Vietnam’s defense minister Phung Quang Thanh arrives in Hanoi, ending death rumors Vietnamese Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh (in gray suit) enters a car at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on July 25, 2015.Tuoi Tre Vietnamese Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh arrived Saturday in Hanoi from France, where he had undergone treatment for a lung tumor, officially quashing rumors of his death. The Vietnamese minister waved and smiled at people who waited to meet him at the Noi Bai International Airport, after leaving a Boeing 777 operated by national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines. The minister traveled on business class and did not need the help of any special health equipment, a military source with knowledge on the matter spoke to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper prior to his arrival. Thanh looked slimmer but still healthy, according to a Tuoi Tre reporter who witnessed the minister leave the Vietnam Airlines aircraft. Thanh, who German news agency DPA last week alleged to have died, then entered a military-run car heading for the heart of Hanoi. At 7:20 am the military car reached General Thanh’s home in Vinh Phuc Ward in Ba Dinh District, where Lieutenant General Phi Quoc Tuan welcomed him with flower. Gen. Thanh received surgery on a lung tumor in France on June 30, the Board for Protection and Care of Health of Central-Level Officials announced on July 1. Minister Thanh, 66, had arrived in the West European country a week earlier for treatment before undergoing the operation, the board said. His tumor was a benign one, according to Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) newspaper, which cited board chief Nguyen Quoc Trieu. The minister has suffered from a chest injury received during wartime, and the wound has over time caused fibrosis in a part of his lungs, according to a source close to Tuoi Tre.   German news agency DPA reported earlier this week that Vietnamese Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh died in France on July 19. The story, reported from Hanoi, alleged that Gen. Thanh had died the same day at a French hospital where he was being treated for lung cancer, citing an anonymous military source. The German news outlet added that the source declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the matter. However, Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, rejected the report on Monday. Lt. Gen. Tuan affirmed that the DPA report about Gen. Thanh’s death is unfounded. “This is a manner of irresponsible journalism,” the official said. During his treatment in France, Gen. Thanh still made regular phone calls to Vietnam to direct work under his authority, he added. TUOI TRE NEWS