US embassy cable - 05HANOI392

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000392 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PGOV, VM, ETMIN, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT: VIEWS ON PRIME MINISTER'S INSTRUCTION ON 
PROTESTANTS 
 
This is a joint Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City reporting cable. 
 
Reftel: A) Hanoi 353, B) 04 Hanoi 1987, C) 04 HCMC 1557 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  A Government of Vietnam (GVN) official 
indicated that the new Instruction on Protestants (Ref. A) 
divides Vietnam's unrecognized Protestant denominations into 
those established before 1975, which will be encouraged to 
"regularize" their status, and those that arrived in Vietnam 
after 1975, which must wait for a period of time before 
regularizing.  Unrecognized congregations in the Central 
Highlands should be able to operate if they register with 
authorities.  Similar instructions exist for the Northwest 
Highlands, but the GVN is concerned about the nature of 
Protestantism there and indicated the process will be 
slower.  Official and unofficial Protestant pastors welcomed 
the Instruction, but indicated that much depends on how well 
it is disseminated to local officials.  Protestants in Gia 
Lai Province plan to act quickly to request recognition of 
their house churches.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Nguyen Thanh Xuan, the Committee for Religious 
Affairs' (CRA) Vice Chairman responsible for Protestant 
issues, told Embassy Poloff February 16 that the Prime 
Minister's Instruction on Protestants is largely a 
continuation of the stipulations of the Ordinance on 
Religion issued last July (Ref. B).  The Instruction is 
necessary, however, because Protestantism is "different from 
other religions in Vietnam" in that it has far more 
unrecognized denominations than recognized ones.  These 
denominations are divided along chronological lines, with 
groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists, Christian and 
Missionary Alliance and Baptists established before 1975 and 
others, such as the Assemblies of God and the New Apostles, 
since then.  There are also divisions along geographic 
lines, with rapid growth among ethnic minority adherents in 
the Central and Northwest Highlands, in contrast to the 
longer-established groups in other areas.  The Instruction 
provides "different solutions for these different areas," 
Xuan said.  It also serves as "an order from the Prime 
Minister to strictly implement his policies." 
 
3. (SBU) Focusing on the new elements in the Instruction, 
Xuan pointed out the way it addresses unrecognized 
Protestant groups.  Denominations with operations in Vietnam 
before 1975 should be allowed to register their activities 
and, "if all requirements are met," organize a general 
assembly for the purpose of being recognized.  Those 
denominations that began religious activities in Vietnam 
after 1975 should also register their activities with 
authorities, but a period of twenty years will be required 
for authorities to determine whether it is "truly a religion 
or not."  A CRA researcher specified to Pol FSN that this 
would be twenty years from the denomination's "official 
establishment" in Vietnam.  When Pol FSN noted that 
unregistered religions have no date of "official 
establishment," the researcher acknowledged the dates might 
have to be flexible.  (Note: This twenty year period is not 
in the Prime Minister's Instruction.  We are not clear about 
where it came from, and suspect it may be an arbitrary 
number used to indicate that newer denominations must have a 
proven track record before they can be considered for 
recognition. End note) 
 
4. (SBU) Xuan explained that the Instruction is aimed at 
"normalizing" the situation of Protestants in the Central 
and Northwest Highlands.  In the Central Highlands, 
Protestantism is longer established.  In this area, 
unrecognized Protestant congregations should register their 
operations and authorities should accept that they are 
"operating institutions."  At the same time, however, 
authorities must remain on guard against FULRO trying to 
link itself to Protestant groups.  The situation in the 
Northwest Highlands is different, however.  Protestantism 
there has largely been spread through "indirect forms" - the 
radio - and, in many cases, people's beliefs are different 
from "real Protestantism."  "As time passes, followers will 
learn more about true Protestantism," Xuan said, and then 
where "pure demand" exists, followers should be helped to 
register their denominations.  "In the past you were right 
to say the policies of the GVN were not appropriate in the 
Northwest Highlands," Xuan acknowledged, and the 
requirements of the new Instruction will be "very, very new" 
for the region. 
 
5. (SBU) In response to Poloff's question, Xuan said that 
public awareness is a major factor in the Instruction. 
Article One calls upon all levels of the Government to 
"fully realize" the State's policies and Article Two states 
that the public must be made aware of the Instruction.  The 
GVN has also asked the CRA to develop a dissemination 
program for the Instruction, which it will carry out with 
extensive media participation.  "There will be no gap 
between policies and their implementation," Xuan promised. 
 
6. (SBU) Reverend Au Quang Vinh (protect) of the officially 
recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam: North (ECVN) 
welcomed the Instruction with some caveats.  Focusing 
specifically on the Northwest Highlands, he said that the 
Instruction formally recognized the existence of Protestants 
in the Northwest Highlands, something that provincial 
officials had denied until this point.  The pastor welcomed 
the prohibition on forced renunciations of faith, but said 
it is critical that this information be distributed to local 
authorities.  The CRA had asked the EVCN to tell minority 
Protestants in the Northwest Highlands to register with the 
authorities, but our contact was not sure that they would be 
allowed to do more than practice at home.  The ECVN will 
continue to train Protestant volunteers from ethnic minority 
communities and provide them with Bibles, and has also begun 
to give them copies of the Ordinance on Religion "so they 
understand their rights." 
 
7. (SBU) A leader of the Gia Lai Province branch of the 
Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) told ConGenOff 
that he has heard of the Instruction informally, but has not 
yet seen a copy.  Nonetheless, he is enthusiastic about this 
development, saying he believes that it will speed up 
recognition of official churches and smooth the operation of 
house churches in Gia Lai.  In response to the issuance of 
the Instruction, the SECV in Gia Lai plans to submit to 
local authorities next week a list for recognition of yet-to- 
be approved SECV churches that have been operating 
informally in the province. 
 
8. (SBU) A senior pastor in the Vietnam house church 
movement based in Ho Chi Minh City also told us that he has 
heard about the new Instruction and is hopeful that it is a 
positive step.  There was no prior consultation with him on 
the specific contents of the PM's order, although he and 
other house church leaders had been in steady dialogue with 
local Party and MPS officials in the latter part of 2004 
over the needs of the Vietnam house church movement (Ref. 
C).  Our contact was particularly positive that the 
Instruction mentions, at least according to the media 
reports he has seen, the house church movement.  This is the 
fist time ever a GVN document appears to allow individuals 
to practice at home rather than at a specific authorized 
place of worship, he said.  He also expressed concerns that 
local implementation would be uneven. 
 
9. (SBU) Comment: That both Government and religious 
observers identified dissemination and implementation as 
critical to translating the Instruction into real results is 
no surprise.  We believe that this will be most problematic 
in the Northwest Highlands, where positive engagement 
between local officials and Protestant believers has been 
virtually non-existent to this point.  We expect more 
progress in the Central Highlands, but even there 
implementation will be shaped strongly by the attitudes of 
local officials.  Up to now, Gia Lai Province has been far 
more accommodating to Protestant believers than neighboring 
Dak Lak and Dak Nong Provinces, and the speed of new 
registrations and acceptance of house churches will likely 
reflect this.  End Comment. 
MARINE