US embassy cable - 05HANOI2838

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 002838 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, VM, RELFREE, HUMANR 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S INTERVENTION ON BEHALF OF PROTESTANTS 
IN QUANG NINH AND OTHER RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ISSUES 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Ambassador visited Quang Ninh Province 
October 17-19.  During this visit he discussed religious 
freedom issues with the People's Committee and met with 
Protestant and Catholic leaders.  Police harassed the 
Protestants prior to the Ambassador's visit, but his 
intervention with the Committee resulted in a police apology 
to the Protestants and commitments to register their 
heretofore-unregistered congregation.  The Ambassador also 
visited the priest of the local Catholic church, who noted 
that only five priests serve Quang Ninh's (potential) ten 
parishes because the local authorities have prevented the 
Bishop from assigning more priests.  General shortage of 
priests is also a problem, the priest reported.  Another 
difficulty the priest described is the recovery of a number 
of Catholic Church properties in the Province that are now 
used as local housing.  However, he asserted that the 
situation for the growing number of Catholics in Quang Ninh 
has improved dramatically since the church reestablished its 
presence in 1989. 
 
2. (SBU) Summary continued:  The Protestants' difficulties 
in Quang Ninh were a clear illustration of the GVN's 
continuing difficulties with enforcing local implementation 
of central policies on Religious Freedom, but the rapid 
solution demonstrated that a small amount of pressure on 
local authorities can positively change their behavior. 
Catholic officials offered the valuable insight that the 
number of Protestants in Quanh Ninh is relatively small, and 
has a large percentage of refugees who converted to 
Protestantism in refugee camps in Hong Kong before being 
returned to Vietnam.  These refugees are an automatic source 
of suspicion to Vietnamese police because of their previous 
efforts to seek refugee status.  Quanh Ninh Catholics are 
far better off, despite their difficulties in training and 
assigning priests to parishes.  The problem over 
ecclesiastical properties is not likely to be settled 
anytime soon. End Summary. 
 
Problems Right Away in Meeting Protestants 
------------------------------------------ 
 
3. (SBU) The Ambassador traveled to Quang Ninh Province from 
October 17-19.  Prior to this visit, the Embassy formally 
requested permission from the People's Committee for the 
Ambassador to meet with Catholic and Protestant leaders in 
Halong City to learn more about any Religious Freedom 
difficulties faced by their followers in this usually less- 
problematic region.  The Quang Ninh People's Committee 
immediately granted permission to meet with Catholic leaders 
but expressed dismay over the request to meet with 
Protestants because it had not been part of the original 
trip agenda, though they did not outright reject the 
request. 
 
4. (SBU) The Ambassador planned to meet with Protestant 
leaders to learn more about the refusal of the Evangelical 
Church of Vietnam North's (ECVN) June request to the local 
Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) to register a House 
Church of 30 believers in Halong City.  On Sunday, October 
16, twenty-four hours before the Ambassador's party departed 
for the Province, the ECVN informed poloffs that their 
followers had been hassled by plain-clothes police at their 
place of worship that morning.  That evening, officers 
questioned individual leaders in their homes and made vague 
threats about future "problems" if they persisted in meeting 
with the Ambassador. 
 
5. (SBU) Before departing for Quang Ninh on the morning of 
October 17, poloffs conveyed the Ambassador's strong 
displeasure about these developments directly to the foreign 
relations officer of the Provincial People's Committee and 
reiterated his desire to meet with the local Protestants. 
On arrival in the Province, the Ambassador met with People's 
Committee Vice Chairwoman Nhu Thi Lien at a welcome dinner. 
In addition to other issues reported septels, the Ambassador 
expressed his concerns regarding freedom of religion in 
Quang Ninh, noting that although the United States and 
Vietnam may not see eye-to-eye on the issue of religious 
freedom, it is important that Vietnam work to improve its 
record on religion.  In particular, he praised the new 
religious framework and the Prime Minister's "Instruction on 
Protestantism" issued in March which set out clear 
guidelines and instructions for the registration of 
religious groups.  He said he was therefore surprised to 
hear that a protestant congregation in Quang Ninh that had 
wanted to establish a church in Halong City had been refused 
permission to do so.  The Ambassador said he was also 
concerned to hear that leaders of that group had been 
harassed and threatened by police because he had asked to 
meet with them, especially since this gave the impression to 
others in Quang Ninh that the local authorities considered 
the Protestants' activities illegal or at least 
questionable.  He added that he hoped that these were the 
actions of overzealous police rather than efforts carried 
out under official instruction from the provincial 
government.  The Ambassador concluded by reiterating his 
desire to meet with the Protestants. 
 
6. (SBU) Vice Chairwoman Lien responded that the Quang Ninh 
Provincial Government has been working to implement the 
GVN's new policies on religion in the province.  She noted 
that the CRA wants to help congregations register and 
renovate their places of worship and has taken steps to 
allow groups to collect donations from the local populace to 
rebuild churches.  As for the specific request from the 
Evangelist Protestants, the CRA received a delegation in 
June from ECVN, at which meeting the CRA indicated it would 
create the "most favorable conditions possible" for the 
registration of this group.  However, the CRA has been 
unable to register the church since then because the ECVN 
application "remains incomplete."  Nevertheless, Lien stated 
her expectation that, in the end, the CRA will help the 
group complete its application and registration as 
instructed by the Prime Minister.  She also emphasized that 
a lack of a decision on this application was not necessarily 
a negative response and should not be interpreted as such. 
In conclusion, Lien expressed her belief that the police 
officers in question likely were "only seeking greater 
understanding of Protestantism" so local authorities could 
"work to improve their situation."  She made no objection to 
the Ambassador meeting with the Protestants the following 
morning. 
 
7. (SBU) On October 18, the Ambassador received seven 
members of the Protestant congregation led by Mr. Ngo Ba Tan 
at his hotel in Halong.  The hotel and security staffs were 
under instructions to "register" the seven before they were 
allowed to meet with the Ambassador.  When challenged about 
this new requirement, the hotel staff claimed that all such 
guests coming to meetings at Quang Ninh hotels were required 
to present their identification and register with the front 
desk, however they later admitted that this was false.  The 
Ambassador insisted that registrations were unnecessary and 
pulled the group into the meeting.  Only three of the seven 
were registered.  A representative of the Quang Ninh 
People's Committee tried to observe the meeting but 
respected the Ambassador's request for a private discussion. 
 
8. (SBU) Tan explained that their group of thirty believers 
and lay pastors, from twenty families, has met in Halong 
City for the last ten years.  Many of them were arrested 
from time to time in the past, he reported, but the number 
of arrests has fallen as GVN religious policy changes.  In 
June, the Protestants decided to try and register their 
congregation because of this perceived improvement.  ECVN 
applied on their behalf for both the right to register the 
group and the right to send an ECVN Pastor from Hanoi to 
preach to them.  (The CRA refused to accept an application 
from the group themselves).  Both ECVN applications were 
rejected exactly 45 days after the required waiting period 
with a message that the applicants did not fulfill the 
"required conditions" for application.  Despite repeated 
requests, the CRA refused to explain what these conditions 
were. 
 
9. (SBU) The Protestants asserted that since their 
applications were submitted, they have faced continuous 
troubles with local public security officials.  These 
troubles included more barriers against gathering for 
worship and numerous late night visits from police officers 
and public security officials.  The officials informed 
members of the congregation that their activities were 
illegal because their application to register had been 
officially denied.  They also visited relatives of followers 
to try and extort a list of the congregation from non- 
members and to discourage them from associating with their 
Protestant relations.  Finally, the landlord of their place 
of worship was instructed to stop allowing the Protestants 
to meet in his building.  The group has thus returned to 
meeting in secret, making "the situation worse than it was 
before our application".  Tan noted that there have been no 
outright arrests since the new laws on religion were 
promulgated earlier this year; however, this continued 
harassment showed that the police have found new ways to 
keep pressure on them.  Summing up, he said the CRA may 
continue to make promises to help the Protestants, but 
public security officials will continue to block their 
registration. 
 
10. (SBU) The Ambassador thanked the Protestant leaders for 
this information and reviewed his conversation with the 
People's Committee from the previous evening.  He noted that 
the Embassy will monitor the Protestants' situation in Quang 
Ninh and encouraged the group to reapply for registration 
and continue to work with the local CRA and with ECVN in 
Hanoi to make this happen, but also to reach out to other 
diplomats and international organizations to make sure their 
case is heard and approved.  International attention might 
change their situation for the better, he said.  The 
Ambassador also promised to raise the Protestants' situation 
with higher officials in the government, including members 
of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). 
 
11. (SBU) Five hours after this conversation, Tan informed 
poloffs that the Protestants were visited by the same 
security officials that had hassled them the previous 
evening right after their conversation with the Ambassador; 
however, the officers' tone was now "totally different." 
They inquired politely about the substance of the 
Protestants' meeting with the Ambassador and apologized for 
any previous offense they might have given, especially the 
evening before.  The ECVN confirms that since this apology, 
the Protestants in Quang Ninh have not been harassed in any 
way.  They also report that the local CRA held a meeting, 
after the Ambassador's visit, with all government agencies 
concerned with the Protestant issue in Quang Ninh to work 
out a "common position" on the ECVN's application, but could 
not say what this new position is. 
 
Catholics 
--------- 
 
12. (SBU) Also on October 18, the Ambassador visited Father 
Doan Thanh Vung at Hon Gai Parish church.  Father Vung 
explained that the church was originally established by the 
French in 1930 for people working in the Quang Ninh Coal 
mines, but was destroyed by U.S. bombing in 1967 and rebuilt 
with assistance from the U.S. Embassy under Ambassador 
Peterson and from foreign contributions.  Vung has been 
assigned to Hon Gai parish for thirteen years and actually 
splits his time between the 3000 followers in Hon Gai and 
3,500 followers in Cam Pha parish.  He noted that at present 
there are only five priests serving Quan Ninh's nine 
parishes and 40,000 parishioners.  There is also a sizable 
island with 500-600 believers off shore that in reality 
should be its own parish.  Vung stated that the local 
authorities have prevented the Bishop in Haiphong from 
assigning more priests to the Province, though he noted that 
the general shortage of priests is also a problem.  In 
addition, the GVN has refused to allow the establishment of 
any cloisters or other holy orders in the Province, although 
some young people have been able to go to seminary in Ho Chi 
Minh City and Hanoi.  Another problem facing the parish is 
the recovery of a number of church properties in Halong city 
that are now used as local housing.  The church is 
negotiating with the CRA to recover these and other 
ecclesiastical properties, but have not been successful. 
However, despite these problems, Father Vung asserted that 
in his and other priests' opinions the situation for the 
growing number of Catholics in Quang Ninh has improved 
dramatically since the church reestablished its presence in 
1989 after a forty-year hiatus.  The priests meet on a 
monthly basis to compare notes and coordinate ministry 
efforts, including programs to assist the high number of 
HIV/AIDS victims in the Province. 
 
13. (SBU) The Ambassador asked if the priests had any 
relationship with the small number of Protestants in Halong 
City.  Father Vung stated that the few "tens of families" of 
Protestants are a new phenomenon for the area.  Most of 
these people are either immigrants from other parts of 
Vietnam or returnees from refugee camps in Hong Kong where 
they converted to Protestant Christianity.  Vung observed 
that this newness coupled with the general suspicion of 
returned exiles were the main reasons why the local 
authorities had not yet allowed the Protestants to register 
an official place of worship.  He said that the priests do 
not have any formal contact with them; however, they do meet 
on a personal basis around Christmas and Easter. 
 
14. (SBU) Comment: The harassment of a Protestant 
congregation over their application to register with the CRA 
per government regulations, and especially the harassment 
before the Ambassador's meeting with the group, is quite 
surprising for such a forward looking province, but is 
likely heavily affected by the population of "politically 
unreliable" returned asylum seekers in the Protestant 
community.  This is particularly striking when compared with 
the favorable conditions enjoyed by the Catholics in Quang 
Ninh.  This is a clear illustration of the GVN's continuing 
difficulties with enforcing local implementation of central 
policies on Religious Freedom.  On the other hand, it is 
also clear from this example that a small amount of 
attention from the Embassy can exert strong pressure on 
local authorities to change their behavior.  The GVN seems 
committed, at least in the short term, to making real 
efforts to satisfy our Religious Freedom concerns, though 
the issue of the disposition of ecclesiastical properties 
currently being used for housing is not likely to be settled 
anytime soon.  End Comment. 
 
BOARDMAN