Le Duc Anh Lê Đức Anh ( born 1 December 1920 ) is Vietnamese general and politician . He was president from 1992 until 1997 after leading the Vietnamese forces in Cambodia throughout the 1980s . He was regarded as a conservative who advocated maintaining tight party control over domestic policies . He was born in Phú Lộc District , Thừa Thiên – Huế Province . Military career . August 1945 , he joined the army . From October 1948 to 1950 , he was chief of staff of the 7th Military Region , 8th Military Region and administrative region of Sai Gon – Cho Lon . From 1951 to 1954 , served as Deputy Chief of Staff , acting Chief of Staff of Cochinchina . From August 1963 , he served as Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Vietnam People ' s Army . February 1964 , to the South Vietnam , position of Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the People ' s Liberation Armed Force ( Vietcong ) . As a general Anh was the commander of the Vietnamese forces in the People ' s Republic of Kampuchea in the 1980s . He formulated five key points for the defence of Cambodia against Khmer Rouge re - infiltration and was the architect of the unpopular K5 Plan . Political career . Later he entered politics and he held a succession of government posts . During his time as Defence Minister General he was already a major conservative voice in Vietnam ' s political system . In 1989 , after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe , he warned about the alleged threat of the West undermining Vietnam ' s Communist Party , arguing for more army involvement in politics " at a time when Vietnamese socialism was under attack " . From 1991 ( to 1993 ) Anh controlled Vietnamese policy towards Cambodia and China at the expense of foreign minister Nguyễn Cơ Thạch and therefore was involved in the normalisation of Vietnam ' s relations with China in November 1991 . He was the first Vietnamese president to visit Beijing in 38 years since an official visit in November 1993 to discuss economic relations and territorial disputes in the South China Sea ; however , consensus was achieved only on the former issue . President . In September 1992 he was elected to the new post of state president , replacing a collective presidency . Although a mostly symbolic position , the presidency became much more important during his tenure . Anh is considered by many to have been ( ideologically ) the most conservative among the three political leaders during his tenure . Prime Minister Võ Văn Kiệt was associated with the reform camp and therefore often disagreed with Anh . Secretary - General of the Communist Party of Vietnam Đỗ Mười was ideologically more flexible and effectively came to be seen as representing the middle ground between Anh and Kiệt , but seems to have tended towards conservative positions . His opposition to Kiệt ' s reform ambitions are part of a long - lasting rivalry . In 1991 , Anh joined Đỗ Mười to support him in his candidacy for party leadership against Võ Văn Kiệt . The Kiệt camp later spread rumours about wrongdoings Anh was said to be involved in Cambodia . Resignation . In mid - November 1996 , he was hospitalized after a major stroke . This was at a time when the reform camp that he opposed was in decline and for some time his illness seemed to change the dynamics within the political leadership , weakening the conservative camp and reinvigorating the reform camp . However , Party leader Đỗ Mười led a counter - attack against the reform camp , warning of the dangers of the ' current market economy ' . The conservative camp gained further momentum when Anh surprisingly recovered in April 1997 . He stepped down as president in September 1997 after the Communist Party Congress and was replaced by Trần Đức Lương . He was an Advisor of the Party ' s Central Committee from December 1997 – 2001 .