Lê Khả Phiêu (; 27 December 1931 – 7 August 2020) was a Vietnamese politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam from December 1997 to April 2001. Lê Khả Phiêu served in the Vietnam People's Army during the First and Second Indochina Wars, join in the Cambodian war, and was Head of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People's Army.

Early life

Lê Khả Phiêu was born on 27 December 1931 in Thượng Phúc village in Đông Sơn district in Thanh Hoa Province. In 1945, he joined the local Viet Minh movement and joined the Indochinese Communist Party on 19 June 1948.

General Secretaryship

Phiêu was a protégé of his predecessor, Đỗ Mười.

Lê Khả Phiêu has previously been viewed as a conservative. However, this categorization has been challenged by historian Martin Gainsborough, who notes that Lê Khả Phiêu made some remarkably outspoken comments about problems in the party before the Tenth Party Congress. Lê Khả Phiêu criticized what he called 'illness of partyization' (bệnh đảng hoá), meaning that the Party controls everything.

In 1999, Phiêu visited Beijing, where he met General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin and announced a joint 16 Word Guideline for improved bilateral relations; a Joint Statement for Comprehensive Cooperation was issued in 2000. In 2000, Vietnam and China successfully resolved longstanding disputes over their land border and maritime rights in the Gulf of Tonkin, including the cession of land surrounding the Friendship Pass to China.

Phiêu delayed the signing of Vietnam's first bilateral trade treaty with the United States because he was concerned about the potential Chinese response.

Critics of Phiêu's foreign policy contended that he deferred too much to China.</small>

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|colspan="5"|Gold Star Order (2007)

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|Military Exploit Order<br>First class

|Military Exploit Order<br>Second class

|Military Exploit Order<br>Third class

|Resistance Order<br>First class

|Resolution for Victory Order<br>Third class

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|Feat Order<br>First class

|Feat Order<br>Second class

|Feat Order<br>Third class

|Medal for the Victory of Liberation<br>First Class

|Medal for the Victory of Liberation<br>Second Class

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|Medal for the Victory of Liberation<br>Third Class

|Liberation Order<br>First Class

|Liberation Order<br>Second Class

|Liberation Order<br>Third Class

|Victory Banner Medal

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|Glorious Fighter Medal<br>First Class

|Glorious Fighter Medal<br>Second Class

|Glorious Fighter Medal<br>Third Class

|Order of José Martí<br>(Cuba)

|Freedom Medal<br>(Laos)

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Other decorations include:

  • 65-year Party membership badge (2014)

References

;References

  • Bolton, Kent (1999): "Domestic Sources of Vietnam's Foreign Policy: Normalizing Relations with the United States". in Thayer, Carlyle A., Amer, Ramses (ed.): Vietnamese Foreign Policy in Transition. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
  • Gainsborough, Martin (2010): Vietnam – Rethinking the State. Zed Books, London & New York
  • Vietnam Entering the 21st Century, a 2001 collection of his works in PDF format