US embassy cable - 04HANOI2757

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 002757 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT PASS TO EAP/BCLTV; EAP/RSP; DRL; PRM; CA; PM; T; H 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR E.BRYAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PREF, CASC, CVIS, KPOW, OTRA, OVIP, VM, KICC, HUMANR, RELFREE, WTO, HIV/AIDS 
SUBJECT:  MFA CONCERNED ABOUT VNHRA, LOOKING FORWARD TO 
VISITS 
 
1. (U) Summary:  During an hour-long discussion October 6, 
Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang told the Ambassador that 
the GVN, while concerned about the possible passage of the 
Human Rights Act in the Senate, was still looking forward to 
a visit to the United States by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai 
in 2005.  Bang said he himself would visit the United States 
in March, possibly to advance PM Khai's visit.  He agreed 
that Vietnam should address insurance and investment issues 
and improve its consular notification record, but was 
noncommittal on underwater POW/MIA operations, an Article 98 
agreement, progress on key PEPFAR issues and movement on the 
purchase of the new Embassy building site.  VFM Bang also 
asked about the establishment of a program to assist Central 
Highlands migrants who wanted to go to the United States. 
End Summary. 
 
POSSIBLE PHAN VAN KHAI VISIT 
---------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by Poloff, met October 
6 with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Van Bang.  Bang 
said he had accepted an invitation to a seminar to 
commemorate the tenth anniversary of the normalization of 
bilateral relations at Texas Tech University in Lubbock at 
the end of March 2005.  He looked forward to seeing former 
Ambassadors Burghardt and Peterson there, and suggested that 
Ambassador Marine might also be invited.  After visiting 
Texas, Bang said he planned to come to Washington, D.C., to 
"connect with his old friends" and, possibly, advance the 
visit of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.  Advance visits, Bang 
said, usually took place about a month before the actual 
visit, so if PM Khai's visit were planned for early in the 
second quarter of 2005, his visit to Texas could double as 
an advance trip. 
 
3. (SBU) VFM Bang said there were several agreements that 
the GVN was working on in advance of a possible visit by PM 
Khai, including the U.S.-proposed Bilateral Assistance 
Framework, a maritime transportation agreement and a 
Memorandum of Understanding on Culture.  The Ambassador 
noted that important steps forward - such as an Article 98 
agreement - should not be held up just to provide something 
to sign during a visit, but should be concluded when they 
were ready.  Doing this ahead of a visit would be of 
substantial benefit to both sides, he added.  VFM Bang 
agreed, noting that things should be done "step by step." 
 
OTHER VISITS - GVN OFFICIALS 
---------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) The Ambassador asked Bang if there would be any 
other high-level visits in advance of a Khai visit, such as 
a rescheduled visit by Politburo member Phan Dien.  Bang 
said we should keep in mind that, although it had not been 
possible to carry out the Phan Dien visit scheduled for July 
2004, the preparation for that visit had had a positive 
effect.  He suggested we contact Phan Dien directly with any 
questions about rescheduling that visit.  The Ambassador 
noted the upcoming visit of Vice Foreign Minister Nguyen Phu 
Binh to the United States to meet with members of the 
overseas Vietnamese community.  Bang said that this visit 
was a response to the consistent advice Vietnam had received 
from the U.S. Embassy to reach out more to the overseas 
Vietnamese community in the United States.  Bang suggested 
the Embassy coordinate directly with VFM Binh to ensure a 
successful visit. 
 
GVN: WTO WILL TAKE CARE OF INSURANCE, AUTO PROBLEMS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
4. (SBU) Vice Minister of Finance Le Thi Bang Tam was 
currently in the United States, the Ambassador noted, and 
had met with Deputy United States Trade Representative 
Josette Shiner.  The U.S. insurance and auto industries had 
serious concerns about the investment climate in Vietnam, he 
said, and this is something the GVN needs to address.  The 
United States remained committed to Vietnam's accession to 
the WTO, the Ambassador confirmed, but that process would 
require a Congressional debate on Permanent Normal Trading 
Relations (PNTR) status and, in the course of that debate, 
Vietnam would receive little help from American businesses 
if they felt that there had been no progress on issues of 
importance to them.  VFM Bang said he agreed that the 
insurance and investment issues needed attention, and noted 
that "all of these problems will be resolved during the WTO 
accession process." 
U.S. VISITORS AND CONSULAR ISSUES 
--------------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) The Ambassador mentioned the upcoming visits to 
Vietnam of Assistant Secretary of State Maura Harty and 
Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State Marie Huhtala and 
Kelly Ryan.  A/S Harty wants to discuss moving the adoption 
process forward and will also raise both the issue of timely 
consular notification of arrest and the status of consular 
officers working from the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi 
Minh City.  VFM Bang agreed that it was necessary to improve 
timely consular notifications on both sides.  A Vietnamese 
student had recently been detained for over two years in 
California without notification to Vietnamese consular 
authorities, he said.  The Ambassador urged Bang to bring 
such cases to the Embassy's attention immediately.  VFM Bang 
explained that Vietnam was happy to give free access to 
officers from the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and 
already did so.  He cited the recent trips by Consul General 
Winnick and others to the Central Highlands and Danang as 
examples, adding that, "in practice, your Ho Chi Minh City 
officers can work in the provinces.  But official permission 
is difficult because it would force us to grant the same 
privileges to everyone, which is not possible." 
 
PRM DAS RYAN'S VISIT 
-------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) VFM Bang asked what the United States and Vietnam 
could do to open up the legal migration options for 
residents of the Central Highlands who wanted to go to the 
United States, especially those with family members already 
there.  The Ambassador replied that could be one of the 
subjects for the visit by DAS Kelly Ryan; with the support 
of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, the United States is moving 
ahead to process the applications of family members seeking 
to join individuals who entered the U.S. from Cambodia in 
recent years.  The Ambassador stressed the importance of 
handling these cases smoothly.  He added that the United 
States was considering establishing an in-country processing 
program for refugee applicants. 
 
WELCOME TO EAP DAS HUHTALA 
-------------------------- 
 
7. (SBU) VFM Bang also said he welcomed the visit of DAS 
Marie Huhtala and regretted that he would not be in Vietnam 
at the time of her visit.  He expected that it would be 
possible to set up a call with the Foreign Minister, and 
possibly also to have Vice Minister Phung host an event of 
some kind for her. 
 
GVN CONCERN: VNHRA IN THE SENATE 
-------------------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) VFM Bang noted that the United States Congress was 
about to adjourn, and said that the GVN was "very worried" 
about the Vietnam Human Rights Act in the Senate.  The HRA's 
passage, along with the designation of Vietnam as a Country 
of Particular Concern (CPC), would be "very damaging" and 
would "set back bilateral relations."  He asked us to "make 
every effort" to stop that from happening in order to avoid 
a "strong protest" from Vietnam.  The Ambassador noted that 
the best way to avoid this was to fix the situation on the 
ground and take clear actions that could be seen as positive 
developments, such as allowing new church registrations and 
publicly prohibiting forced renunciations.  The September 21 
sentencing of protestors from Gia Lai province sent a 
"negative signal, however."  If honoring religious freedom 
was GVN policy, the Ambassador said, then the GVN should 
make that public, take concrete actions to demonstrate it 
and fill up "the positive side of the ledger."  VFM Bang 
said the issue was not religious expression in Vietnam, but 
those who "promoted themselves through religion" and mixed 
politics and religion. 
 
ARTICLE 98 AND IMET AGREEMENTS: DIFFICULT 
----------------------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) The Ambassador told Bang that other positive steps 
the GVN could take would be to sign Article 98 and 505 
(IMET) agreements with the United States and to assist in 
the procurement of the site for the new Embassy building. 
VFM Bang said that an Article 98 agreement "would require 
further study" but that an IMET agreement was something that 
Vietnam was thinking about.  English training through the 
agreement would be "valuable to us."  Regarding the new 
chancery, Bang felt it would be necessary for him to meet 
face-to-face with the Russians in order to resolve some 
remaining concerns about the proposed site.  He promised to 
pursue this as soon as possible. 
 
POW/MIA UNDERWATER OPERATIONS: WE'LL LOOK INTO IT 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
10. (SBU) The Ambassador also raised the issue of the 
underwater POW/MIA recovery operations we hoped to pursue 
using a U.S. ship, possibly with some Vietnamese officials 
on board and operating in tandem with a Vietnamese ship. 
The U.S. side wanted to move ahead on this humanitarian 
effort and make concrete plans, the Ambassador said, but was 
so far had been blocked by the Ministry of Defense's 
objection to any foreign naval vessel operating in 
Vietnamese waters.  VFM Bang said he knew little about the 
issue but would look into it. 
 
PEPFAR 
------ 
 
11. (SBU) The Ambassador described planned U.S. activities 
under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 
(PEPFAR) and noted that the first test of our bilateral 
cooperation would be the GVN's approval of the importation 
and use of new drugs by the end of March 2005.  Second, the 
two sides needed to coordinate well "at a senior level" 
because of the scope of the project.  He offered to brief 
Vietnam's National Committee on HIV/AIDS, Prostitution, and 
Drug Control at their convenience. 
 
12. (SBU) Comment: Le Van Bang was fighting off a cold, 
facing the task of being State protocol chief during the 
visit of 39 top-level delegations to ASEM (including five 
consecutive bilateral state visits) and preparing for a four- 
country trip (October 13-29) to South America where he will 
advance the visit of President Tran Duc Luong to the region 
during the APEC meetings next month.  This partially 
explains his relatively limited responses to the concerns we 
raised.  VFM Bang's discussion of the Senate vote was 
curious, because the GVN is almost certainly aware that the 
VNHRA's chances are slim.  He either has information we 
don't about the bill's chances of passage, or, counting on 
the bill's failure in the Senate, the MFA is looking for 
something it can call good news after the blow of CPC 
designation. 
MARINE