US embassy cable - 05HANOI268

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000268 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV and EB/TPP/BTA/ANA 
PACOM FOR FPA 
STATE PASS USTR ELBRAYN AND GHICKS 
USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, KIRF, PREF, PINR, ECON, ETRD, EINV, VM, ETMIN, HUMANR, WTO, RELFREE, HIV/AIDS 
SUBJECT:  The Ambassador's January 31 Call on Deputy Prime 
Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung 
 
Ref: A) Hanoi 156; B) Hanoi 254 and previous 
 
1. (SBU) Summary and Comment:  The Ambassador met for 75 
minutes January 31 with Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan 
Dzung.  Describing his satisfaction with the bilateral 
relationship's progress over the past ten years, DPM Dzung 
said his Government is willing to have a dialogue with the 
United States on any issue of mutual interest, called on the 
United States to reverse its Country of Particular Concern 
(CPC) designation for religious freedom violations and 
expressed the GVN's hope to reach a bilateral WTO deal by 
the time Vietnam's Prime Minister visits the United States 
(in June 2005, according to the GVN request in Ref A.) 
 
2. (SBU) Summary and Comment, cont'd:  Responding to the 
Ambassador's calls for progress in a number of commercial 
projects, DPM Dzung said that Vietnam would like to close 
deals on the Boeing 7E7s and Vinasat (Lockheed-Martin), but 
that the commercial agreements have to be "mutually 
beneficial."  On Tricore, Dzung said that the GVN's position 
is that Tricore had agreed to pay for the project design in 
the event that it was rejected, and, because the GVN decided 
that the design was not feasible, Tricore was responsible 
for the costs.  On U.S. MIA recovery teams' access to the 
Central Highlands, DPM Dzung stated in familiar terms the 
GVN's commitment to cooperating with the United States.  On 
facilitating passport issuance to Visas-93 (Montagnard 
follow-to-join) families, DPM Dzung asked the Ambassador to 
work with MFA on this issue.  DPM Dzung had no response to 
the Ambassador's request for his assistance in advancing 
counternarcotics operational cooperation.  During his 
meeting with the Ambassador, DPM Dzung was in command of his 
brief and comfortable discussing a wide-range of issues. 
Currently the senior of three Deputy Prime Ministers, Dzung 
is regarded as a possible successor to Prime Minister Phan 
Van Khai.  End Summary. 
 
3. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by Pol/C, made his 
introductory call January 31 on Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen 
Tan Dzung.  Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Duc Hung, 
Americas Department Deputy Director General Pham Van Que and 
Americas Department officer Le Chi Dzung were also present. 
The Ambassador opened the 75-minute meeting by remarking on 
the considerable strides the U.S.-Vietnam relationship has 
made over the past ten years, which has led to new 
cooperation on HIV/AIDS prevention and care, expanded 
educational exchanges through the Fulbright Program and the 
Vietnam Education Foundation, and cooperative work on avian 
influenza.  There has also been some progress in building 
the bilateral military-to-military relationship.  However, 
much work remains to be done in this and other areas. 
 
4. (SBU) The U.S.-Vietnam trade and economic relationship is 
the foundation of the overall bilateral relationship, but we 
need to continue to strengthen this foundation, the 
Ambassador continued.  Both sides are working hard to reach 
a bilateral WTO accession agreement, but we are concerned 
that the necessary WTO legislation will not make it through 
Vietnam's National Assembly by the end of the year.  In 
addition, the United States and Vietnam can further 
strengthen their economic ties through cooperation in the 
areas of transparency and anti-corruption.  As the 
Ambassador told Minister of Home Affairs Trung on January 28 
(septel), anti-corruption and good governance are fields in 
which the United States can help Vietnam.  Furthermore, the 
United States hopes that, in the wake of the initiation of 
United Airlines' service to Vietnam, Vietnam Airlines will 
also begin service to the United States, but, to do this, 
Vietnam's civil aviation authority needs to make changes to 
raise Vietnam up to ICAO standards.  The United States can 
also help with this, the Ambassador said. 
 
5. (SBU) Outside trade and economics, human rights and 
religious freedom are issues of great importance to the 
American people, and the United States and Vietnam will have 
to face our differences squarely.  We were very pleased with 
the recent Tet Amnesty, which included a number of persons 
of concern (Ref B), the Ambassador said. 
 
6. (SBU) DPM Dzung responded that the Party, State and 
people of Vietnam want to see further growth in the 
relationship with the United States in all areas, such as 
trade and economics, science and technology, health, 
education and defense.  Well-rounded U.S.-Vietnam ties will 
serve the interests of peace and development both regionally 
and globally.  In short, Vietnam "always wants" to build 
stable, long-term and mutually beneficial relations with the 
United States, DPM Dzung averred. 
 
7. (SBU) For these reasons, Vietnam is "very glad" that the 
bilateral relationship has grown as well as it has in so 
many different fields.  On the occasion of this year's 
commemoration of ten years of normalization, DPM Dzung 
expressed his hope that both countries will take stock of 
how far they have come over the past decade, commit to 
building further on existing building blocks and endeavor to 
remove obstacles to advancing relations.  Both sides must 
work hard to make this year's "celebrations" a success.  "As 
scheduled," Prime Minister Phan Van Khai will visit the 
United States in June, and this visit will send a message to 
the peoples of both countries about how much we value the 
relationship and how successfully we have "overcome the sad 
interlude that perhaps did not have to happen," DPM Dzung 
opined.  To make the visit a success, both sides will have 
to work closely together, and DPM Dzung expressed his hope 
that both sides can prepare carefully and well.  To that 
end, the February 3-5 visit to Vietnam of NSC Senior 
Director for Asia Michael Green is a good thing. 
 
8. (SBU) With regard to the issues of human rights and 
religious freedom, Vietnam has experienced "so much pain and 
many losses" during wartime, and Vietnam's leadership 
"always wants to bring happiness, freedom and democracy to 
our people," DPM Dzung said.  Vietnam and other countries 
have different views about human rights and religious 
freedom, which is understandable considering cultural and 
historic differences.  DPM Dzung agreed with the 
Ambassador's earlier remark that the United States and 
Vietnam have to address these issues (and all others) on the 
basis of mutual respect and dialogue.  To foster mutual 
understanding, Vietnam is "willing to conduct a dialogue" 
with the United States and others on "issues of mutual 
interest," such as human rights and religious freedom. 
However, Vietnam hopes that the United States and others 
will "remain calm in responding to any possibly distorted 
information" that could be harmful to our interests, DPM 
Dzung said. 
 
9. (SBU) In spite of progress in bilateral relations, 
Vietnam is "unsatisfied" with its designation as a Country 
of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom 
violations.  Vietnam also is not pleased with the recent 
passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Vietnam 
Human Rights Act.  These actions are not in the interests of 
the bilateral relationship.  For the sake of long-term 
stability, Vietnam hopes that the United States will take 
action to "reverse these moves," Dzung said. 
 
10. (SBU) To make this year's anniversary "useful," the 
United States and Vietnam will have to achieve significant 
results in their WTO negotiations.  Vietnam is well aware of 
the support of U.S. leaders in this regard and hopes the 
same is true for those at the working level.  To accede to 
the WTO by the end of 2005, Vietnam hopes to complete its 
WTO negotiations with the United States "before the Prime 
Minister's visit to Washington," the Deputy Prime Minister 
concluded. 
 
11. (SBU) In response, the Ambassador expressed optimism 
that both sides will continue to work very hard to advance 
relations.  On the issue of a dialogue on human rights and 
religious freedom, the key is not just dialogue for 
dialogue's sake, but a dialogue that leads to concrete 
progress.  This is what the United States has been seeking. 
We fully recognize that Vietnam must operate within its 
legal system and in the context of its socio-economic 
position, but we also believe that Vietnam can do more to 
advance human rights.  The Vietnam Human Rights Act passed 
by the House reflects the concern of Members and their 
constituents, the American people.  On the question of 
reversing the CPC designation, this is an issue that the 
Ambassador will raise in broad terms with VFM Le Van Bang on 
February 1 (septel), leaving a more detailed presentation to 
NSC Senior Director Green during his February 4 talks in 
Hanoi, the Ambassador said. 
12. (SBU) Reaching a bilateral WTO agreement in time for the 
Prime Minister's visit will require hard work, the 
Ambassador continued.  To set the stage for a successful PM 
visit and positive outcomes for both the WTO talks and the 
Congressional permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) vote, 
it would be useful to see progress in a number of major 
commercial deals, such as the Boeing 7E7, Vinasat and the 
Ministry of Finance's TABMIS project.  Additionally, there 
are concerns about the GVN's failure to deal with the 
Tricore issue, which we have raised before.  The two sides 
need to work together to resolve this, and the Ambassador 
will raise this matter with the Minister of Transportation 
February 1 (septel).  Progress on issues related to tariffs 
and the special consumption tax on automobiles, in addition 
to licenses for American insurance companies, will also help 
to set the stage for the PM's visit and the other tasks 
ahead of us, the Ambassador stressed. 
 
13. (SBU) Turning to the issue of fullest possible 
accounting for U.S. missing personnel, the Ambassador asked 
for the Deputy Prime Minister's assistance in facilitating 
U.S. investigation and recovery teams' access to the Central 
Highlands provinces of Kon Tum, Dak Lak, Gia Lai and Dak 
Nong.  It appears that the reluctance of local officials in 
these areas is the obstacle to U.S. MIA teams' access. 
(Note:  At this point, in an aside to DPM Dzung, AFM Hung 
said in Vietnamese that when DASD Jennings visited the 
Central Highlands, he also raised this request to provincial 
officials.  AFM Hung told DPM Dzung that there is perhaps no 
problem in agreeing with this request, adding that the GVN 
agrees in principle.  However, the GVN needs to collect more 
information before proceeding.  End Note.)  Additionally, 
the United States hopes for progress in signing a contract 
to allow a medevac helicopter to be available for injured 
personnel involved in the MIA field operations, both U.S. 
and Vietnamese, the Ambassador said. 
 
14. (SBU) Another issue requiring our attention is U.S.- 
Vietnam counternarcotics cooperation, the Ambassador 
continued.  Although the bilateral counternarcotics 
agreement has yielded progress in a number of areas 
involving training and capacity building, we have yet to see 
any operational cooperation.  It seems that Vietnamese 
security personnel are not willing to work with the United 
States on this important issue.  However, the United States 
and Vietnam need to work together to put a halt to drug 
money flowing between the two countries and to stop drugs 
that transit Vietnam on their way to the United States, 
Canada and elsewhere.  The Ambassador expressed his hope 
that the Deputy Prime Minister could encourage Vietnam's 
security services to cooperate with the United States. 
 
15. (SBU) Finally, the Ambassador sought DPM Dzung's 
assistance in facilitating the issuance of passports to 
Montagnard families who are attempting to travel to the 
United States on the Visas-93 program to join their family 
members already there.  Some families, particularly in Dak 
Lak Province, have not been able to apply for passports, and 
this could become a problem bilaterally if it generates 
publicity in the United States, the Ambassador noted. 
 
16. (SBU) Responding to the Ambassador's points on pending 
commercial projects, DPM Dzung said that any and all 
commercial deals have be concluded on the basis of 
Vietnamese law and "mutual benefit" to both sides.  On the 
Boeing 7E7, Vietnam "wants to conclude a deal," but the 
terms of the contract are still "not beneficial" to Vietnam 
and require further negotiation.  Furthermore, Vietnam wants 
to be able to acquire a Lockheed-Martin satellite for 
Vinasat, but, again, the conditions must be beneficial to 
both sides both in terms of price and technical conditions. 
This is something that DPM Dzung had told the president of 
Lockheed-Martin.  Vietnam knows that Lockheed-Martin's 
technology is state of the art, but if the price is too high 
and the "orbit is not reasonable," then it will not be 
beneficial to Vietnam. 
 
17. (SBU) On Tricore, DPM Dzung said that Tricore agreed 
with the Ministry of Transportation that Tricore would bear 
the expenses for the project design if the project were not 
approved.  After the project was designed and submitted, the 
GVN decided it was not feasible because it required too much 
land allocation and called for toll collection that would 
"last too long."  Vietnam wants U.S. investment because of 
American technology and commercial experience, but the terms 
must be mutually beneficial. 
 
18. (SBU) Turning to the question of access to the Central 
Highlands for MIA recovery activities, DPM Dzung said that 
Vietnam's policy regarding this humanitarian issue has been 
consistent and that the GVN will continue to do everything 
it can to "bring the remains of U.S. soldiers back to their 
homeland."  AFM Hung said that DASD Jennings had secured an 
agreement with provincial officials to more forward with 
activities in the Central Highlands.  The Ambassador 
rejoined that, during recent discussions on this year's work 
plan, we heard that work in the Central Highlands would not 
be possible.  DPM Dzung said that the main issue is that the 
GVN will do whatever it can to facilitate this humanitarian 
endeavor and that the two sides' respective MIA offices 
should remain in close contact. 
 
19. (SBU) On the issue of passports for Visas-93 cases, DPM 
Dzung asked that the Ambassador work with the MFA on this. 
On the broader Montagnard issue, the GVN has ongoing 
concerns about separatist elements within the Montagnard 
community, and this separatist movement has dated back to 
the days of the Vietnam War when the United States supported 
the southern regime's efforts to quell FULRO's attempts to 
establish Montagnard self-rule.  After reunification, 
Vietnam's consistent policy has been not to allow self-rule. 
FULRO has since disbanded and fled to Cambodia and the 
United States, where, under the guise of the Montagnard 
Foundation, it continues its efforts to form a Montagnard 
state.  DPM Dzung urged the USG not to support the 
activities or goals of groups such as the Montagnard 
Foundation. 
 
20. (SBU) The United States fully supports the territorial 
integrity of Vietnam and does not support the efforts of 
separatist movements, the Ambassador responded.  The Visas- 
93 issue is simply a humanitarian effort to reunite 
families.  DPM Dzung concluded that the GVN would work with 
the USG on this matter. 
 
21. (SBU) Comment and Bio Note:  The senior of three Deputy 
Prime Ministers, Dzung is responsible for anti-corruption 
efforts and crime prevention, construction and industry, 
posts and telecommunications, agriculture, transportation, 
state-owned enterprise reform and other areas.  In the 
economic sphere he has been associated with several 
difficult issues including Vietnam's auto development policy 
and Tricore.  During his meeting with the Ambassador, Dzung 
was fully in command of his brief and comfortable discussing 
a wide-range of topics.  A native of southern Vietnam, Dzung 
is ambitious and regarded to be a possible successor to 
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.  During a recent discussion 
with the Ambassador, Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang 
indicated that DPM Dzung is an influential contender and 
someone to watch.  End Comment and Bio Note. 
 
MARINE