US embassy cable - 05HANOI2517

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 002517 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT PASS TO EAP/MLS; EAP/RSP; EAP/EP 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR ELENA BRYAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PINR, KIRF, PGOV, ETRD, VM, APEC, ASEAN, WTO, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT:  EAP DAS Eric John's Meeting with Deputy Prime 
Minister Vu Khoan 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  During EAP DAS Eric John's September 27 
meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, the Deputy 
Prime Minister urged the United States to conclude at an 
early date its bilateral WTO negotiations with Vietnam for 
both economic and political reasons.  DPM Khoan also pressed 
the United States to remove Vietnam from the list of 
Countries of Particular Concern and expressed his 
Government's desire for U.S. assistance in drawing up an 
APEC 2006 roadmap.  DPM Khoan also stressed the importance 
of continued cooperation in the areas of health, education 
and defense.  Both DAS John and DPM Khoan agreed on the 
primacy of APEC among regional groupings, and the Deputy 
Prime Minister welcomed the USG's commitment to 
strengthening relations with ASEAN and working with Vietnam 
to address regional and multilateral issues.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) EAP DAS Eric John met for nearly an hour September 
27 with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan.  He was joined by 
the Ambassador, EAP Mainland Southeast Asia Director 
Director Scot Marciel, Pol/C and PolOff.  MFA Americas 
Department Director and Assistant Minister Nguyen Duc Hung, 
Office of the Government External Affairs Deputy Director 
Nguyen Thu Do and a number of other GVN officials were also 
in attendance.  The meeting was well attended by television 
and print media, which provided favorable coverage.  DAS 
John and DPM Khoan opened their meeting by exchanging 
condolences on recent hurricane and typhoon damage suffered 
in both the United States and Vietnam, with DAS John 
thanking the Government and people of Vietnam for their 
generous support and donations. 
 
3. (SBU) Agreeing with DAS John's assessment that the U.S.- 
Vietnam relationship is moving in the right direction and 
has a bright future, DPM Khoan quoted the June Joint 
Statement's reference to the two countries' "constructive 
partnership with a long-term basis."  With this in mind, now 
is the time to create a timeframe for both sides to take 
actions, the Deputy Prime Minister said.  The next bilateral 
milestone will be President George W. Bush's visit to 
Vietnam next November.  While the Prime Minister's trip to 
the United States "opened the door" for the two countries' 
ties, the President's visit will "lay a new foundation" for 
them.  To that end, there are three areas on which the two 
countries should focus:  implementing agreements reached by 
the two countries' leaders; overcoming remaining obstacles 
in the bilateral relationship; and promoting mutual 
cooperation within regional groupings, particularly APEC. 
 
Implementing Bilateral Agreements 
--------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU) Regarding the implementation of bilateral political 
pledges, both leaders agreed that a bilateral dialogue 
mechanism should be established on a broad basis, DPM Khoan 
continued.  The areas of discussion can be more than human 
rights and should include varied bilateral and multilateral 
subjects.  On economic pledges, both sides should continue 
to work on both implementing the Bilateral Trade Agreement 
and bringing to a close their WTO negotiations.  A 
successful conclusion to the bilateral WTO talks would be a 
clear demonstration of U.S. support for Vietnam's "doi moi" 
(renovation) policy.  Vietnam is now in the process of 
accelerating its reform program, and 2006 will be a 
significant year, DPM Khoan stressed. 
 
5. (SBU) Furthermore, as Vietnam has concluded bilateral WTO 
negotiations with 21 countries, including major economies, 
there is no reason why it could not do the same with the 
United States at an early time, DPM Khoan averred.  Vietnam 
is not asking very much of the United States in its WTO 
talks and simply hopes that the United States considers 
Vietnam to be a developing country still at a low level. 
Vietnam's WTO accession requirements should not be greater 
than those of China.  The U.S.-Vietnam WTO negotiations can 
send an important signal, both political and economic, to 
the rest of the world. 
 
6. (SBU) In terms of other forms of cooperation, health 
issues such as HIV/AIDS and avian influenza are important 
areas for both countries to focus on, and there is much work 
to be done, DPM Khoan continued.  Education collaboration is 
another positive area, and security and defense cooperation, 
including implementing the International Military Education 
and Training (IMET) program, is also important.  In short, 
both the United States and Vietnam have a number of high- 
level commitments to put into practice before President 
Bush's visit to Vietnam, DPM Khoan said. 
 
Overcoming Bilateral Obstacles:  CPC 
------------------------------------ 
 
7. (SBU) In terms of addressing bilateral obstacles, DPM 
Khoan expressed his Government's hope that the United States 
will remove Vietnam from the Country of Particular Concern 
(for religious freedom violations) list. 
Regional Cooperation 
-------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) Turning to regional cooperation, DPM Khoan said 
there are three important areas for both countries to work 
on.  The first is APEC.  After the Busan Leaders' Meeting, 
the United States and Vietnam should draw up an APEC 2006 
roadmap.  The GVN is pleased that U.S. APEC Senior Official 
Ambassador Michalak will travel soon to Vietnam to discuss 
this matter. 
 
9. (SBU) Secondly, although the United States is not 
directly involved in the East Asian Summit (EAS), Vietnam 
understands that there is still great interest in this 
subject, DPM Khoan said.  Vietnam's position is that the EAS 
should not be a mechanism to overshadow other regional 
organizations and mechanisms but rather to supplement or 
complement them.  It will not be possible for the EAS to 
replace APEC.  Indeed, DPM Khoan continued, Vietnam has no 
idea how the first EAS in Kuala Lumpur will go.  Vietnam's 
policy is that ASEAN should have the lead role and that the 
EAS should be open and transparent. 
 
10. (SBU) Thirdly, Vietnam understands why the Secretary was 
unable to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Vientiane 
in July, but nonetheless hopes that the United States not 
create the feeling that it does not respect ASEAN, DPM Khoan 
observed.  Vietnam is concerned that the vacuum created by a 
U.S. absence could be filled by another country.  Regarding 
its close neighbors Cambodia and Laos, Vietnam attaches 
great importance to relations with them, and Prime Minister 
Hun Sen is about to visit Vietnam.  The situation in 
Cambodia is "very serious," and the world community should 
seek ways to encourage Cambodia to develop in the right way 
to secure peace, stability and prosperity, DPM Khoan said. 
 
WTO 
--- 
 
11. (SBU) Returning to the subject of Vietnam's WTO 
aspirations, DPM Khoan said that the United States and 
Vietnam should meet again soon, "in October."  Although 
Vietnam does not have much money, it nonetheless is willing 
to send its team to Washington in order to achieve progress 
and move closer to concluding the bilateral talks. 
Concluding, DPM Khoan said that, if the United States and 
Vietnam can conclude all the tasks before them, there would 
be a new foundation for long-term relations.  The subject of 
how both countries should move forward together will likely 
be a subject of discussion between President Bush and 
Vietnam's leaders, DPM Khoan said. 
 
U.S. Committed to Vietnam's WTO Accession 
----------------------------------------- 
 
12. (SBU) DAS John observed that DPM Khoan had clearly 
enumerated the bilateral relationship's successes and 
challenges.  One clear success has been the economic and 
trade relationship, with the BTA as the floor upon which we 
are working towards Vietnam's WTO accession.  The United 
States has a firm commitment to help Vietnam accede to the 
WTO, and we are very close to concluding our discussions. 
Moreover, while tough issues remain for Vietnam to address, 
the United States remains committed to cooperating to 
conclude successfully our negotiations.  We believe that 
Vietnam's ultimate accession will set the gold standard for 
WTO entry, DAS John said.  On health issues, our PEPFAR 
commitment is substantial, and the United States hopes to 
ramp up its avian influenza efforts to meet the needs that 
clearly exist. 
 
13. (SBU) President Bush's planned APEC visit to Vietnam is 
a good target for our two countries to have in dealing with 
all of the issues before us, DAS John continued.  As good as 
bilateral relations are now, our efforts in the run-up to 
APEC can make our ties even stronger.  This will also be an 
opportunity to showcase our bilateral ties not only to the 
peoples of both our countries but also to the broader world 
community. 
Religious Freedom, Human Rights, Transnational Issues 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
14. (SBU) While we do face challenges ahead, we have seen 
progress in the area of religious freedom, DAS John said. 
We believe we have a good work plan to deal with our 
religious freedom and broader human rights concerns, not 
only thanks to our recent religious freedom agreement but 
also because of our planned results-based Human Rights 
Dialogue.  Furthermore, in terms of law enforcement, 
counterterrorism and trafficking issues, both the United 
States and Vietnam have genuine concerns in these areas and 
should have the will and ability to work together more 
closely. 
 
Regional Organizations 
---------------------- 
 
15. (SBU) In terms of multilateral cooperation, preparations 
for APEC will provide us with an important opportunity to 
cooperate, and we look forward to Ambassador Michalak's 
visit to Vietnam, DAS John said.  Furthermore, although the 
Secretary could not attend this year's ARF, she committed to 
 
SIPDIS 
attend next year's meeting in Malaysia, and DAS John himself 
will lead the U.S. delegation to the ARF Inter-Sessional 
Group meeting in Honolulu in October.  The United States 
will begin negotiations there for a U.S.-ASEAN Enhanced 
Partnership to demonstrate our level of commitment to the 
group, DAS John stressed. 
 
Burma, Cambodia 
--------------- 
 
16. (SBU) Increasingly, the United States sees Vietnam as a 
true partner in the region, DAS John continued.  Although we 
may have different tactics, our goals are shared.  Burma is 
a case in point.  Vietnam believes in engagement, and this 
is something the United States will not discourage, although 
we disagree with it.  We have the same goal of seeing better 
lives for the Burmese people and having Burma's leaders take 
responsibility for the well-being of their citizens and 
implement their long-standing democratic commitments. 
Burma's closed society and narcotics production are 
beginning to make it a threat to Southeast Asian stability, 
and this is something Vietnam and its ASEAN partners need to 
address.  On Cambodia, the United States shares with Vietnam 
the goal of stability and prosperity, and this can be 
achieved with a political system in which all can 
participate, including the political opposition. 
 
17. (SBU) In closing, DPM Khoan said U.S.-Vietnam relations 
should be a partnership based on mutual interests and 
benefits.  Vietnam shares with the United States the goal of 
Southeast Asian stability, development and prosperity.  For 
its part, Vietnam seeks to promote friendship and 
cooperation between the nations of Southeast Asia and all 
major countries, including the United States.  To that end, 
the United States and Vietnam can and should establish a 
true partnership both on a bilateral basis and within a 
multilateral framework, DPM Khoan concluded. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
18. (SBU) Although DPM Khoan had just returned from viewing 
the extensive coastal damage caused by Typhoon Damrey, he 
was still focused on the meeting at hand and easily 
conversant in both bilateral and regional issues.  As in 
past meetings with USG and Embassy officials, the Deputy 
Prime Minister used an interpreter only when speaking. 
 
19. (SBU) Comment, cont'd:  DPM Khoan's reference to 2006 
being a "significant year" is a nod to the Communist Party's 
Tenth Congress, scheduled for the first half of 2006.  The 
issue of Vietnam's "doi moi" (renovation) policy -- and its 
continued pace and scope -- will loom large in the Party 
Congress' deliberations (and the preparatory discussions 
beforehand), and whether and when Vietnam makes it into the 
WTO will influence these internal discussions.  End Comment. 
20. (U) DAS John cleared this cable. 
 
MARINE