HANOI, Vietnam — Thousands of people lined the streets of Hanoi on Thursday to pay their last respects to Vietnam’s late President Tran Dai Quang. Many were using smart phones to catch glimpses of his flag-draped coffin as it passed by on a truck-drawn artillery carriage. Trong said Quang, who was public security minister before becoming president, had helped to “uncover and prevent many sabotage plots of the hostile and reactionary forces and other criminals.”As president, Quang, along with other leaders, sped reforms to develop Vietnam’s socialist market-oriented economy and worked to heighten Vietnam’s international role, Trong said. Quang became minister of public security in 2011 and was elected by the National Assembly as the nation’s president in 2016. Vice-President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh has been named acting president, the country’s first woman to hold that position.

Source: National Post September 27, 2018 02:46 UTC