US embassy cable - 04HANOI700

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000700 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR H, PM, EAP/BCLTV 
 
DOD FOR DASD JJENNINGS AND OSD/ISA LSTERN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OREP, PREL, KPOW, VM 
SUBJECT:  CODEL COLLINS' FRANK AND FINAL MEETINGS ON POW/MIA 
 
REF: HANOI 589 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: On his last day of meetings in Hanoi 
February 27, Congressman Mac Collins (R-GA) met senior GVN 
leaders and reviewed progress on POW/MIA issues during his 
trip.  Conversations focused on the GVN's current efforts 
and what the USG and the GVN agree that the GVN should do in 
the future; the GVN's assertion that improvements in the 
bilateral relationship will inspire more Vietnamese citizens 
to come forward with information on U.S. MIAs; and a review 
of the status of the U.S. request to use a U.S. Navy salvage 
vessel to conduct MIA recovery operations in Vietnamese 
coastal waters.  The discussions were frank.  Congressman 
Collins said he was "disappointed and dissatisfied" with the 
Vietnamese response to his requests for information.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Rep. Collins and delegation met with MFA, MOD, and 
the Vietnamese Office of Searching for Missing Personnel 
(VNOSMP) his first day of meetings (reftel) and then 
traveled to Danang for interviews with two Vietnamese 
veterans.  On his last day back in Hanoi, he met separately 
with Vice Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Huong, Vice 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Van Bang, and Deputy Prime 
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.  Rep. Collins complained to DPM 
Dung that, in his four days in Vietnam, conversations had 
been "word for word repetition of the same language about 
cooperation."  In his meeting with Vice Minister Huong, he 
criticized his trip as a "merry-go-round," and, following 
the meeting with VFM Bang, he told Assistant Foreign 
Minister Nguyen Duc Hung, his "host" for the visit, that he 
was "disappointed and dissatisfied" with the GVN's response 
to the list of questions and access requests he had 
submitted (reftel). 
 
3. (SBU) GVN interlocutors uniformly argued that Vietnamese 
cooperation in the MIA effort was substantial, long- 
standing, ongoing, and divorced from any political linkage 
with other aspects of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship.  DPM 
Dung stated that "nowhere else in the world" has the U.S. 
received such a high level of cooperation in accounting for 
MIAs, and touted the "huge strides" in resolving outstanding 
cases since the normalization of bilateral relations in 
1995.  MPS VM Huong noted that MPS officers worked closely 
with VNOSMP to identify Vietnamese witnesses to Vietnam War- 
era battles and air crashes, and to bring those witnesses to 
the attention of Vietnamese and U.S. experts working on the 
MIA issue.  He added that MPS had been "very active" in 
bringing witnesses to meet with USG personnel both in 
Vietnam and Laos.  Rep. Collins acknowledged MPS' efforts, 
but requested that MPS assist further in cases where the GVN 
had failed to provide access to personnel, claiming not to 
know their whereabouts.  Rep. Collins also asked Huong to 
dedicate MPS investigative resources to finding information 
that the GVN said was "lost." 
 
4. (SBU) Rep. Collins and Ambassador Burghardt identified 
areas where the GVN could make further contributions to the 
MIA accounting effort.  Ambassador emphasized the necessity 
of providing detailed responses to U.S. inquiries; declaring 
that records were lost was not sufficient, he said.  To 
satisfy the families of MIA personnel, the GVN should 
explain the loss of the records and the specific efforts the 
GVN had made to recover them, he clarified.  Rep. Collins 
repeatedly emphasized that there is a link in the U.S. 
between the GVN's perceived cooperation on MIA issues and 
the U.S. Congress' continued willingness to provide trade 
benefits such as the BTA and U.S. support for Vietnam's 
entry into the WTO.  In the meeting with VFM Bang, Rep. 
Collins noted that political focus in the U.S. had shifted 
from "free trade" to "fair trade" and said that the American 
people were greatly concerned about losing jobs to foreign 
competitors.  If Vietnam were seen as unhelpful in resolving 
the MIA issue, Collins said, it would be difficult for the 
U.S. to be helpful to Vietnam on trade issues. 
 
5. (SBU) DPM Dung and VFM Bang separately said they 
understood Rep. Collins' concerns, and noted that one reason 
there had been increasing access to Vietnamese witnesses was 
that, with the improvement in bilateral relations, ordinary 
Vietnamese were more willing to act in a way that they 
perceived as benefiting the U.S. (Note: during the visit, 
Rep. Collins and his team were able to meet with two 
individuals to whom USG experts had been seeking access for 
over 12 years.  End note.)  VFM Bang noted that, in the 
past, some of the witnesses U.S. experts wanted to interview 
"were unwilling to meet with Americans."  He said the GVN 
was not willing to force its citizens into talking to USG 
investigators, but that recent improvements in the bilateral 
relationship had caused some witnesses to be forthcoming. 
DPM Dung said that continued U.S. efforts in the 
humanitarian demining arena, as well as cooperation in trade 
and investment, were excellent steps to "minimize the 
consequences of war" and helped strengthen cooperation in 
all fields, including MIA accounting, law enforcement 
cooperation, and the fight against terrorism. 
 
6. (SBU) Rep. Collins also raised the issue of using a U.S. 
Navy salvage vessel in underwater recovery operations in 
Vietnamese waters.  Both DPM Dung and VFM Bang separately 
suggested that a better solution would be to use U.S. 
equipment and experts on a Vietnamese ship, or for the U.S. 
to donate a more modern salvage vessel to the Vietnamese 
navy that would then be dedicated to underwater recovery 
efforts.  Rep. Collins stated that the U.S. did not have a 
ship to offer, that U.S. equipment was superior, and that to 
preserve the integrity of the recovery sites and the safety 
of the recovery personnel, the GVN would "have to" accept a 
U.S. ship out of common sense.  DPM Dung answered that there 
were "unique" political and legal issues at play in Vietnam, 
and that the issue of a salvage ship was the wrong place for 
the U.S. to try to dictate to Vietnam "from a position of 
superiority."  DPM Dung added that the issue of a U.S. 
military ship - armed or unarmed - operating in Vietnamese 
waters was "sensitive, and related to the laws of Vietnam." 
Vietnam's position, he stated, was that it should be a 
Vietnamese ship operating with the latest U.S. equipment and 
experts to ensure effectiveness and safety.  The U.S. and 
Vietnam shared the same goal, Dung noted.  He urged the U.S. 
not to let the resolution of the issue "be prolonged over 
the minor difference of the nationality of the ship."  "We 
welcome a U.S. warship visiting our ports," DPM Dung said, 
"but not operating in our territorial waters." 
 
7. (SBU) Ambassador suggested that, as an alternative to a 
U.S. ship operating alone, perhaps the recovery operation 
could be done with both U.S. and Vietnamese ships as a kind 
of joint training in salvage operations.  DPM Dung noted 
that this suggestion had come up during the visit of Defense 
Minister Pham Van Tra to Washington in November 2003; the 
GVN was considering that possibility. 
 
8. (SBU) Comment: Rep. Collins' interlocutors were visibly 
unhappy with his reaction to what they clearly believed was 
a forthcoming response from the GVN to his visit and to the 
questions he raised.  His suggestion that GVN "non- 
cooperation" would have consequences in the trade arena also 
did not sit well, and prompted VFM Bang and DPM Dung to 
point out other areas where U.S.-Vietnam cooperation was in 
the U.S. interest.  They seemed receptive to the 
Ambassador's request that they provide more details in their 
official responses to requests for access to individuals or 
for information.  On the salvage ship issue, DPM Dung and 
VFM Bang repeatedly suggested that the issue was one to be 
worked out between experts, and expressed their belief that 
a satisfactory solution would be found. End comment. 
 
9. (U) Congressman Collins did not have the opportunity to 
clear this message prior to his departure. 
BURGHARDT