Vietnam arrests deputy trade minister over graft allegations

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnamese police arrested a deputy trade minister over graft allegations on Thursday, with the country's communist authorities stepping up a crackdown on corruption.

Do Thang Hai, 60, a deputy minister of industry and trade since 2017, was taken into custody and was under investigation for his alleged involvement in wrongdoing at an oil trading company, the public security ministry said in a statement.

Earlier this week, police arrested a former party official in the Mekong Delta's Ben Tre province and a finance department director in Ho Chi Minh City in the same case.

All three were on a list published Wednesday of more than a dozen senior government and industry officials sanctioned by the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam. Five were involved in renewable energy planning.

Vietnam has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and a group of rich nations last year pledged to raise at least $15.5 billion to help get the nation off fossil fuels.

The government tolerates no opposition to one-party rule, with critics facing intimidation, harassment and restricted movement, and it has shown little appetite for dissenting voices on environmental issues.

In recent years, Vietnam has ramped up an anti-graft drive against corrupt officials and members of the country's business elite.

The sweep has been driven by powerful Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, who last month demanded the purge press ahead "faster and in a more efficient manner".

More than 3,500 people have been indicted across more than 1,300 graft cases since 2021.