s single-party communist state, Minh added that he did not expect 62-year-old Chinh to reinvent national policies.
His job as head of government is unofficially considered the second-most powerful position among what is colloquially known as the “four pillars” of state power. Nguyen Phu Trong, 76, stayed in the top post as general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, while incumbent Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, 66, became the president – a largely ceremonial role – in what was widely viewed as a demotion by observers.
