US embassy cable - 05HANOI311

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000311 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT PASS TO EAP/BCLTV; EAP/RSP; DRL; PRM; H; PM; T 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR E. BRYAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, KIRF, OTRA, OVIP, ETRD, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: NSC SR. DIRECTOR GREEN TALKS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND 
THE PARTY'S FUTURE WITH CPV OFFICIAL TA MINH CHAU 
 
 
1. (U) Summary: Vice Chairman of the CPV Central Committee's 
External Relations Commission Ta Minh Chau told visiting NSC 
Senior Director Michael Green that sustained economic 
development would solve Vietnam's social problems, and that 
the Party plans to accelerate political and economic reforms 
when the tenth Party Congress convenes in early 2006. 
Religious freedom is developing quickly in Vietnam, Chau 
said, with the number of active worshippers currently in the 
range of 20 million Vietnamese.  Chau also cited the visit 
of formerly exiled Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh as an 
example of religious tolerance, and expressed confidence 
that future religious freedom problems will be solved after 
the issuance of implementing regulations for the ordinance 
on religion.  Chau said there will be no major policy shifts 
after the tenth Party Congress, but instead a reaffirmation 
of Doi Moi and Vietnam's foreign policy.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) National Security Council Senior Director for Asia 
Dr. Michael Green, accompanied by the Ambassador and Poloff, 
met February 4 with Vice Chairman of the Commission for 
External Affairs of the Communist Party of Vietnam Ta Minh 
Chau.  Chau provided a lengthy description of Vietnam's 
economic and social development progress. 
 
3. (SBU) Chau said the Vietnamese economy has changed 
greatly in the last 15 years, especially in the development 
of the import/export sector.  This development, he said, was 
validation of the CPV's policy of "promoting synergy within 
the development of a multi-sectoral economy with help and 
assistance from outside parties."  Export volume and foreign 
direct investment (FDI) were both high and "all the biggest 
companies in the world" were represented in Vietnam, Chau 
commented proudly.  "Foreign friends know that Vietnam is a 
great place to work, and we can see how much investment has 
improved."  This sustained economic development is also the 
Party's solution to social problems, Chau explained.  The 
growing economy allowed the GVN to commit resources to 
health care, education, training, culture and especially the 
effort to develop the agricultural sector and rural areas, 
which represent more than 80 percent of Vietnam.  This had 
led to great progress in poverty reduction, he added, 
inviting Dr. Green to "walk around, look around, see how 
well we have done." 
 
4. (SBU) The Party is not content with economic reforms, 
Chau told Dr. Green.  Its goal is to accelerate political 
reforms to "bring the government closer to serving the 
people," he said.  To this end, Vietnam had increased the 
role of the National Assembly and improved the functioning 
of the government.  The CPV is, of course, the "ruling 
party," Chau observed.  This year, the Party will convene 
congresses at all levels to prepare for the tenth national 
Party Congress early in the second quarter of 2006 in which 
it will review 20 years of implementation of the "Doi Moi" 
(economic renovation) policy.  The tenth Party Congress will 
also "provide guidance on modernization and 
industrialization of the country towards the goal of making 
Vietnam a modern, industrial country by 2020," Chau said. 
 
5. (SBU) Vietnam's foreign policy was to "pursue 
diversification and multilateralization with self-reliance," 
Chau clarified.  Successes of this policy in 2004 included 
the Asia Europe Meeting summit (ref A) and the Asia Pacific 
Parliamentarians Forum (ref B).  These events are 
characteristic of Vietnam's "proactive participation in many 
multilateral organizations," Chau said.  The next main 
multilateral organization Vietnam wants to join is the WTO, 
he noted, and he asked for Dr. Green's assistance in 
concluding the WTO negotiations with the United States.  All 
of Vietnam's leaders had visited "main countries" each year, 
he added.  These policies had resulted in an improvement in 
Vietnam's international prestige, and that in turn led to 
improvements in bilateral relations.  The United States is a 
good example, Chau said, citing progress in developing 
trade, economic, political and military relations that have 
developed over the past ten years.  To expand on these 
relations, the United States and Vietnam should pursue 
"multilevel, multifaceted exchanges," he recommended. 
 
6. (SBU) The United States and Vietnam would have 
differences, Chau noted.  The most effective way to resolve 
those is to have dialogues on equal footing "in a safe 
manner."  In 2005, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai would visit 
the United States, which would serve as proof of the 
leadership's goodwill.  The tenth anniversary of relations 
would "open a new phase in our bilateral relations."  Chau 
then offered the group a toast, accompanied by warm, sweet 
Bulgarian sparkling wine. 
 
7. (SBU) Dr. Green thanked Chau for his encouraging overview 
and said he hopes the United States and Vietnam can succeed 
in bringing relations to the next level.  Strengthening 
relations would be good for both countries in an 
international context, he noted, especially considering 
Vietnam's plans to host the 2006 APEC summit.  Both Vietnam 
and the United States are seeing relations with China 
improving, as well as improving relations with each other. 
That in turn would make both countries more attractive to 
China, thus strengthening and broadening regional 
cooperation in a "virtuous circle."  Vietnam's strategic 
role in Southeast Asia has more and more significance, Dr. 
Green said, adding that the United States wants to expand 
its strategic discussions with Vietnam to "see how best to 
deepen our role."  Regarding Vietnam's WTO accession, he 
said the United States was "working on it," and noted that 
the accession was dependent on Vietnam's passing key 
legislation implementing WTO requirements.  An omnibus law 
covering all of the requirements at once might be an 
effective way to handle the problem, Dr. Green suggested. 
Both sides should do their best on this issue to try to 
provide a positive topic for the Prime Minister's 
discussions with President Bush, he added.  Whatever Vietnam 
decided, it should make an effort to accelerate economic 
reforms and thus make Vietnam an investment magnet. 
 
8. (SBU) Religious freedom is a thorny bilateral issue, Dr. 
Green said.  Vietnam and the United States should shift 
their thinking from an adversarial mindset to a 
dialogue/learning mindset.  By learning from each other, Dr. 
Green explained, both sides can make progress.  The United 
States' main interest was having a vibrant, strong Vietnam, 
a regional leader confident in its territorial integrity. 
The United States looked forward to a win-win dialogue on 
the issue.  Chau agreed that dialogue was necessary, 
especially since the United States needed to "understand 
Vietnam better."  In previous decades, Chau said, "few 
Vietnamese" worshipped publicly or followed any specific 
religion.  Now, more than 20 million are classified as 
"believers."  Many churches have been built in recent years 
to accommodate all of the believers, including in the 
Central Highlands.  "Even (former South Vietnamese Vice 
President) Nguyen Cao Ky recognized the great progress of 
religious freedom in Vietnam."  Another example is the visit 
of formerly exiled Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and several 
hundred of his followers, which demonstrates how open the 
Party is to religious believers and to overseas Vietnamese, 
Chau declared.  By conducting dialogue and learning more, 
the United States would have a better understanding of 
religious freedom in Vietnam.  Dr. Green said he is indeed 
heartened to see the millions of Vietnamese believers, and 
believes that where there are problems, he is confident that 
they will be resolved by the GVN following the implementing 
regulations on the ordinance on religion. 
 
9. (SBU) Answering Dr. Green's question on the future of the 
leadership of the party, Chau said that the Party's 
socioeconomic and other policies are developed long-term and 
not by any individual or any specific political personality. 
As a result, "the policies, once developed, have long-term 
value despite a possible change in leadership."  Within the 
Party, there was a system to develop new members and a 
system to "change generations" to allow the older leaders to 
step down.  In every institution, Chau explained, there were 
three generations: the eldest and most experienced, the 
middle-aged and the youth.  The Central Committee of the 
Party, for example, changes over 1/3 of its membership after 
each Congress.  Personnel changes are routine, he noted, and 
done "in an appropriate manner in accordance with 
Constitutional policies to assure consistency and 
continuity."  Those changes did not affect policy, and "one 
thing I can assure you: the next Party Congress will 
reaffirm the will of the party to accelerate Doi Moi and 
foreign policy," he stressed. 
 
10. (U) Bio note:  Ta Minh Chau, Vice Chairman, CPV External 
Affairs Commission, was born in 1949 in Vinh Phuc Province. 
He graduated with a bachelor's degree in literature in 
Poland, then later did his Ph.D. in the same area, also in 
Poland in the 1970s.  Chau is a poet, and currently a member 
of Vietnam Association of Writers.  Chau has composed and 
published several sets of poems, and translated Polish 
poems.  He came back to Vietnam in (approximately) 2002 
after serving in the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland as 
Ambassador.  Within the Commission, Chau was previously the 
director of the Baltic and Eastern Europe Department, 
Personnel Department, and Assistant Chairman of CPV's 
External Affairs Commission before he became Vice Chairman 
in 2003 (est).  Chau appears to understand some English, but 
he does not use it, beyond a few polite phrases, in his 
meetings. 
 
10. (U) Dr. Green cleared this message. 
 
MARINE