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Tran Dai Quang

The new Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) leadership was introduced at the party's 12th national congress 28 January 2016. Quang is "a hardliner" who had little tolerance political activists. For the first time in history, a Minister of Public Security [which controls the secret police, as well as the regular force] was elected President, responsible for court blocks - procurator, as well as decisions of domestic policy and foreign affairs of the State. Tran Dai Quang was nominated to run for the post of the country's president by the CPV. Quang was a Member of the Party Central Committee X, XI, XII, and Member of the Political Bureau XI, XII.

By July 2015 Tran Dai Quang, then minister of Public Security, had been floated as a compromise candidate for party general secretary. But he was the youngest member of the politburo and has no economic experience. At that time, some observers believed he was likely to be moved to the post of party chief of Ho Chi Minh City, which would broaden his experience beyond internal security, positioning him to assume the top party post at the next congress in 2021.

In his new position as President, General Tran Dai Quang better able to solve the overlapping of responsibilities between the police force , Procuratorate, the Supreme people's court. According to Resolution 49-NQ / TW of the Politburo on "Judicial Reform Strategy until 2020", the President is Head of the Steering Committee of the Central Judicial Reform Communist Party of Vietnam, oriented to mechanisms and policies and measures to implement effective reform of the Justice system.

The President has the right to request the Provincial Party Committee, Party group, the Party Commission and the Party Central Committee to provide information, contribute ideas for the text in the field of Justice and reporting results of the implementation of Resolution 49-NQ / TW of the Politburo, and the resolutions, directives, decisions and conclusions of the Justice reform areas of the Central Executive Committee, the Politburo, and the Board Secretariate.

The President may request the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to reconsider before announcing ordinances and resolutions of the National Assembly. With these functions, plus the advantage of understanding the laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, General Tran Dai Quang will direct the work of judicial reform and the proposed fix some shortcomings laws related to legal proceeding.

President Tran Dai Quang has died on 21 September 2018 aged 61 after prolonged serious illness. Quang died in a military hospital in Hanoi from a "serious illness despite efforts by domestic and international doctors and professors", Vietnam Television reported. Quang had appeared thin and pale in public and was unstable on his feet a week earlier when he hosted a welcoming ceremony for Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Hanoi.

Quang had been ill for months, said former health minister Nguyen Quoc Trieu, who now oversees health care for high-ranking officials. “He began showing symptoms of illness in June last year and has been treated in Japan six times since,” Trieu told Reuters. “He suffered from a kind of highly virulent virus, for which there has not been any efficient treatment.”

He often appeared uncomfortable in the public eye and lacked the charisma of some of his peers in the upper echelons of the party. In an interview with the AFP news agency in 2016 before a visit by the former French leader Francois Hollande, Quang read from a prepared statement and was quickly escorted from the room by staff when a question went off-script.

Early Career

Tran Dai Quang was born on 12 October 1956 in Ninh Binh province where he grew up. In 1972 he attended the People's Police School. From 1972 to 1975 he was a student ath the School of Foreign Languages Department of Cultural Affairs (now the Ministry of Public Security). In 1975-1976 he served as an Officer in Political Protection Department I, Ministry of Interior. From 1978 to he was an Officer II in the Political Protection Department, Ministry of Interior.

From 1982 to 1987 Quang served as Deputy Secretary, political Protection Agency II, Ministry of the Interior; and was at the Security University (from 1981-1986). From 1987 to 1990 he was Chief of Staff, Head of Business, political Protection Agency II, Ministry of the Interior. At the same time, he did advanced theoretical study at the Academy of Nguyen Ai Quoc (1989-1991).

From 1990 to 1996 Quang served as Deputy Secretary of Party Committee, Deputy Director of Staff for Security and Deputy Director General in charge of Security Staff Department, General Department of Security. He was also enrolled in the Hanoi University of Law (1991-1994).

From 1996 to 2000, he was a Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of General Security, Party Secretary, Director of Staff for Security. He was a graduate student at the National Academy of Politics and Ho Chi Minh (1994-1997). From 2000 to 2006 he was Deputy Secretary of Party Committee, Deputy General Director of the General Security, the Ministry of Public Security. Promoted to Major General in 2003; he was appointed associate professor in 2003 [he was promoted to full professor in 2009].

Promoted to Lt. General in April 2007, from 2006 through 2011, Quang was a member of the Standing Central Police Party Committee, Vice Minister of Public Security. At the Xth national Congress Party he was elected to the Party Central Committee. By 2009 MPS Minister Anh stepped aside, his successor will get an automatic promotion to the Politburo. As the clear front-runner for Anh's job, was Quang is also the front-runner for his Politburo chair.

In 2011 he was Commissioner of Police Standing Party Central Committee, Vice Minister of Public Security. At the national Congress Party he was elected to the Eleventh Party Central Committee, the Central Government elected to the Political Bureau.

In his capacity as Head of the Regional Steering Committee of the Central Highlands, for many years the problem of security and the economy in the region have been a of the General. How can economic development progress in the area? How will the region face geopolitical position important strategy, to premise maintain regional security? How to help the people here out of poverty and to get rich?

Minister of Public Security

In August 2011 the 13th National Assembly ratified the Prime Minister’s proposals on appointing the new cabinet. Lieutenant General Tran Dai Quang, a Politburo member, Deputy Minister of Public Security, was appointed as the new Minister of Public Security, replacing General Le Hong Anh. The Politburo has also dismissed two Deputy Minister of Public Security - Lieutenant General Bui Van Nam and Lieutenant General Pham Minh Chinh, both Politburo members - to be Party Secretary of Ninh Binh and Quang Ninh provinces.

The Minister of Public Security, Senior Lieutenant General Tran Dai Quang, was promoted to the rank of General. State President Truong Tan Sang attended the promotion ceremony in Hanoi on 29 December 2012 and presented the promotion decision to the Minister, who is also a Politburo member of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The President said the Party, State and people recognise the contributions that General Quang has made to the cause of protecting national security and social order and safety. He praised the General for his determination and efforts to overcome all difficulties and fulfill all tasks assigned to him.

The MPS is responsible for internal security and controls the national police, a special national security investigative agency, and other internal security units. The military performed public safety functions in border areas and supported coercive land confiscation operations on occasion. When "the hostile forces from abroad were aggressively conspiring to overthrow the regime... and plotting color revolutions in VN, this has posed many challenges to the interests and security of the country." Under the direction of the Minister, "the police force actively studied the situation, detecting, combating and preventing effective plotting activities" against them.

Vietnam frequently uses vaguely worded and loosely interpreted provisions in its penal code and other laws to imprison peaceful political and religious dissidents. These include “activities aiming to overthrow the people’s administration” (penal code article 79, penalty up to death sentence); “undermining national unity policy” (article 87, penalty up to 15 years in prison); “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” (article 88, penalty up to 20 years); “disrupting security” (article 89, penalty up to 15 years); “fleeing abroad or stay abroad to oppose the people’s government” (article 91, penalty up to life sentence); and “supplemental punishment” which strips former prisoners convicted of “national security” crimes of certain rights, puts them on probation for up to five years, and allows confiscation of part or all of their property (article 92).

Many activists report MPS officials assaulted prisoners of conscience to exact confessions or used other means to induce written confessions, including instructing fellow prisoners to assault them. In contrast with normal practice for nonpolitical prisoners, authorities routinely transferred political prisoners to facilities far from their families, making it difficult for family members to visit them. Some political prisoners reported being put in solitary confinement more frequently than were nonpolitical prisoners. MPS officials often prohibited reading and writing materials, especially for political prisoners.

In 2014 reports indicated officials or other agents under the command of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including reports of at least seven deaths of persons in custody, as well as several high-profile allegations officers abused use of lethal force. In most cases local authorities provided little information regarding investigations into these deaths, although the government increasingly held police officials responsible.

Religious leaders and former prisoners of conscience report MPS officials did not permit prisoners to conduct religious services or receive visits by religious leaders. Former prisoners reported authorities did not permit prisoners to have religious texts while in detention. MPS officials did not permit possession of legal texts other than official CPV publications.

By law security forces need public prosecutorial orders for forced entry into homes, but MPS officers regularly chose not to follow proper procedures to obtain such orders in the cases of activists and instead asked residents’ permission to enter homes with the threat of repercussions for failure to cooperate. The MPS maintained a system of household registration and block wardens to monitor unlawful activity. While this system was less intrusive than in the past, the MPS closely monitored individuals engaged in, or suspected of engaging, in unauthorized political activities. Family members of activists widely report incidents of physical harassment, intimidation, and questioning by MPS officials.

Many activists report MPS officials threatened university leaders if they did not expel activists from their respective universities, even though their political activities were peaceful. The MPS routinely prevented activists from peacefully assembling.

In November 2015 General Tran Dai Quang, reported to the National Assembly that from June 2012 until November 2015, “The police have received, arrested, and dealt with 1,410 cases involving 2,680 people who violated national security.” He said, “During this same period, opposition persons have illegally established more than 60 groups and organizations in the name of democracy and human rights, which have about 350 participants from 50 cities and provinces.”

According to Gen. Quang’s report, the police have “timely prevented activities of opposition persons in the country who stirred and agitated the people to gather, march, and protest against the Party and the State. [The police] have actively attacked against [opposition groups] in the political realm and divided and isolated leading figures in order to prevent them from gathering forces in the form of ‘civil social organizations.’” Gen. Quang insisted that the tasks for the police include “preventing any plan to form and publicize domestic opposition political organizations, as well as activities that form and publicize illegal groups and organizations on the Internet.”

During his time as Minister of Public Security, General Tran Dai Quang remade how the police wored to stabilize the security and order of the country. In 2015, there were 20,250 criminal offense, down 17.37% over the same period in 2014. The police discovered 15,881 cases, and quickly investigated and discovered some particularly serious cases. Along with that, forces discovered 11,349 cases of fraudulent appropriation of property, and promptly prevented tax evasion and illegal business.

2015 - International Travel

On foreign policy, Tran Dai Quang also achieved many important marks, especially in a visit to the US in 2015. He came into contact with a wide range of senior officials of the US Government, including the Minister of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the State Department, Defense Department, Association Council for National Security, Ministry of Justice, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and senior lawmakers of the US Congress.

The themes of hig meetingers were beyond the scope of a Minister of Public Security, and stretched from defense and security to trade and investment. An important part of this trip was to reinforce US support for Vietnam in the effort to protect waters in the South China Sea.

In March 2015 Minister Tran Dai Quang visited the United States as part of high-level exchanges and enhanced collaboration that mark the July 2015 20th Anniversary of the resumption of US-Vietnam diplomatic relations. The visit was an important step in implementation of the July 2013 agreement between President Obama and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to establish a new comprehensive partnership.

US Deputy Secretary Blinken met with Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang on 18 March 2015 at the Department of State. They discussed key bilateral and regional issues that reflect the strong and growing partnership between the United States and Vietnam.

General Tran Dai Quang old his US host that his country welcomes the strengthened cooperation between the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region, including Vietnam. General Quang made the statement during his meeting with Scot Marciel, State Department Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia and the Pacific, in Washington DC. Quang also expressed his pleasure at the sound development of bilateral relations in socio-economy, security, defense, and crime prevention, especially since the two countries established their comprehensive partnership in July 2013.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson met with Vietnam Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang to discuss a range of global security-related priorities, and expanding homeland security cooperation between the United States and Vietnam. Secretary Johnson and Minister Quang discussed law enforcement cooperation, information sharing, transnational threats, maritime security collaboration, and cybersecurity.

During the meeting, Secretary Johnson and Minister Quang discussed the potential for expanding joint approaches to address transnational crime, especially in combating human trafficking, protection of intellectual property rights, combating illicit finance, and bolstering cooperation in cyber investigations. Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Pham Quang Vinh and DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy and Chief Diplomatic Officer Alan Bersin were also in attendance.

Quang also held a separate meeting with Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of US Department of Justice Leslie Caldwell. Minister Tran Dai Quang also held talks with Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services; Senator Ronald Johnson, Chairman of the US Homeland Security; and Congressman Peter Welch. The Minister sought US Congress support to Vietnam in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement negotiations, and help boost the country's market economy status.

Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang concluded his official visit to Cuba on 25 March 2015. Before leaving the host country, Minister Quang met with Cuban Prosecutor General Dario Delgado Cura and informed him of the outcomes of talks between the two countries’ public security ministries. Delgado Cura said he believed General Quang’s visit will contribute to cementing the Vietnam-Cuba friendship and cooperation, particularly to further effective performance of the sides’ law enforcement agencies. Minister Quang also called for a center to monitor high-tech crime under the Cuban Interior Ministry and laid a wreath at the memorial for the late President Ho Chi Minh in La Habana.

Senior officials from the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security and the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) stressed the need to enhance collaboration in crime prevention at a meeting in Hanoi on 09 November 2015. Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang and Chief of the KNPA Kang Shin-myung agreed to implement more effectively the signed co-operation agreements and improve co-ordination mechanisms through increasing delegation exchanges, and mutual assistance in personnel training and technical equipment, aiming to deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Vietnam's police force has achieved important foreign policy achievements, the achievements including the extensive cooperation with the Organization of the International Criminal Police (Interpol) and law enforcement agencies in the country to fight against transnational crimes, especially cybercrime.

Public Policy Statements

A June 2007 article published on the Saigon Giai Phong Daily website (the “Organ of the Party Committee” of the Communist Party of Vietnam) provided background on the Law of Residence, indicating that it would render 2.2 million people already living without household registration in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi eligible to regularise their residency.

A subsequent article published on the Saigon Giai Phong Daily website on 28 June 2007 reported statements made at a press conference by Tran Dai Quang, Vietnamese Vice-Minister of Public Security, emphasizing that the new residence system was designed to be transparent. Tran Dai Quang stressed, “One of the key points of the new law is that citizens have the right to make inquiries about application formalities, and the police are responsible for providing them with necessary information.”

On November 19, 2015 Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang sent an urgent document to managers of departments of police asking police forces to curb the sale, transportation and consumption of fake fertilizer and pesticide nationwide.

On 08 January 2016 the Ministry of Public Security proposed letting local police use weapons given the number of people attempting to resist arrest or confrontations, especially with traffic police. Many people were using more desperate measures to avoid being apprehended by traffic police, often endangering the officers. General Tran Dai Quang, Minister of Public Security, said that 37 cases left nine injured police officers in 2015. Quang proposed to increase the penalties and let police carry weapons.

On 16 January 2016 Lieutenant General Tran Dai Quang, member of Politburo and Minister of Public Security, met with Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited leaders. At the meeting, the delegation was briefed about the company's achievements in 2015 and the production of Dung Quat Oil Refinery. The company also presented the delegation wih information about the implement progress of the refinery expansion project. Lieutenant General Tran Dai Quang highly appreciated the jobs of ensuring security and safety of Dung Quat Refinery over the time. He also requested the company leaders to increase the job of propaganda and education for all the staff and engineers.

The 12th National Party Congress in the morning of 22 January 2016 discussed important documents at a plenary session. Minister of Public Security General Tran Dai Quang highlighted positive changes in preventing and combating crimes and social evils, and improvements in Party-building and staff capacity, in terms of political ideology and professional skills.