US embassy cable - 03HANOI1535

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV, DRL, DRL/PHD, and DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958:  NA 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PGOV, VM, HUMANR, RELFREE 
SUBJECT:  In the Hoa Hao Heartland 
 
Ref:  02 Ho Chi Minh City 1140 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  The south's An Giang province includes 
members of almost all of Vietnam's religious communities, 
but is the homeland of the indigenous Hoa Hao Buddhist sect 
which, according to GVN figures, comprises almost 40% of the 
province's two million residents.  The GVN-recognized Hoa 
Hao Administrative Committee (HHAC) appears to be unusually 
deeply involved with community development efforts normally 
undertaken by the government.  The four-year old HHAC also 
boasts an extensive program to train and develop its 
leaders, and denies that any current "monks" are mainstream 
Hoa Hao believers.  Hoa Hao Founder Huynh Phu So's ancestral 
home -- a Hoa Hao pilgrimage site -- is still occupied and 
run by his family, which tries to sidestep controversies 
surrounding the HHAC and the various non-GVN recognized Hoa 
Hao groups.  Given the HHAC's activities, terminology, and 
approach, it is not difficult to see why its detractors 
claim it is too close to the CPV and GVN.  End Summary. 
 
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The Hoa Hao 
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2.  (U)  Nguyen Huy Diem, Secretary of the Hoa Hao 
Administrative Committee, and Nguyen Van Luong, head of the 
HHAC's Administration and Personnel Division, along with 
several other Hoa Hao and An Giang provincial officials, met 
DCM, poloff, and ConGen pol/econoff at the Administrative 
Committee's headquarters near the Hoa Hao Founder's temple 
on May 20.  According to Diem, Hoa Hao believers practiced 
their faith in their homes after 1975.  The Hoa Hao's "old 
administration" was not in line with the Founder's teachings 
and prophecy, Diem claimed.  By 1999, however, "living 
conditions" had improved sufficiently from the time of 
"liberation" that followers proposed establishment of an 
administrative committee.  With approval (unclear from 
Diem's remarks whether tacit or formal) from GVN 
authorities, Hoa Hao followers then organized a congress to 
set up an administrative structure, elect an administrative 
committee, and "regularize" the faith.  Organizers, 
including Diem, invited over 400 individuals to attend the 
congress; 210 representatives from 9 provinces came. 
 
3.  (U)  The congress established regulations and a plan for 
the organization based on "the teachings and prophecy of the 
Founder."  The followers also vowed to improve and develop 
their virtues and to develop their religion, Diem added. 
 
4.  (U)  A new Administrative Committee of eleven members 
was divided into four divisions.  One is responsible for 
organization and personnel and supervises local-level Hoa 
Hao committees that now exist in over 230 communes and wards 
with large Hoa Hao populations in nine provinces, according 
to Diem.  Each local committee has one leader and five 
assistants.  Diem said that the HHAC is still conducting a 
census to determine the true number of believers, but 
estimated there were about two million nation-wide.  The 
organization and personnel division also oversees 
celebration of two major annual holidays, "Founding Day" and 
the Founder's birthday.  Diem claimed that over 300,000 
visitors had attended one of these celebrations in 2002. 
 
5.  (U)  Another division handles "propaganda and teaching." 
It has published -- with GVN permission -- 100,000 copies of 
a book outlining the Founder's teachings and prophecies as 
well as 250,000 copies of the portrait of the Founder.  It 
has also distributed various cassette tapes and a regular 
newsletter.  The division organizes 24 "basic professional 
teaching" classes, which about 6,000 followers have attended 
for fifteen-day sessions.  The division also developed a new 
"training of trainers" class for 100 participants that will 
last eighteen months.  These trainers will then go out and 
provide classes to others.  Young people are quite 
interested in learning about the Founder's teachings, Diem 
claimed. 
 
6.  (U)  The charitable and social assistance division 
builds bridges, road, and houses; conducts flood relief; 
offers food to hospital patients; helps those needing eye 
surgery; provides free coffins; disseminates traditional 
herbal medicines; and conducts vocational training classes. 
Believers contribute funds and labor for these projects. 
Diem estimated the number of bridges built by the Hoa Hao at 
143, along with over 100 kilometers of roads.  (He clarified 
that they must consult with local authorities about the 
projects.)  While people "know" these are Hoa Hao projects, 
the HHAC invites local authorities to the opening 
ceremonies.  Since charity and good works is one of the 
pillars of the Hoa Hao faith, followers are "eager" to 
donate their labor and money to these community projects, he 
added.  There is no overseas assistance for these 
activities, even from U.S.-based Hoa Hao.  Diem noted that 
the Hoa Hao cooperate with the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, 
especially for eye surgeries, as well as with other 
religions "as necessary." 
 
7.  (U)  An "inspection and control" division is responsible 
for maintaining the "purity" of the religion and for 
ensuring that teaching is accurate.  It is also charged with 
stopping followers from "abusing and distorting" the 
religion and from undertaking activities that defame the Hoa 
Hao faith.  If necessary, it takes steps to "encourage" 
followers to avoid those who "abuse and distort" the 
religion. 
 
8.  (U)  DCM asked Diem about Hoa Hao followers and monks 
such as Nam Liem (reftel) who do not accept the HHAC's 
authority.  Diem claimed that the number of Hoa Hao outside 
his organization was limited.  He also pointed out that, 
according to the Founder's prophecy, the religion consists 
only of the Founder and followers; there are not supposed to 
be any spiritual leaders or monks.  He contrasted the HHAC - 
- a body elected by Hoa Hao followers -- with "self- 
declared" leaders or monks whom the HHAC does not recognize. 
These individuals oppose the HHAC because it does not 
recognize them, Diem declared.  Regarding the monk Nam Liem, 
Diem emphasized that he is not a Hoa Hao, but an independent 
monk outside the Hoa Hao Buddhist sect, with no followers. 
Diem denounced Nam Liem for keeping a Buddha statue in his 
house, in contrast to the normal Hoa Hao practice of 
representing Buddha with a brown or red cloth.  The HHAC had 
sent a delegation to meet with Nam Liem, but the monk 
refused to speak to them.  Diem compared this behavior to 
that of Huynh Van Long, who had been a monk but now belongs 
to a commune-level HHAC committee.  The HHAC had invited 
many such people to join their organization and a "high 
percentage" had accepted, he claimed.  He reiterated that 
the only person with a spiritual role in the Hoa Hao 
religion was the Founder himself.  The HHAC was thus not a 
spiritual, but an administrative organization. 
 
9.  (U)  Diem declined to answer a question about how many 
of An Giang's provincial leaders are Hoa Hao.  He noted, 
however, that about 400 Hoa Hao in An Giang are CPV members. 
 
------------------- 
The Founder's House 
------------------- 
 
10.  (U)  The Founder's ancestral home is a focal point of 
the Hoa Hao religion.  DCM and party visited on May 20 and 
spoke with Bui Thi Be and Bui Van Duong, the niece and 
nephew of the Founder.  They received DCM cordially, but 
cautiously.  Ms. Be still lives in the ancestral home with 
some other family members.  The public portion of the home 
is a somewhat temple-like pavilion fronted by a garden 
containing topiary and colored lights.  Numerous portraits 
of the Founder and his relatives adorn the walls.  Ms. Be 
and Duong said that their role was to maintain the house and 
facilitate worship there.  They do not teach other followers 
or claim to know much about the affairs of the HHAC. 
 
11.  (U)  The house attracts tens, if not hundreds, of 
thousands of pilgrims every year, they claimed.  Ms. Be said 
that the three most important times are the founding day of 
Hoa Haoism and the anniversaries of the Founder's birth and 
death.  Smaller commemorations occur on his parents' death 
anniversaries.  The first celebration of founding day 
following GVN recognition of Hoa Haoism was the biggest, she 
said.  The holidays had been celebrated but on a smaller 
scale, prior to 1999.  She commented that the size of 
celebrations had diminished somewhat since the first 
officially sanctioned celebrations in 1999, in part because 
there are now some 250 local associations that also 
commemorate those holidays in their own locations.  Since 
most followers are farmers, the number of pilgrims is also 
influenced by the success of the harvest. 
 
12.  (U)  In response to a question about relations with 
overseas Hoa Hao associations, Ms. Be claimed that local Hoa 
Hao maintain "normal" relations with family members 
overseas, but did not comment on relations with overseas Hoa 
Hao organizations.  She clarified that it is her family that 
is responsible for maintaining the Founder's home, not the 
HHAC. 
 
13.  (SBU)  Comment:  The HHAC's structure and its 
terminology are more reminiscent of a GVN agency or a CPV- 
controlled mass organization than most religious bodies. 
The activities of the HHAC's social affairs division are 
particularly startling in their scope and appear to be far 
beyond what other religions are allowed by the GVN to 
undertake.  If the HHAC represents Hoa Hao followers who 
have made their peace with the GVN and have decided to play 
by its rules, as many critics claim, they have done so in a 
definitive way that leaves them surprising freedom of action 
even in non-religious fields. 
BURGHARDT