HANOI -- Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party, appears to be borrowing from Chinese President Xi Jinping's playbook. Like Xi, Trong is using an aggressive anti-corruption campaign to attack political foes and push his policy agenda.
One high-profile target is Dinh La Thang, once a member of the all-powerful Politburo and a former chairman of PetroVietnam, one of the biggest state-owned enterprises. Thang, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for "economic mismanagement" in January, is now facing additional criminal charges over alleged mismanagement of the oil giant in a trial that began on March 19.
