What To Lam was trying to say and portray in London

In his new role as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam’s foreign trips increasingly resemble those of a head of government or a president rather than a party leader.

His official visit to the United Kingdom in late October made that distinction unmistakable. Amid Vietnam’s urgent need for external funding to sustain its ambitious 8.5% GDP growth target, To Lam is acting less like an ideological guardian and more like a pragmatic dealmaker, sent overseas to restore confidence, attract investment, and rebrand the regime’s global image.

Once known as a hardline security chief, he is now recasting himself as the ultimate power broker: the one who controls both the Party’s internal machinery and its external diplomacy.

‘Humanitarian justice’ campaign

Just before his UK visit, state-controlled media released three judicial updates that appeared unconnected yet formed a carefully timed narrative:

• Trinh Van Quyet, the former FLC Group chairman convicted of fraud and stock market manipulation, fully repaid over 2.5 trillion dong (US$95 million) in damages and became eligible for a reduced sentence.
• Dinh La Thang, former Politburo member and transport minister convicted of corruption and economic mismanagement, was officially declared to have “no remaining assets” to fulfill his 825 billion dong ($31.4 million) restitution order.

Taken together, the message was unmistakable: leniency is for sale. Those who cooperate, pay up or stay loyal can be forgiven; those who resist will remain behind bars.

For insiders, the timing suggested more than legal reform – it hinted at a political reconciliation between To Lam and the powerful financial network of former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (“Ba X”).

By floating the idea of mercy for figures like Dinh La Thang, To Lam was signaling to investors and party elites alike: the regime is open again for business, and even fallen oligarchs can rejoin the system under new management.

The Ministry of Public Security recently promoted a “four-stage leniency model,” allowing offenders to reduce sentences through restitution and cooperation.
It’s marketed domestically as “humanitarian justice,” but in practice it entrenches a two-tier system:

• For Party elites, law functions as negotiation.
• For ordinary citizens, law functions as punishment.

The disparity is glaring. Trinh Van Quyet, after repaying billions of dong, saw his 21-year sentence reduced to sevenand was released four years earlier than that reduced term, a clear demonstration of how wealth and cooperation translate into mercy.

In contrast, Le Thanh Nhat Nguyen, a member of the Tinh That Bong Lai community, a group at the heart of Vietnam’s freedom of religion controversy, repaid nearly all 300 million dong he was accused of taking but refused to plead guilty. For that defiance, he received nine years in prison.

This selective leniency lays bare Vietnam’s reality of rule by law, not rule of law, a legal system wielded for control, not justice.

Unsettling purges

To Lam’s UK visit aimed to reset Vietnam’s international image after years of political purges that unsettled many investors. Official readouts emphasized cooperation on trade, renewable energy and digital finance.

Yet behind the formal statements was a deeper goal: rebranding the regime as capable of pragmatic reform without political liberalization. It’s a delicate balancing act.

To Lam must project openness to Western capital while assuring the Party’s conservative base that no ideological lines will be crossed. This dual performance – reform abroad, control at home – defines his new leadership style, a blend of economic realism and authoritarian consolidation.

But his diplomatic charm offensive collided with an uncomfortable reality. Just as To Lam arrived in London, BBC News publicly disclosed that one of its Vietnamese journalists had been stripped of their passport and interrogated for several days while visiting family in Vietnam.

The BBC urged Hanoi to return the journalist’s passport immediately so they could resume their work. British Foreign Office spokesperson reaffirmed that the UK’s commitment to press freedom is “clear and firm.”

The timing of the revelation could hardly have been worse. While To Lam was presenting Vietnam as an open, investment-friendly partner, his government’s actions against the media told a different story.

Several former BBC Vietnamese contributors have privately said they are regularly “visited and reminded” by security officers whenever their reporting touches senior officials, a subtle form of pressure that stops short of overt censorship but effectively enforces it.

In London, To Lam’s mission was to convince Western investors that Vietnam remains a stable, predictable partner, despite its worsening human rights record and tightening political control.

By selectively forgiving convicted tycoons and projecting a softer image abroad, he is re-engineering the Party’s legitimacy through the language of economics rather than ideology.

If he succeeds, Vietnam may enter what insiders already call a “red-capital era” a return to the Nguyen Tan Dung-style fusion of business and state power, but this time fully centralized under To Lam’s authority.

Collective to personal rule

To Lam’s London trip captures the essence of Vietnam’s current transformation. He is no longer merely the former security chief — he has become the institution itself, merging Party, state and security into one authority.

At home, he governs through law as instrument; abroad, he speaks the language of markets. His rise symbolizes Vietnam’s shift from ideology to pragmatism, from collective leadership to personal rule.

Whether Western investors interpret that as stability or stagnation will shape not only Vietnam’s next economic chapter but also how far the world is willing to trade democratic values for authoritarian predictability.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, known as Mother Mushroom, is a Vietnamese writer and human rights commentator based in Texas, United States. She is the founder of WEHEAR, an independent initiative focusing on Southeast Asian politics, human rights and economic transparency.