US embassy cable - 03HANOI3187

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 003187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
(C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y - CORRECTING SECTION TWO, 
DELETING GARBLED TEXT) 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, VM, DPOL 
SUBJECT:  National Assembly seeks its own diplomats abroad 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: A new regulation passed by the National 
Assembly's Standing Committee (NASC) authorizes the National 
Assembly (NA) to delegate its own representatives abroad, 
and confirmed the power of the NA its Foreign Affairs 
Committee to coordinate all of the NA's external activities. 
According to NA sources, the GVN is also considering 
establishing a new inter-agency human rights committee to 
help coordinate policy and deal with criticism from abroad. 
Both efforts are likely more designed to whitewash Vietnam's 
image overseas than to deal substantively with contentious 
issues.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) The NASC passed a regulation during its October 
session ratifying a requirement for itself to discuss and 
approve annual plans of all NA external activities, 
including not only by the NASC but also various other NA 
committees and the NA's Council for Ethnic Affairs.  The 
Chairman of the National Assembly, who currently is also a 
member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Politburo, 
was entrusted with oversight of the preparation and 
implementation of external activity plans for the NASC, the 
NA Office (ONA), and various NA Committees, including the 
Foreign Affairs Committee.  According to a senior ONA 
Foreign Relations Department staff member, the external 
activities of the various NA committees had been conducted 
in an unsystematic manner prior to the passage of this new 
resolution, which at times had caused internal conflicts and 
tensions with the Foreign Affairs Committee. 
 
3. (U)  The Foreign Affairs Committee is now explicitly 
responsible for coordinating all of the NA's external 
activities, and is in charge of dissemination of information 
about those activities.  In addition, the Committee is 
tasked with coming up with recommendations and suggestions 
about issues involving national foreign policies, and 
providing comments on external activities conducted by the 
other GVN agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs. 
 
4. (U)  One novel aspect of the regulation authorizes the NA 
to delegate its own representatives to work at Vietnamese 
embassies abroad.  Chairman of the NA Foreign Affairs 
Committee Vu Mao told newspaper correspondents that the NA 
was initially planning to station representatives in 
Washington and Brussels (for the EU) to serve as a focal 
points for information exchange and research, as well as, 
more importantly, to lobby on behalf of Vietnam's interests. 
(Note:  It is unclear whether the NA has made any budgetary 
preparations for such postings.  End note) 
 
5. (SBU)  According to Chi Dzung (protect), editor-in-chief 
of the ONA's journal "Legislative Affairs," NA 
representatives abroad likely will include only one senior 
official, probably at the rank of counselor or minister 
counselor, to be sent to each of the two localities.  While 
technically under the supervision of the SRV ambassadors, 
these representatives will be instructed by the NA to work 
in a "quite independent" manner, including direct contacts 
with the NA Chairman and the Foreign Affairs Committee 
Chairman.  Dzung confirmed that at present the NA has no 
plans to send representatives to other embassies; the NA 
views the U.S. and the EU not only as Vietnam's two biggest 
economic markets but also the two "hot" spots with respect 
to human rights criticisms.  The NA representatives will be 
expected to address these concerns and help "explain the 
real situation," claimed Dzung. 
 
6. (SBU) Thu Ha (protect), a section chief from the ONA's 
Foreign Relations Department, separately said that the NA 
Foreign Affairs Committee has at times been "furious" with 
what she called a "lack of coordination" from related GVN 
agencies, especially the Ministry of Public Security.  She 
cited in particular the arrests and trials of activists at 
about the same time as a trip to Washington by Foreign 
Affairs Committee vice chairwoman Ton Nu Thi Ninh to present 
Vietnam's perspectives on human rights as an embarrassing 
and unnecessary setback.  She added that, in order to 
coordinate efforts better to deal with foreign criticism 
about domestic human rights conditions, the GVN is seriously 
considering the establishment of a national inter-agency 
committee on human rights.  She predicted that such a 
committee, which would likely be headed by Deputy Prime 
Minister Vu Khoan, would meet twice annually, and would have 
a standing board to instruct and advise related offices on 
"appropriate treatment" over human rights related cases. 
She claimed that "the NA is a strong supporter of such a 
proposal." 
 
7. (SBU) Comment: The desire to station its own 
representatives overseas is another sign of the NA's search 
for an enhanced role and the frustration of NA delegates 
about getting good information and portraying Vietnamese 
"realities" accurately.  It also likely reflects 
(C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y - CORRECTING SECTION 2, 
dissatisfaction with the performance of the MFA, along with 
a probable lack of understanding about how other foreign 
governments operate.  While Madame Ninh herself has wowed 
many USG interlocutors during her meetings, few in the ONA 
are up to this level of excellence, either substantively or 
linguistically.  The establishment of a committee on human 
rights might be helpful in internal policy coordination, but 
is probably more aimed at whitewashing Vietnam's 
international image than in resolving endemic domestic 
problems that provoke legitimate criticism. 
PORTER