Vietnamese president dies of illness
By Liu Gang
People's Daily app
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Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang died on Friday morning in a hospital in Hanoi at the age of 61, after a long time of illness, state media reported. 

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(Photo: Vietnam Plus)

"President Tran Dai died at 10:05 am on the 21st of September at the military hospital," the official Vietnam News Agency reported Friday.

In office as president since April 2016 after more than four decades at the powerful Ministry of Public Security, Quang had a reputation as a tough leader with little tolerance for dissent. 

Though he held one of the country's top four positions and was officially the head of state, his role as president was seen as largely ceremonial, greeting visiting leaders and hosting diplomatic events in a bid to boost Vietnam's profile on the world stage.

Quang had appeared thin and pale in public, and was unstable on his feet last week when he hosted a welcoming ceremony for Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Hanoi last week.

Born in northern Ninh Binh province, Quang attended a police college and rose through the ranks at various positions at the Ministry of Public Security before being appointed minister in 2011.

The National Assembly is scheduled to convene a session next month and expected to elect a new president.