Real estate tycoon’s death sentence is a turning point in Vietnam’s anti-corruption campaign

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL
Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan’s death sentence is a pivotal moment in Vietnam’s anti-corruption drive. The unusually harsh death sentence given to Lan Thursday has left the Vietnamese business community wrestling with an uncertain future. Analyst Nguyen Khac Giang says that the death sentence for a private business person under Vietnam’s Blazing Furnace anticorruption campaign takes the Southeast Asian nation to “uncharted waters.” With the future uncertain, foreign investors are jittery. All this has dampened Vietnam’s economic outlook and made local businesses uncertain about the future. And, despite the decadelong campaign against graft, public opinion about corruption in Vietnam remains mixed.