"The Tree of Justice" against the elite: The accident shaking Vietnam
15 months after 18-year-old Do Ngoc Phuong Thuy was struck to death, state television confirmed that a former senior party official was driving the vehicle. The protest surrounding the "Tree of Justice" has become an unusual test for the regime against Gen Z.
A young woman in a red hoodie and large sunglasses stops her motorcycle near "Tree 55" on Nguyen Huy Tu Street in central Hanoi. She takes a picture, stares at the tree, and lingers there in defiance of plainclothes police officers.
This tree, as everyone in Vietnam already knows, is the place where 15 months ago, on May 25, 2025, an 18-year-old student named Do Ngoc Phuong Thuy was struck to death, just days before university entrance exams. The BMW vehicle that hit her and her father became the focus of an extraordinary civil struggle.
This week, after a creative outburst of anger by Gen Z members who turned the tree into the "Tree of Justice," state television confirmed what many had long claimed: Nguyen Si Cuong, a former senior official in the Communist Party who served until the beginning of the year as deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in parliament, was the one who sat behind the wheel.
According to the report, Cuong caused the accident when he drove illegally in the opposite lane, but was not prosecuted because he paid compensation to the victim's family, who chose not to file a complaint. What the state report omitted is a critical detail: the wife of the driver is none other than the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam.
According to a report in the "New York Times," in a one-party state, this official admission is an unusual surrender to public pressure. The authorities fear the youth movement demanding accountability, especially after Gen Z activists toppled leaders in Nepal and are shaking India. An internal document even revealed that officials in Hanoi ordered to downplay the coverage of the "cockroach protests" in India, for fear of a local rebellion.
Censorship ignited the anger — and the youth turned against the elite
The protest was ignited by censorship. When the popular local rapper MCK was forced to delete songs that cultural authorities defined as "vulgar," the youth were enraged and directed arrows at the Minister of Culture. Media outlets quickly reported on over a million posts that suddenly dealt with the hushed-up accident of her husband.
The anger reached a boiling point when security footage from the scene leaked to the web. In the documentation, the luxury vehicle is seen crushing the motorcycle. Cuong gets out of the vehicle, while a woman resembling the Minister of Culture picks up an object from the front seat, and the two flee without providing help.
Netizens quoted "The Hunger Games" and accused the minister of a cover-up. At the same time, anonymous claims were made that the sobriety test document presented on television was forged using artificial intelligence.
The regime's attempts to censor the anger, including the police throwing flowers around "Tree 55" into the trash, only fueled the protest. Young people began tying white ribbons to their bags and established virtual memorials.
As noted in the "New York Times," the public anger reflects deep frustration with corruption and the privileges of the elite. For the youth of Vietnam, the exemption from criminal trial for Cuong proves that the system serves as a shelter for those with capital and power, while the simple citizen is left to bleed on the road.
