US embassy cable - 05HANOI2313

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002313 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, KIRF, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR, ETMIN 
SUBJECT: NORTHERN PROTESTANTS REPORT SOME RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
PROGRESS 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: On September 6, Pastor Au Quang Vinh of 
the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN) shared with Poloff 
his impressions of the status of religious freedom in 
Northern Vietnam.  He noted that his organization's recent 
interactions with the GVN have been mostly positive, though 
there is some divergence between official GVN policies on 
religion and local authorities' interpretation.  He said the 
ECVN is encouraging congregations to approach local 
officials to begin registration and to educate authorities 
about GVN policies. Though this strategy has not been 
completely successful, Vinh seemed pleased with the overall 
success of the ECVN's efforts to "change the mood" of local 
officials, leading to fewer arrests and less harassment of 
Protestants.  Vinh also reiterated the ECVN's desire for 
official GVN recognition of title to their Hanoi property. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) At a September 6 meeting with Poloff, Pastor Au 
Quang Vinh, General Secretary and Senior Pastor of the 
Evangelical Church of Vietnam - North (ECVN) shared his 
impressions of the status of religious freedom in Northern 
Vietnam from the perspective of Vietnamese Protestants. 
Vinh said that his organization's recent interaction with 
the GVN has been mostly positive, although there is still 
some divergence between the central government's official 
policies on individual beliefs and religions and the local 
authorities' interpretation of those policies.  He stated 
that despite this, the ECVN is actively encouraging rural 
congregations to approach their local People's Committee 
officials in order to begin the registration process in line 
with the GVN's new policies. 
 
3. (SBU) Pastor Vinh observed that the ECVN's local 
engagement strategy has not been completely successful.  On 
several occasions their sub-parishioner's approaches have 
elicited an official rebuff and increased difficulties with 
local officials who had previously ignored their existence. 
These setbacks notwithstanding, Vinh expressed satisfaction 
with the overall success of the ECVN's engagement.  He noted 
that most local authorities are "changing their mood" which 
has resulted in fewer arrests and less harassment of 
Northern Protestants.  Pastor Vinh explained that part of 
the strategy is to educate local authorities about the GVN's 
own policies on religious freedom and to explain to these 
local officials what the protestant religion is and is not. 
Vinh proudly provided examples of the documents that the 
central church and its sub-groups use for this purpose, 
including: the official GVN handbook on belief and religion 
which outlines official policy, Communist Party General 
Secretary Nong Duc Manh's statement on religious freedom, 
 
SIPDIS 
and a copy of the first issue of "Thong Cong" a bi-weekly 
bulletin newly printed by the ECVN (with GVN permission) 
which includes prominent photos of Deputy Prime Minister Vu 
Khoan posing with church leaders at a recent church 
conference.  He noted, however, that even faced with these 
incontrovertible documents some People's Committee 
apparatchiks in the provinces still refuse to accept the 
change in the central government's policy.  One (unnamed) 
People's Committee chairman reportedly scoffed that the 
official policy is "only official in Hanoi." 
 
4. (SBU) Pastor Vinh said that he was pleased on the whole 
with the ECVN's educational outreach efforts and the GVN's 
response overall, even considering the opposition of some 
local officials.  In particular, he noted that several Hmong 
congregations in the Northwest Highlands area positively 
changed the local authorities' views towards them after 
explaining that although Hmong protestants often refer to 
Jesus Christ with the honorific term of address "Vang Chu" 
(phonetic), they should not be confused with Laotian 
militant groups who worship a different "Vang Chu" as has 
happened in the past.  Pastor Vinh expressed confidence that 
similar educational efforts would continue to lower local 
officials' apprehensions about church efforts to organize in 
the rural North. 
 
5. (SBU) Returning to one of his perennial complaints, Vinh 
reiterated the ECVN's desire to receive official GVN 
recognition of their title to the Hanoi property on which 
their church compound resides.  He noted that it is 
impossible for the congregation to improve or reconstruct 
their dilapidated facilities until they have clear title and 
asked the Embassy to raise this issue with the GVN whenever 
possible. 
 
6. (SBU) COMMENT: Pastor Vinh's upbeat attitude about the 
future for religious freedom in the North has held solid 
since the issuance of the Prime Minister's instruction on 
religion in the Spring of 2005.  We are encouraged by the 
success of the ECVN's educational outreach policy at 
overcoming local authorities' resistance, which remains the 
greatest obstacle to religious freedom in the North.  The 
condescending behavior of the unidentified People's 
Committee Chairman is, unfortunately, quite plausible and 
characteristic of resistance in some provinces to Hanoi's 
interference in what they feel is a local concern. 
Continued attention to the issue by U.S. Embassy officers in 
Hanoi combined with the ECVN's grassroots education efforts 
in the provinces will remain the best strategy for 
institutionalizing recent gains for Protestants in the 
North. 
 
MARINE