Vietnam begins two days of mourning for powerful party chief

Vietnamese President To Lam paying his respects for the late general secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong at the national funeral house during the first day of a two-day-national mourning in Hanoi on Thursday, July 25, 2024. – AFP

HANOI: Vietnam began its two-day state funeral for Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, whose death last Friday (July 19) signalled a new era in the nation’s political power structure.

The ceremonies, which are drawing global dignitaries including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Hanoi, began early Thursday (July 25) morning with hundreds of Vietnamese lining up at a funeral hall to pay respects to Trong.