US embassy cable - 04HOCHIMINHCITY572

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, SOCI, PREL, PGOV, KIRF, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH UBCV LEADER THICH HUYEN QUANG 
 
REF:  03 HCMC 1010 and previous 
 
1.(SBU)  Ambassador Burghardt called on the Most Venerable Thich 
Huyen Quang, Patriarch of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of 
Vietnam (UBCV), on April 28.  The meeting, which lasted over one 
hour, was held outside Quy Nhon at the Nguyen Thieu Pagoda, 
founded in 1948 by Thich Huyen Quang himself, where he is 
currently being held under virtual house arrest.  Binh Dinh 
Provincial authorities had previously agreed, after some 
negotiation, to the Ambassador's request for a private visit. 
Although local officials accompanied the Ambassador to the site, 
they did not attempt to join the meeting.  Thich Huyen Quang, who 
is 86, appeared in strong spirits, but seemed somewhat frail and 
weaker than when the Ambassador met him last year in Hanoi.  He 
was strong enough to rise and greet his visitors, and he walked 
them to the door when they departed.  The Ambassador was 
accompanied by Mrs. Burghardt, his daughter Helen, and HCMC 
Econoff. 
 
2.(SBU)  Thich Huyen Quang confirmed that he has been prevented 
from leaving the pagoda since the incident last October when he 
was stopped from traveling to Ho Chi Minh City with several other 
UBCV monks a few weeks after holding an "unauthorized" meeting of 
the UBCV leadership (Reftel).  He said one attempt to travel to 
nearby Quy Nhon City was thwarted by law enforcement officers 
stationed around the monastery who blocked his vehicle.  Although 
Thich Huyen Quang said he has not been given a reason for being 
restricted to his pagoda, he is aware that Vietnamese authorities 
claim he was found with "secret documents" when his vehicle was 
stopped in October.  He reported that a Deputy Minister of Public 
Security - which indicates the high level of attention being given 
to his case - called on him at the Pagoda and alleged that UBCV 
believers had passed him the "secret documents."  Thich Huyen 
Quang said he had received two envelopes from believers - each 
with donations of VND 500,000 (about 33 usd).  He had checked the 
contents himself and only money was inside.  He had written to the 
Deputy Minister stating his case, but had not received a reply. 
He added, however, that all questioning and interrogations 
regarding this matter seemed to have stopped.  The Ambassador 
observed that no one outside Vietnam believed Thich Huyen Quang 
had possessed secret documents. 
 
3.(SBU)  In a somewhat surprising comment, Thich Huyen Quang told 
the Ambassador that it was "not difficult" to unify his dissident 
Buddhist organization with the government-approved Buddhist Church 
of Vietnam.  "The majority" were in favor of such a move, he said, 
but "a small influential group" did not wish this to happen.  When 
the Ambassador asked what kind of relationship the new 
organization would have with the GVN and the Fatherland Front, 
Thich Huyen Quang enigmatically stated that he did not know, since 
he did not know who would lead the organization.  Going further, 
he said neither the head of the Religious Affairs Commission in 
Hanoi nor the current leader of the government-approved Buddhists 
would be able to help him effect a merger.  He wished to travel 
once again to Hanoi to meet with the Prime Minister directly on 
this issue.  (Note: Without more details about how the merger 
would occur, it is difficult to tell if Thich Huyen Quang was 
speaking of an actual plan or a more theoretical possibility.) 
 
4.(SBU)  Commenting on his current situation, Thich Huyen Quang 
appeared comfortable and said he was teaching about a hundred 
students staying at the pagoda and another 200 students from 
elsewhere.  Several monks and novices tend to his needs, but all 
left the room during the meeting except for one assistant who 
remained throughout.  In a moving short monologue as the 
Ambassador prepared to leave, Thich Huyen Quang thanked the U.S. 
Government, Congress, and the people of the United States for 
helping him.  He said he was both "surprised and moved that a 
faraway country understands what is going on here."  The 
Ambassador presented Thich Huyen Quang with a book of photographs 
of the United States and assured him that the book did not contain 
any "secret documents," only "pretty pictures."  The Ambassador 
expressed the hope that he would see Thich Huyen Quang in Hanoi 
before too long on a trip to meet with the Prime Minister and 
even, perhaps, one day in the U.S. 
 
5.(SBU)  The meeting was facilitated by the Binh Dinh Provincial 
authorities who, after some negotiation, agreed to a private visit 
between the Ambassador and the UBCV leader.  In a meeting with the 
Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee the day before, the 
Ambassador received a lengthy briefing detailing all of the 
boilerplate arguments that Vietnam traditionally makes on 
religious freedom issues.  The Chairman stressed that he had 
"invited" Thich Huyen Quang to return to his home province and 
that Binh Dinh tried to create positive conditions for the 
practice of religion.  This strong public display of towing the 
line, which the Chairman made before local journalists and all of 
his department heads, was probably designed to give him some 
political cover to facilitate a private meeting between the 
Ambassador and one of Vietnam's best known dissident religious 
leaders. 
WHITE