A former Communist Party official has been sentenced to 13 years in jail in Vietnam after the most high-level trial in decades. Former Politburo member Dinh La Thang was found guilty of economic mismanagement over losses in state oil firm PetroVietnam. Foreign investors in Vietnam will welcome a fairer, more predictable set of business practices as the government pursues the heads of local firms over corruption, analysts believe. Some see the trial as part of an effort to assert political control, with similarities to President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive in China that took down one foe after another, writes Atsushi Tomiyama for Nikkei Asian Review.

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