Lê Khả Phiêu

Lê Khả Phiêu (27 December 1931 – 7 August 2020[2]) was a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from December 1997 to April 2001.[3] Lê Khả Phiêu served in the Vietnam People's Army during the First and Second Indochina Wars, join in the Cambodian war, and was Head of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army.[4]

Lê Khả Phiêu
Lê Khả Phiêu, 2014
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam
In office 26 December 1997 – 22 April 2001
Preceded by	Đỗ Mười
Succeeded by	Nông Đức Mạnh
Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party
In office 29 December 1997 – 22 April 2001
Preceded by	Đỗ Mười
Succeeded by	Nông Đức Mạnh
Personal details
Born	27 December 1931 Đông Khê commune, Đông Sơn District, Thanh Hóa Province, French Indochina
Died	7 August 2020 (aged 88) Hanoi
Cause of death	Serious illness
Political party	Communist Party of Vietnam (1949–2001)
Military service
Allegiance	Vietnam
Branch/service	Vietnam People's Army
Years of service	1950–1997[1]
Rank	Colonel General
Commands	Chairman of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army Political Commissar of the High Command of the Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers in Cambodia
Battles/wars	Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Vietnam War, First Indochina War

Lê Khả Phiêu has previously been viewed as a conservative.[5] However, this categorization has been challenged by historian Martin Gainsborough, who notes that Lê Khả Phiêu made some remarkably outspoken comments about problems in the party before the Tenth Party Congress. Lê Khả Phiêu criticized what he called 'illness of partyization' (bệnh đảng hoá), meaning that the Party controls everything.[6] Lê Khả Phiêu was a protégé of his predecessor, Đỗ Mười.[7] He was elevated to the Politburo in the early 1990s.[8]

Early life

Lê Khả Phiêu was born on 27 December 1931 in Thượng Phúc village in Đông Khê District in Thanh Hoa Province. In 1945, he joined the local Viet Minh movement and joined the Indochinese Communist Party on 19 June 1949.

On 1 May 1950 he was sent by the Viet Minh to join the army. He began to grow up as a second lieutenant, advancing to the position of Company Politician in the 66th Regiment of the 304th Division. From September 1954 to 1958, he held the post of Deputy Political Officer member of the battalion and then 66th Regimental Political Chair.

Death

Lê Khả Phiêu died on 7 August 2020 in Hanoi, after suffering from serious illness, at the age of 88.

A 2-day mourning period for his death was decreed nationwide in Vietnam from 14 to 15 August 2020. He was buried at Mai Dịch Cemetery in Hanoi.

References

1. "Former Party Chief Lê Khả Phiêu". Ministry of Public Security. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
2. Nguyên Tổng bí thư Lê Khả Phiêu từ trần, Former General Secretary Le Kha Phieu dead
3. Gainsborough 2010, p. 143
4. The A to Z of Vietnam Bruce M. Lockhart, William J. Duiker – 2010 p205 Lê Khả Phiêu
5. Bolton 1999
6. Gainsborough 2010, 137
7. Bolton 1999, 177
8. Bolton 1999, p. 180

References

• Bolton, Kent (1999): "Domestic Sources of Vietnam's Foreign Policy: Normalizing Relations with the United States". in Thayer, Carlyle A., Amer, Ramses (ed.): Vietnamese Foreign Policy in Transition. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
• Gainsborough, Martin (2010): Vietnam – Rethinking the State. Zed Books, London & New York