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Key Events Hà Nội’s Military Parade Drills for National Day Highlight Strains in Crowd Control; Political Shake-Up in Hồ Chí Minh City as Party Congress Nears; Politburo Push for Uniform Textbook Sparks Clash With Reform Goals; 28 Defendants Indicted in Đà Nẵng High Court Bribery Network; Unusual Path of Typhoon Kajiki Brings Heavy Rain, Destruction to Central Provinces. Military Parade Drills for National Day Highlight Strains in Crowd Control in Vietnam’s Capital Hà Nội is in full preparation mode for the upcoming 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (A80), with a large-scale military parade and rehearsals taking place across the city. But instead of solemn anticipation, the buildup has been marked by traffic chaos, crowd disorder, and public frustration.

From Aug. 21 to Sept. 2, authorities closed multiple central roads to facilitate parade drills and event organization. The closures, combined with the draw of rehearsals themselves, have led to heavy congestion on key streets. Crowds of onlookers surged into restricted areas, resulting in pushing, shoving, and even scuffles as people vied for better vantage points to watch the parade formations.

The chaos has also left a visible mark on the city’s landscape. Sidewalks, public squares, and decorative plants were trampled or damaged within hours of rehearsals, prompting criticism over what many called a lack of civic awareness. Commentators stressed that such behavior undermines the solemnity expected of a military parade celebrating national independence.

Others, however, have defended the crowds, suggesting the unruly scenes stem from patriotic enthusiasm and excitement to witness military units march in full formation—an opportunity not often available to the general public. Calls for greater empathy toward citizens’ eagerness have gained traction on social media, even as images of damage and disorder circulated widely.

The disruptions have extended beyond the parade grounds. Road closures have significantly affected daily commuting, with online forums buzzing with posts offering “detour tips” and alternative routes to avoid gridlock. The situation escalated on the night of Aug. 24, when the Cát Linh–Hà Đông metro line was forced to suspend operations after stations became dangerously overcrowded. Witnesses described crowds pressing forward, pushing, and jostling to enter train platforms, forcing the authorities to shut down services for safety reasons.

As Hà Nội heads toward the official celebration on September 2, questions remain over how authorities will balance crowd management, civic order, and public enthusiasm during the main parade. For now, what was meant to be a carefully choreographed display of military strength and national pride has instead revealed the strains of managing mass gatherings in a city of more than eight million people.

Top-Level Leadership Shifts Jolt HCMC Ahead of Party Congress HCMC is witnessing another major shift in its top leadership as its Party Secretary Nguyễn Văn Nên and Standing Deputy Party Secretary Nguyễn Thanh Nghị are reassigned to central roles, while Trần Lưu Quang is set to return to the south to take over the city’s most powerful political seat.

On Aug. 25, the city announced the Politburo’s decision to relieve Nguyễn Văn Nên of his post as party secretary of HCMC and his positions in the city’s Party Committee and Standing Committee. Nên will now serve as a permanent member of the Documents Subcommittee for the Communist Party’s 14th National Congress, while continuing to oversee the city’s party operations until Congress convenes.

The Politburo has assigned Trần Lưu Quang, currently head of the Central Policy and Strategy Commission, to succeed Nên as the party secretary of HCMC. Quang’s move marks his return to the southern metropolis, where he previously held senior posts before being elevated to the central apparatus.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Thanh Nghị, the son of former Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, will replace Quang as head of the Central Policy and Strategy Commission. Nghị has served as standing deputy party secretary of HCMC since January 2025, playing a key role in the city’s political administration.

The latest changes underscore a broader pattern of volatility in HCMC's leadership over the past two party terms. Perhaps the most striking episode was the downfall of Đinh La Thăng, who was removed from office, arrested, and later sentenced to prison for corruption while serving as the party secretary of HCMC. That case highlighted how the city’s top post is one of the most politically sensitive and closely monitored positions in Vietnam.

Hồ Chí Minh City, as the country’s largest urban center and economic engine, is a critical political battleground. Its party secretary is invariably a member of the Politburo, the Communist Party’s highest decision-making body, ensuring the city’s affairs remain tightly bound to the party’s national agenda.

With the Communist Party’s 14th National Congress scheduled for early next year, analysts expect further shifts in the city’s leadership as the balance of power within the party continues to evolve.

The reassignment of Nguyễn Văn Nên and Nguyễn Thanh Nghị, alongside the return of Trần Lưu Quang, signals that HCMC will remain at the forefront of political maneuvering in the months leading up to the Congress.

Politburo Push for Single National Textbook Sparks Heated Debate On Aug. 22, 2025, the Politburo issued Resolution 71 on breakthroughs in development and education. The resolution mandates raising the education budget to at least 20% of national spending, increasing teachers’ salaries, improving infrastructure, and waiving tuition fees and textbook costs for students.

While the education funding commitments were welcomed, the resolution has ignited intense controversy over its call to build a single, unified set of textbooks for the entire country. This move reverses earlier policies that encouraged diversity in textbooks under Vietnam’s education reform initiatives.

The debate was triggered on Aug. 13, 2025, when the National Assembly Standing Committee proposed adopting one uniform set of textbooks and tasked the Ministry of Education and Training with compiling this. The move came despite Minister Nguyễn Kim Sơn urging lawmakers to reconsider and not assign his ministry the job of producing a single official set of textbooks.

Critics argue that such a measure would undo years of reforms aimed at decentralization and innovation in education. Nguyễn Thị Tịnh Thy, an educator, posted on Facebook that the plan represents a policy regression, effectively rendering all other textbooks “almost nullified.”

Nguyễn Vinh Hiển, former deputy minister of Education and Training, criticized the proposal as a return to outdated thinking. “This idea likely stems from old education mindsets: a ‘command-and-control’ model overly focused on knowledge transmission, contrary to the goal of building an open, socialized, and holistic education system,” he said.

Public opinion, however, appears divided. While many readers on mainstream news platforms voiced support for the single-textbook plan as a practical short-term solution, others underscored the legal and systemic implications.

Vũ Thanh Tâm noted that under the 2019 Education Law and Resolution 88/2014 of the National Assembly, the principle of “one program, multiple textbooks” had already been established as a safeguard against monopoly and to ensure innovation in education materials.

With the 14th National Congress approaching and education a central theme in national development, the clash between policy reformers and central authorities underscores broader tensions over whether Vietnam’s education system should remain pluralistic or return to a centralized model.

Ex-Judges and Prosecutors Among 28 Defendants in Đà Nẵng Bribery Case The Investigation Agency of the Supreme People’s Procuracy has indicted 28 individuals involved in a sprawling case of judicial bribery at the Đà Nẵng High People’s Court (before its merger into the current structure).

According to the indictment, four former judicial officials face charges of receiving bribes. They include two former deputy chief judges: Phạm Việt Cường, who allegedly accepted 970 million đồng ($36,819), and Phạm Tấn Hoàng, who took 140 million đồng. Also indicted are Nguyễn Tấn Đức, accused of taking 315 million đồng, and Vũ Văn Tú, a former judge in Đắk Lắk Province who allegedly received 270 million đồng shared by Đức.

Another 17 individuals have been charged with acting as bribery brokers. They include former prosecutors, judges, court bailiffs, and freelance intermediaries who allegedly facilitated payments to influence trial outcomes.

The remaining seven defendants face charges of giving bribes, among them Nguyễn Xuân Hưng, former chief judge of the People’s Court in Đắk Đoa District, Gia Lai Province, along with several associates.

Investigators revealed that the case is linked to a network of over 20 criminal and civil cases in which bribes were paid to secure reduced sentences, suspended trials, probation rulings, and favorable decisions on appeals and cassation petitions.

One of the most striking allegations centers on Nguyễn Thị Nga, former deputy head of the Civil Review and Supervision Department at the Đà Nẵng High People’s Court. Nga is accused of receiving more than 8.6 billion đồng in bribes and playing a central role in arranging favorable outcomes in at least 15 cases.

Earlier, Phạm Tấn Hoàng had turned himself in after admitting he accepted 140 million đồng to reduce a sentence for a convicted murderer. To date, 16 of the defendants have voluntarily returned more than 1.1 billion đồng in illicit gains.

The scale of the scandal, involving senior judges, prosecutors, and court officials, has drawn significant public attention as one of the most far-reaching judicial corruption cases in Vietnam in recent years. The case is now expected to proceed to trial, with widespread implications for public trust in the justice system.

Typhoon Kajiki Batters North Central Vietnam, Leaves Trail of Death and Destruction Typhoon Kajiki has wreaked havoc across Vietnam’s north central provinces, leaving at least three people dead and 13 injured, while tens of thousands of homes were damaged or flooded.

Kajiki was marked as an unusual storm: it moved swiftly over the East Sea but slowed dramatically once making landfall, at times becoming stationary and looping erratically. It maintained wind speeds of level 8–9, with gusts up to level 11, for more than 12 consecutive hours.

The provinces of Hà Tĩnh, Nghệ An, Thanh Hóa, and Quảng Trị bore the brunt of the storm, experiencing gusts and torrential rains reaching 500–600 millimeters in some areas.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the storm destroyed or severely damaged more than 6,800 homes, while nearly 3,100 others were submerged, disrupting the lives of thousands of residents. In addition to immediate losses, prolonged heavy rains have raised the risk of secondary disasters such as flash floods and landslides, particularly in hilly and midland regions.

The storm’s impact was not limited to central Vietnam. Hà Nội also endured prolonged heavy rainfall, causing widespread flooding that paralyzed transportation and daily life in many districts. In some areas, flooding was so severe that residents resorted to using inflatable rafts to navigate city streets.

The Hà Nội Drainage Company attributed the capital’s flooding to a combination of factors: extended downpours, outdated drainage systems in the city’s four inner districts, and poorly coordinated infrastructure.

As recovery efforts continue, both local authorities and residents face the challenge of repairing widespread damage while preparing for potential after-effects, including rising floodwaters and unstable terrain. Kajiki has once again highlighted the growing vulnerability of Vietnam’s coastal and urban regions to increasingly unpredictable extreme weather conditions.

Quick Takes: Former Hán Nôm Institute Researcher’s Suicide Raises Questions On Aug. 16, Hoàng Phương Mai, a former staff member of the Institute of Hán Nôm Studies, died by suicide. She had been dismissed in March 2025 after being suspected of leaking ancient documents from the institute’s library, a charge some believe may have been the responsibility of others. On Aug. 26, the institute issued a statement defending its decision, citing regulations and concluding Mai had failed her work responsibilities for three consecutive years (2022–2024). The case has drawn public attention for its unanswered questions.

HCMC Plans 325 Hectare Land Clearance for Cần Giờ Metro A proposed 48.5 km metro line from former District 7 to Cần Giờ, backed by VinSpeed (Vingroup), will require the clearance of more than 325 hectares of land and nearly 7,500 billion đồng in compensation, according to a city report. The Department of Agriculture and Environment noted that the city budget is already stretched by urgent projects, making it difficult to allocate funds. Officials suggested the investor could advance compensation costs to be reimbursed later, or have them included directly in project expenses.

Việt Nam Ends State Monopoly on Gold Bar Production The government issued Decree 232 on Aug. 26 on gold trading, officially abolishing the state monopoly on producing gold bars, as well as importing and exporting raw gold. Under the new rules, licensed banks and enterprises may produce gold bars if they meet capital requirements—at least 1,000 billion đồng for companies and 50,000 billion đồng for banks. The decree also mandates that gold transactions worth 20 million đồng or more per day must be settled via bank accounts, a move aimed at tightening oversight and transparency in the gold market.

Nguyễn Thị Bình Awarded Labor Hero Title by General Secretary Tô Lâm General Secretary Tô Lâm has conferred the title of “Labor Hero” on Nguyễn Thị Bình (Nguyễn Thị Châu Sa), former Central Committee member, vice president of Vietnam, and foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam. Bình is best known as the head of Vietnam’s delegation at the Paris Peace Talks (1968-1973), which ended the war and restored peace in Vietnam. The Labor Hero title is among the state’s highest honors, granted to individuals or groups with outstanding contributions to national construction and defense, typically approved and awarded by the president.

Việt Nam Insight: Learn more about Việt Nam China, Vietnam Tensions Rise in South China Sea Semafor/Prashant Rao/ Aug. 27

“Vietnam accelerated island-building efforts in contested waters of the South China Sea, drawing a rebuke from Beijing and concentrating attention on a growing maritime dispute.

China said it would take ‘ necessary measures ’ to combat the Vietnamese effort, outlined in a recent US think tank report, insisting that the region was its ‘inherent territory.’

Several Southeast Asian countries contest that interpretation, however, and have accused Beijing of using aggressive tactics to force them into giving up their maritime waters: This month, a Chinese naval destroyer came close to ramming a Philippine coast guard vessel , an incident that ‘underscores how a single miscalculation could spark a wider conflict ,’ a Bloomberg columnist warned.”

Public Enthusiasm Turns Chaotic as Hà Nội Hosts Parade Rehearsals for National Day; Hồ Chí Minh City Sees Major Leadership Shake-Up Ahead of Party Congress

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Military Parade Drills for National Day Highlight Strains in Crowd Control in Vietnam’s Capital

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