Shrouded in Secrecy: Việt Nam’s Government Reform and the Question of Transparency

Bảo Khánh and Sùng Chính wrote this Vietnamese article, published in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 17, 2025.

A sweeping government restructuring campaign is underway in Việt Nam, but crucial details about the process may be deliberately kept from public view. On May 17, 2025, the Politburo and Secretariat of the Communist Party issued Conclusion No. 155, directing the completion of core streamlining tasks for the country's organizational apparatus by June 30.

Critically, a key directive within Conclusion 155 is to "prevent the disclosure of state secrets and internal information related to the organizational restructuring process." This implies that many aspects of the reform—which will significantly affect citizens' lives—are now classified as “state secrets.”

This move follows previous announcements from government websites in major provinces and cities, including Hà Nội, Hồ Chí Minh City, and Hưng Yên, about strengthening the protection of state secrets during such reforms. This raises a fundamental question: Is designating reform-related information as state secrets truly necessary, or is it a tactic to control a narrative that should be transparent and publicly accessible?

How Does Vietnamese Law Define a "State Secret"? 

Under Vietnamese law, the power to classify information as a "state secret" is defined by the 2018 Law on Protection of State Secrets. According to Article 2, a state secret is any important information determined as such by the head of an authorized agency. This information can exist in any form, including documents, items, locations, or even spoken words.

However, for information to be legally classified as a state secret, it must meet two crucial criteria:

1. It must not have been previously made public.
2. Its disclosure or loss must pose a potential harm to national interests or security.

The law further narrows the scope for what can be considered a political state secret. Clause 1, Article 7 specifies that this category is limited to key information concerning:

• Party and State policies on internal and external affairs.
• The operations of the Central Committee, Politburo, Secretariat, and top leadership.
• Strategies regarding ethnic and religious affairs that relate to national security or public order.
• Information that could negatively affect the political or socio-economic landscape.

Information falling into these categories must still meet the two primary criteria of being non-public and potentially harmful if disclosed. The gravity of these classifications is underscored by the 2015 Penal Code, which outlines severe criminal penalties for offenses like espionage (Article 110) and the intentional or unintentional disclosure of state secrets (Articles 337 and 338).

Is Information About Government Streamlining a State Secret? 

The government streamlining campaign, a core directive of the Communist Party, is set to bring major changes that directly affect citizens' rights and daily lives. For example, the rearrangement of commune-level cadres—the officials closest to the people—impacts routine administrative processes and has sparked public debate.

Therefore, any decisions related to this restructuring should arguably be made transparently and be subject to public oversight. This principle is supported by numerous Vietnamese laws and official statements:

1. The 2016 Law on Access to Information states: "Restrictions on access to information must be prescribed by law, necessary for reasons of national defense, security, public order, social morality, or public health."
2. The National Assembly's own Resolution 190 emphasizes public disclosure and ease of access for individuals and organizations.
3. Articles 2, 3, and 28 of the 2013 Constitution affirm:
   1. Citizens have the right to participate in state and social governance and to voice opinions on local and national matters.
   2. The State shall ensure transparency and responsiveness in handling citizens' feedback.
4. General Secretary Tô Lâm himself has stated that the process must be "objective, cautious, democratic, scientific, and methodical" because it affects citizens' interests.

Given this strong legal and political basis for transparency, the Politburo's directive to conceal information about the process has been questionable.

As previously noted, the Law on Protection of State Secrets requires that information only be classified if its disclosure could harm national interests.

The authorities have provided no clear explanation as to how information about administrative restructuring meets this standard. Although, the Hồ Chí Minh City People’s Committee claims that disclosure could enable hostile forces to “distort and sabotage the restructuring process” — But is this sufficient justification or is the term “state secret” overused?

This is not the first time the "state secret" classification has caused public concern.

In May 2024, two former government officials, Nguyễn Văn Bình and Vũ Minh Tiến, were arrested under Article 337 for "deliberately disclosing state secrets." Before their arrests, both men were known for their work in pushing Vietnam’s labor laws closer to international standards, particularly the right to freely associate.

Their arrests are believed to be tied to Directive 24, an internal Politburo directive that invokes "national security" to justify sweeping restrictions on civil society.

As Project 88, a human rights organization, noted, the directive's true aim appeared to be the consolidation of one-party rule. VOA Vietnamese also questioned what "state secrets" two labor experts could possibly possess.

The government's current aim to prevent leaks related to restructuring, viewed in the context of these past events, risks becoming a major public concern, especially without a convincing legal basis that meets the standards set by its own laws.

Upcoming Administrative Reforms 

The National Assembly has now formalized the sweeping reforms in a series of key votes. On June 12, it passed Resolution 202, which officially reorganizes the country into 34 administrative units, comprising 28 provinces and 6 centrally-governed cities. This was followed on June 16 by the final approval of the amendments to both the 2013 Constitution and the Law on Local Government Organization.

As a result of these decisions, Việt Nam will officially adopt a two-tier local government structure (province and commune) on July 1, formally eliminating the district level. The government also plans to cut 20% of its staff as part of the reorganization, a move outlined in Decree 154/2025/ND-CP.

With the legal framework in place, the Ministry of Home Affairs is scheduled to complete a comprehensive review of the process and submit its findings to the Government by September 20; new data on land area and population will be finalized by December 31 and will be used to guide 2026-2030 term.