By South China Morning Post | Created at 2026-08-31 10:32:05 | Updated at 2026-08-31 11:58:16
1 hour ago
A tree in
Hanoi has become a symbol of how Vietnam’s Gen Z views its country – but it is not the enviable growth story sold by the government.
Tree 55 on Nguyen Huy Tu Street – now dubbed the “Justice Tree” – was buried under bouquets earlier this month. It was an act of digital-age defiance over the death of a teenager in a road traffic accident in the area that went unpunished.
Response to the accident, which triggered a belated explanation from the state, reveals unease with a system many young Vietnamese no longer believe can deliver on its socialist promises, analysts say.
The Communist Party is seen to be cracking down on free expression since the rise of To Lam, a former police chief who is now both president and party general secretary – perhaps the most powerful Vietnamese leader in decades.
The national narrative is one of a Southeast Asian nation on the rise, with region-topping economic growth and an international profile to match. But there is also simmering discontent from its 100 million population – especially from youth, connected to parts of the internet even one of the world’s tightest surveillance regimes is slow to reach.
Tree No 55 is a case in point. Last May, 18-year-old Do Ngoc Phuong Thuy and her father were hit by a BMW that swerved into their lane. The seriously wounded teenager died 10 days before her high school graduation exam.
