What Vietnam’s leadership change could mean for Beijing, and the South China Sea dispute

China’s ties with Vietnam are expected to remain largely stable, observers say, even as uncertainty looms in Hanoi following the death of long-serving leader Nguyen Phu Trong.

Trong, 80, who died last week after a long unspecified illness, has left a mixed political and economic legacy after overseeing Vietnam’s rapid economic growth and a “blazing furnace” crackdown on corruption to consolidate the Communist Party’s power.