State funeral held for former Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh
A state-level funeral was held in Hanoi on September 15 for General Phung Quang Thanh, former Politburo member, former Vice Secretary of the Central Military Commission and former Minister of National Defence.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent a wreath to commemorate General Phung Quang Thanh, while many incumbent and former national leaders attended the funeral.
Lao Ambassador Sengphet Houngboungnuang led a delegation from the Lao Embassy in Vietnam to pay tribute to the late General. The Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and the Ministry of Defence of Laos also sent flowers to mourn General Phung Quang Thanh.
The memorial services for General Thanh was held from 1:30pm the same day.
In his eulogy at the funeral, Politburo member and Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, head of the organising board of the funeral, underlined that General Thanh was a brave communist, a talented leader and commander with high prestige of the Party, State and military of Vietnam. His death is a great loss of the Party, State, military and people of Vietnam, leaving deep sorrow to Vietnamese people, his family as well as foreign friends, Minh stressed.
General Phung Quang Thanh passed away after a period of illness at 3:45 am on September 11 at his private home in Hanoi.
He was born on February 2, 1949 in Thach Da commune, Me Linh district, Hanoi (formerly in Vinh Phuc province).
He was a member of the 9th, 10th and 11th Party Central Committee, member of the Politburo of the 10th and 11th Party Central Committee, and deputy of the National Assembly in the 11th, 12th, and 13th tenures. He was awarded the rank of General in July 2007.
His military career was a shining example of heroic fighting spirit, resilience, will and efforts to rise up. General Phung Quang Thanh was honoured with the Ho Chi Minh Order, the title ‘Hero of the People’s Armed Forces’ and many other noble titles./.
