Title: Anti-corruption versus political security: reflection on the Vietnamese context

Authors: Vu Cong Giao

Addresses: School of Law, Vietnam National University Hanoi, E1 Building, 144 Xuan Thuy Road, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract: This paper demonstrates that key driving force of anti-corruption attempts of Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) is concern about the damage that corruption is causing to its legitimacy. This leads to strict control of the CPV over civil and political rights during anti-corruption process, which springs up from the fear that these rights may be used to raise the people against the mono leadership of the CPV. The author believes that, the CPV's anti-corruption strategy is strongly influenced by Lee Kuan Yew's theory, in which democracy is not an indispensable factor for economic development and fighting corruption. Because of this, the CPV is now facing a dilemma: constraining political freedoms makes the anti-corruption work at standstill, while tolerating those freedoms may cause risks for the mono leadership of the CPV in the country. The author concludes that, without more far-reaching political reforms, corruption in Vietnam can not be dealt with.

Keywords: Vietnam; corruption; anti-corruption; political security; political freedoms; human rights; civil rights; political rights; Communist Party of Vietnam; CPV; economic development; political reform.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDIPE.2014.060745

International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy, 2014 Vol.2 No.1/2, pp.42 - 70

Published online: 17 Jun 2014 *

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