In recent days, social media in Vietnam has witnessed a rare phenomenon: a series of bouquets of fresh flowers have been quietly brought by anonymous individuals and placed at the “Tree of Justice” in front of No. 55 Nguyễn Huy Tự Street in Hanoi.
It is reported that this location is the scene of the horrific traffic accident that occurred in late May 2025, in which 18-year-old student Do Ngoc Phuong Thuy was killed after being struck by a BMW X3 driven by former National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Sy Cuong.
It is known that Mr. Nguyen Sy Cuong is the husband of Ms. Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, the current Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and a close associate of General Secretary and President To Lam.
According to well-informed sources, Ms. Lam Thi Phuong Thanh—a member of the Party Central Committee—is the former Party Secretary of Lang Son Province and served as Deputy Chief of the Party Central Committee’s General Office when Mr. To Lam assumed power; following the 14th Party Congress, she became Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
Questions about Ms. Thanh’s background are one of the main reasons why public outrage across social media platforms—including Threads, Facebook, TikTok, and others—has flared up again with intense force more than a year after the accident, which had been in danger of being swept under the rug.
Notably, the outrage among Gen Z youth stems not only from the pain of the victim’s loss but also from the brutal suppression of information by government agencies.
Consequently, what began as a routine traffic accident has become a symbol of the fight against inequality before the law—a situation where citizens feel their rights and safety are disregarded in the face of powerful shields of authority.
However, behind the wave of calls for justice by Gen Z youth on social media, those well-versed in the inner workings of the government see a completely different picture, one filled with intricate plots and deeply calculated maneuvers.
According to them, the sudden resurgence of the case after more than 14 months is by no means simply a spontaneous awakening or the pure power of Gen Z, as many mistakenly believe.
Instead, this is very likely a carefully calculated move in the fierce internal power struggle among factions within the Ba Dinh leadership.
Most recently, a video clip over a minute long, capturing the moment the accident occurred at the scene from a security camera, was unexpectedly posted on social media.
Footage from the video shows the driver—Mr. Cuong—opening the door to step out and look around, after which a woman wearing a black outfit, believed to be Ms. Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, left the scene of the incident.
Notably, the video was suddenly leaked at a time when the position and influence of the head of the Communist Party of Vietnam were under significant pressure from conservative factions within the Party following the controversy surrounding the book *Chuyện Với Thanh*.
This reveals a familiar scenario in the power games of Vietnamese politics, where the people’s suffering and the community’s outrage are exploited as tools for “public denunciation” to eliminate political rivals among factions within the system.
The government’s intervention and efforts to suppress information only further expose its bungling of crisis management, as officials focus solely on quelling public backlash rather than presenting a transparent investigative conclusion to the public.
When the tragedy of a female student is turned into a pawn on the political chessboard of the ruling elite, the unfortunate victim continues to be buried beneath the fog of factional maneuvering—further eroding the public’s already fragile faith in the rule of law.
This raises a question for society as a whole: Is justice truly being sought through the compassion of Gen Z, or are we merely being captivated by a meticulously staged play designed to serve the power struggles among the elite in Ba Dinh?
Tra My – Thoibao.de
