Vietnam's president dies after viral illness

FILE PHOTO: Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang speaks during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi , Vietnam, 12 November 2017. REUTERS/Luong Thai Linh/Pool/File Photo

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang, a former chief of internal security who became one of the most high-profile leaders in the communist-ruled country, died on Friday after an illness, state media said.

Quang's rise, at a time of growing dissent on social media and challenges to the party's authority, signalled limits to Vietnam's liberal agenda, despite a growing openness to social change and sweeping economic reform, experts say.