October 17, 2025
Private sources said that currently, former Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien is held in detention in Bac Ninh. Incumbent General Secretary To Lam of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has not yet made it public to the press. However, it is likely that this information will be made public before the 14th National Congress of the party to get people’s opinions.
The two projects of Bac Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital, Facility 2, built in Ha Nam province are being attributed to the then Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, because she wasthe minister who must take responsibility for the violations she managed. However, if we dig deeper into the issue, the story is not like that, Tien is just a „sacrificial goat“ for a bigger figure. This figure once ruined the Vietnamese economy.
It is known that on January 16, 2014, them Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed Decision 125/QD-TTg approving the investment in the Viet Duc 2 and Bach Mai 2 hospital projects in Ha Nam province. This is considered an exchange of favors between the PM and the Provincial Secretary at that time Mai Tien Dung. Tien, as a subordinate of PM Dung, had no other choice but to accept the project. She had 2 options, either to withdraw or to accept.
It is not known which part of the project was embezzled, but in the end, the two projects were abandoned due to lack of capital. These two projects were exposed to the public for many years without being handled. There is an opinion that Mai Tien Dung wanted to contribute to his homeland Ha Nam with 2 lifelong projects, but in fact, they were 2 projects drawn up for personal gain rather than for the purpose of serving the local people. People suspect that this is a project that then Secretary Dung and PM Dung drew up to make money and then withdraw.
In 2016, PM Dung retired while Secretary Dung was promoted to Minister and Head of the Government Office of the government headed by Nguyen Xuan Phuc. If the above two projects were continued, more budget would have to be poured in. Because the projects were drawn up by people to share profits and now let Phuc handle them, he did not do it because he got nothing from the two projects.
When he first became General Secretary, To Lam reopened the case of these two unfinished hospitals and then arrested former Minister Tien because he thought that she was the main character causing the above violations. However, Tien was only a Minister, how could she dare to tear up Decision 125/QD-TTg approved by PM Dung. Yet, To Lam arrested the former Minister of Health.
In fact, in this case, the person who caused the violation must be counted as former PM Dung, not former Minister Tien. Sje should only be considered an accomplice because she was the executor.
The attack on Tien has helped the former Prime Minister remain safe. This is a gift that To Lam gave to his former „big brother.“ As a former minister, Tien has no chance to fight against the incumbent General Secretary and a powerful former Prime Minister.
Those who are well-informed about the Vietnamese leadership know for sure that To Lam arrested the „wrong“ person. However, on the political chessboard in Vietnam, is there any fairness in competition? The strong still win, the weak lose, there is no other rule.
The National Congress is coming, To Lam needs a key figure who is hated by the people to make achievements for the General Secretary and that person is none other than the former Minister Tien.
Former PM Dung, even after retirement, still makes the political arena turbulent and full of injustice. As for the General Secretary, in order to please his “big brother,” he distorted justice. So does this General Secretary have the strength to lead Vietnam to the “era of rising up”?
