Vietnam Scotches Rumor that Senior Official has been Poisoned

Vietnamese authorities on Wednesday denied widespread rumors that a popular senior communist party official had been poisoned with radioactive material by a political rival, state media said.

Nguyen Ba Thanh, 61, a former top official in Danang who helped turn the coastal city into a tourism and investment hub, is due to return to Vietnam this week after months of medical treatment in the United States.

There has been an explosion of rumors online in recent days that Thanh -- who now heads the communist party's main anti-corruption body -- was poisoned with radioactive substances by an adversary.

These rumors are "wrong" said Tran Huy Dung, deputy head of a government committee in charge of the health of senior officials, according to a report on the state-run news website VietnamNet.

Thanh suffers from a blood disorder for which he has been undergoing treatment in Singapore and the U.S., the report said.

"There have been so far no symptoms of poisoning," said medical professor Pham Gia Khai, in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Wednesday.

Experts say Thanh is a rare talent among officialdom in the country of 90 million where red tape abounds and corruption is rampant.

Unusually for a communist party official, he is popular with the public, and hundreds of people have visited pagodas in Danang this week to pray for his health, state media have reported.

Under Thanh's leadership, Danang has become the main hub of central Vietnam, with a vibrant tourism industry and a growing reputation as a tech center. He was transferred to Hanoi by the party in 2013.

"Social networks reported bad information that Thanh had been poisoned with radioactive substances due to infighting for political power," said Nguyen The Ky, deputy head of the party's propaganda commission, according to VietnamNet.

All newspapers and television channels are state-run in Vietnam, but many citizens prefer to read online blogs, which contain less propaganda.

The quality of the blogs is uneven and while some dissident-run sites offer nuanced reporting on sensitive political topics, others spread sensational rumors.

It is rare for Vietnamese authorities to directly address rumors spread online.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has in the past lashed out and banned particular blogs, but the move has usually backfired, triggering a surge of interest in the prohibited sites.

The Communist Party of Vietnam is currently holding key meetings to prepare for a party congress and leadership change in 2016.