Vietnamese President Dies

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang died on Friday aged 61 at a military hospital in the capital Hanoi following a period of illness, state media said. Quang was appointed president, a largely ceremonial role, in April 2016, and served alongside Vietnam’s de facto leader Communist Party Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, CNN reported. Before that he served as minister of public security. As president, Quang was reputed to be tough on dissent, with his government overseeing a crackdown on rights groups. Quang was promoted through the Communist party’s ranks, rising to become a police general and member of the politburo. At an APEC meeting in Danang in November last year, he hosted a group of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.