US embassy cable - 05HANOI622

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000622 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/BCLTV; EAP/RSP; DRL; PM 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR E. BRYAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, KIRF, PINR, MARR, OVIP, ETRD, VM, ETMIN, HUMANR, RELFREE, WTO, BTA 
SUBJECT: The Ambassador's March 10 Meeting with Minister of 
the Office of the Government Doan Manh Giao 
 
Refs: A) Hanoi 314; B) Hanoi 584 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The Ambassador met March 10 with Minister 
of the Office of the Government Doan Manh Giao, the 
equivalent of the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff.  The 
Ambassador described the current state of play of Ambassador 
at Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford's 
ongoing religious freedom discussions with Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs officials and underlined that the two sides 
are very near to closing the gap between them.  The 
Ambassador also stressed the importance of access to the 
Central Highlands by USG officials, expressed concern about 
the rumored decision of the GVN to postpone the long-planned 
March 29-31 U.S. Navy ship visit and urged the GVN to be 
ready to move forward in next week's bilateral WTO accession 
talks.  The Ambassador also described the need for Vietnam 
to work harder to improve the investment environment and 
conditions for U.S. companies.  Minister Giao promised to 
report on the religious freedom talks to Prime Minister Phan 
Van Khai and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, said that U.S. 
officials are welcome to travel to the Central Highlands any 
time to learn more about the situation there and noted that 
the PM expressed support for the U.S. ship visit going 
forward as planned.  He also described Vietnam's interest in 
improving the bilateral environment before the Prime 
Minister's (proposed) visit to the United States.  This 
includes the GVN's focus on a number of issues of specific 
interest to the United States and U.S. firms.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) The Ambassador met officially for the first time 
March 10 with Minister of the Office of the Government Doan 
Manh Giao.  Pol/C and MFA Americas Department Deputy 
Director Pham Van Que also attended.  (Note:  The Office of 
the Government is the support organization for the Prime 
Minister and three Deputy Prime Ministers and plays an inter- 
agency coordinating role.  Minister Giao is akin to the 
Prime Minister's Chief of Staff.  The Ambassador met 
Minister Giao once before, during the visit of NSC Senior 
Director for Asia Michael Green (Ref A).  End note.) 
Minister Giao opened by describing his office as "very busy" 
as it prepares for major bilateral events, such as the tenth 
anniversary of the normalization of relations, the Prime 
Minister's upcoming visit to the United States and President 
Bush's travel to Vietnam on the occasion of APEC 2006. 
 
3. (SBU) Invited by Minister Giao to begin the discussion, 
the Ambassador raised religious freedom, noting that the 
GVN's efforts in recent months to focus on this issue have 
been impressive.  The Prime Minister's Instruction on 
Protestantism and the Ordinance on Religion's Implementation 
Decree, if carried out as planned, could create a clear path 
to removing religious freedom as a matter of concern between 
our two governments.  Ambassador at Large for International 
Religious Freedom John Hanford has been in Hanoi for nearly 
a week to have detailed discussions with the GVN on creating 
a framework to avoid taking negative Country of Particular 
Concern-related actions at this time.  Ambassador Hanford's 
discussions, particularly at the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, have been very good.  His goal is to work towards a 
simple agreement between the USG and GVN to allow us to take 
a non-sanction action against Vietnam next week.  We are 
very close, but it appears that a simple agreement is not 
something Vietnam is willing to conclude.  Ambassador 
Hanford may thus have to return to Washington empty handed, 
the Ambassador observed. 
 
4. (SBU) We still hope that there is room to reach an 
agreement, the Ambassador continued.  If not, we remain 
committed to working with the GVN on this issue.  The United 
States recognizes that, as important as the issue of 
religious freedom is, it is only one aspect of the overall 
bilateral relationship, which is more important than any of 
its parts.  However, to achieve the kind of success we both 
want, the United States and Vietnam have to find a way 
forward on this matter, the Ambassador said. 
 
5. (SBU) Describing his recent trip to the Central 
Highlands, the Ambassador said he was very impressed by the 
attitudes of local officials in Dak Lak and Lam Dong 
Provinces.  Although these provinces are not as economically 
advanced as Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, they have policies in 
place that could bring benefits to both ethnic Kinh 
Vietnamese and members of ethnic minority groups in the 
region.  Local officials' level of understanding of the 
importance of religious freedom and the Government's new 
policies is also impressive.  We look forward to having our 
staff in both the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and 
the Embassy return regularly to the Central Highlands to 
assess the situation on the ground.  Access to the region 
will also be important as the Tripartite Memorandum of 
Understanding among Vietnam, Cambodia and the UNHCR comes 
into full effect with the return to Vietnam of those 
Montagnards who crossed into Cambodia.  The USG hopes that 
the GVN will encourage local authorities to allow visitors 
to have access to the Central Highlands to give Washington 
the complete picture of what is going on in the region, the 
Ambassador said. 
 
6. (SBU) A significant bilateral event on the horizon is the 
upcoming visit to Ho Chi Minh City by a U.S. warship, the 
Ambassador continued.  The ship is scheduled to arrive in 
Vung Tau on March 29 and then proceed to the Port of Saigon. 
We have been looking forward to this event, but there are 
indications that some in the Office of the Government want 
to delay the visit until June.  We are willing to work with 
the GVN to accommodate its needs, but a postponement offers 
no assurance that the visit could take place in June, the 
Ambassador stressed. 
 
7. (SBU) On the issue of religious freedom, Minister Giao 
said that the Prime Minister's Instruction and the 
Implementation Decree represent the "real policies" of the 
GVN.  However, implementation at the local level cannot 
always be as "complete as expected."  Giao offered his 
assurance that the GVN will take "strict control" of local 
implementation, especially at the village and commune 
levels, to ensure that this and other Government policies 
are implemented properly.  Vietnam understands U.S. concerns 
about this issue but also urges the United States to 
recognize that U.S. and Vietnamese concepts about this issue 
are different.  The GVN has worked a long time on this 
matter, and its efforts can be seen in recent policies and 
improvements, Giao observed. 
 
8. (SBU) Minister Giao reported that he has been following 
Ambassador Hanford's discussions and noted that it seems 
that, although differences remain, the two sides have 
reached a "certain understanding."  The GVN is aware of the 
"special interest" the United States attaches to religious 
issues and also understands the importance of events we are 
preparing for, such as the Prime Minister's visit and the 
tenth anniversary commemoration.  Minister Giao himself 
attaches importance to these issues.  The GVN will consider 
in an "objective manner" the comments made by the U.S. side, 
and Minister Giao pledged to report this matter to the Prime 
Minister and discuss it the next morning with Deputy Prime 
Minister Vu Khoan, with whom he would meet to discuss the 
Prime Minister's visit to the United States. 
 
9. (SBU) On the Central Highlands, the GVN has no reason not 
to welcome visits to the region by the Ambassador or other 
Embassy or Consulate General officials if the goal is to 
understand the situation there or increase understanding 
regarding religion, ethnic minority groups or the local 
authorities' implementation of policy, Minister Giao said. 
There have been reports from local officials that, since the 
release of the Prime Minister's Instruction and the 
Implementation Decree, the situation for religious groups in 
the Central Highlands has improved.  The GVN's goal is to 
differentiate between real religious followers and those who 
"abuse religious activities for their own purposes," 
Minister Giao said. 
 
10. (SBU) On the U.S. Navy ship visit, the Minister said he 
received a report that a Thai ship (NFI) would be in Vung 
Tau the same day (March 29) as the American vessel. 
However, the Prime Minister has told him that the U.S. ship 
"should get priority."  Minister Giao expressed his hope 
that the Ministry of Defense would reconsider and be in 
touch with the U.S. side about this matter. 
 
11. (SBU) Returning to Ambassador Hanford's visit and its 
ultimate goal, the Ambassador noted that it is unusual for 
someone of Ambassador Hanford' stature to spend so much time 
in one country.  (Note:  Ambassador Hanford arrived March 3 
and was still in Hanoi on March 10.  End note.)  This 
reflects Ambassador Hanford's belief that Vietnam has put in 
place the right policies related to religious freedom. 
Under U.S. law, the President must take action this month on 
all countries designated as Countries of Particular Concern. 
There is a range of possible actions and most involve 
economic sanctions.  That said, the USG believes that this 
is not the right action to take for Vietnam.  The law has a 
provision for the option of an agreement between the United 
States and Vietnam, and that is what we are working on, the 
language of which echoes efforts that Vietnam is already 
undertaking.  We are not asking Vietnam to take any new 
action.  With the right instructions, Vice Foreign Minister 
Le Van Bang (Note:  The most senior of Ambassador Hanford's 
interlocutors.  End note.) can work with the United States 
in one more day of hard negotiations to find a solution, the 
Ambassador stressed. 
 
12. (SBU) On WTO, the Ambassador noted that there will be 
another round of bilateral negotiations next week.  As the 
Ambassador told Vice Minister of Trade Tu the day before 
(Ref B), the United States is prepared to try to move 
forward, but Vietnam must also be ready to move.  We cannot 
stay in our current positions.  The U.S. side has recently 
handed over seven pages of steps Vietnam can take in the 
services sector to move us closer to a bilateral agreement. 
This is an example of the kind of actions Vietnam needs to 
be prepared to discuss and eventually take.  Reaching a 
bilateral WTO agreement before the Prime Minister's proposed 
visit is possible, but it is increasingly difficult because 
the clock is ticking.  The United States remains supportive 
of Vietnam's WTO bid, as seen in our statements and actions 
in the multilateral forum in Geneva, but we need accelerated 
action from Vietnam.  This includes Vietnam's providing the 
United States and others with draft laws to allow us to see 
if they are up to WTO standards, the Ambassador said. 
 
13. (SBU) Continuing, the Ambassador said that Vietnam must 
also work to create an environment in which the USG can 
support and Congress can pass this year Permanent Normal 
Trade Relations (PNTR) legislation.  American businesses 
remain concerned about Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) 
compliance and the overall environment for doing business in 
Vietnam.  We know that a number of major GVN procurement 
projects are in the offing and believe that U.S. firms are 
well positioned to win contracts, such as for aircraft 
(Boeing), the Ministry of Finance's TABMIS project (multiple 
U.S. bidders) and Vinasat (Lockheed-Martin).  We are 
confident that U.S. firms' technological superiority and 
price competitiveness make them strong contenders, but the 
sooner these deals are concluded, the better for the PNTR 
vote, the Ambassador noted. 
 
14. (SBU) Minister Giao reported that he recently attended a 
GVN meeting at which a large number of draft WTO-related 
legal documents were approved for eventual National Assembly 
and National Assembly Standing Committee approval and 
adoption.  The GVN would soon be ready to send its revised 
laws to WTO members for their review.  The revision of more 
than 20 major legal documents is "heavy" and "complicated" 
work, and any delay will be because of technical 
difficulties, not a "lack of good faith" on the part of the 
GVN, Giao emphasized. 
 
15. (SBU) Minister Giao said he fully shares the 
Ambassador's opinion about the need for an improved 
investment climate in Vietnam.  In the context of bilateral 
relations in the run-up to the Prime Minister's visit, the 
PM requested relevant ministries and agencies to consider 
"specific issues related to U.S. companies" and "come up 
with solutions."  Some of the specific issues include Boeing 
aircraft, the auto tax, insurance license applications and 
business consulting in Vietnam.  In short, Vietnam will try 
to create the "most favorable" atmosphere and to have 
"concrete improvements" in bilateral relations, Minister 
Giao said. 
 
16. (SBU) Vietnam plans to conclude "seven or eight" 
agreements before the Prime Minister's visit, and Minister 
Giao asked that the USG do what is necessary to wrap up 
these agreements and conclude a "joint communique" that will 
have seven major points.  Minister Giao also noted that, 
during his meeting with Senior Director Green, the two had 
discussed "cooperative relations" between the Office of the 
Government and the "Office of the President."  Giao 
requested that the Ambassador assist with establishing 
contact.  An OOG staffer will travel to Washington at the 
end of March as a part of VFM Le Van Bang's delegation and 
hopes to have meetings at the "Office of the President" to 
learn more about how it functions, Giao said.  The 
Ambassador suggested, and Giao agreed, that this staffer 
meet beforehand with someone from the Embassy to assess what 
is needed. 
 
17. (SBU) Comment:  As during his meeting with the NSC's Dr. 
Green, Minister Giao was on top of his brief and spoke 
directly to the point.  As the Prime Minister's "Chief of 
Staff," he seems genuinely interested in ensuring that 
bilateral relations remain stable and progress smoothly in 
the run-up to the PM's visit.  We will follow up with the 
Office of the Government on Giao's request to faciliate 
greater contact between the Office and the USG.  End 
Comment. 
 
18. (SBU) Bio note:  Giao was born in Hue 1944.  He 
graduated from Vietnam Military Academy as an engineer and 
went on to teach there.  Giao did further studies in China 
and speaks Chinese.  In 1983 he started work at the Office 
of the Government as a China expert.  From 1992 - 2001, he 
was Vice Chairman of the Government Office and was promoted 
to Minister and Chairman in 2001.  He appears to understand 
English but does not use it in official meetings. 
 
MARINE