The Ambassador's January 13 Call on Foreign

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SUBJECT: The Ambassador's January 13 Call on Foreign
Minister Nguyen Dy Nien


1. (SBU) Summary: Meeting officially for the first time
January 13, the Ambassador and Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy
Nien spent 40 minutes discussing the overall bilateral
relationship, Vietnam's WTO accession, religious freedom,
the Central Highlands and construction of the new Embassy
compound. FM Nien urged the United States to continue to
support Vietnam's WTO aspirations, described as "unfair"
Vietnam's designation as a Country of Particular Concern for
religious freedom violations and said that Vietnam will make
clear that forced renunciations of faith are prohibited.


2. (SBU) Summary, cont'd, and Comment: FM Nien also told
the Ambassador that Vietnam had approved overflight
clearance for American humanitarian aid flights to tsunami-
affected areas (septel). On WTO, the Ambassador urged
Vietnam to give to us as soon as possible its revised tariff
and services offer. On the issue of religious freedom, the
Ambassador underlined that we have until early March to make
a decision on what action to take in light of Vietnam's CPC
designation and that it will be important for Vietnam to
make progress before then in our areas of concern. FM Nien
has reportedly been ill and did not look well. In addition,
he twice turned to staff to remind him of the points the
Ambassador had just made. End Summary and Comment.


3. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by Pol/C, met
officially for the first time January 13 with Foreign
Minister Nguyen Dy Nien. The Ambassador opened by remarking
on the great progress the U.S.-Vietnam relationship has made
over the past ten years, particularly in the areas of trade
and investment but also on many other issues such as public
health and cultural exchanges. There have also been
advances in defense ties and law enforcement cooperation,
but much work remains to be done in those areas, the
Ambassador said.


4. (SBU) In addition to the areas that have seen progress,
we also have to address issues of concern to the people of
the United States. Among them are human rights and
religious freedom. As always, we would deal with these
issues openly and frankly. This year is an important one,
and we look forward to the Prime Minister's possible visit
to help to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the
normalization of relations. We believe that the visit will
send an important message about the relationship to the
peoples of both countries, the Ambassador said.


5. (SBU) The Foreign Minister replied that he fully shares
the Ambassador's views and appreciates the Ambassador's
efforts to advance the relationship and "understand the
problems Vietnam faces." FM Nien agreed that both sides
have to increase their understanding of each other; the
Vietnamese people know little of the United States except
for the war, for example. It is important to expand
contacts and exchanges of views between the two sides. For
its part, the MFA believes that the United States and
Vietnam share many interests and hopes to build a bilateral
relationship that is "close and strong." The MFA also
supports USG and U.S. Embassy contacts with Vietnamese
security and military representatives and Communist Party
officials. In fact, the MFA seeks to promote a greater
number of Party and other delegations' travel to the United
States, either privately or in response to an official
invitation. Increased understanding would "make the MFA's
job easier," FM Nien observed.


6. (SBU) The Ambassador had arrived at an important time,
the FM said. The tenth anniversary of normalization will be
an important milestone, and there is much more the two
countries can do to increase contacts in the areas of trade,
science and technology, education, health and "social
problems." The Prime Minister was very happy to hear that
the MFA is moving forward with plans for his visit to the
United States, FM Nien said. In the days ahead, it will be
important to create a "good atmosphere" in both countries to
help the visit to be a success. There are issues and
differences between the United States and Vietnam, and "of
course" it will not be possible to solve everything.
Nonetheless, both sides should resolve to move ahead and
remove obstacles that come in the way of bilateral ties, the
Foreign Minister said.


7. (SBU) Vietnam understands that U.S. strategy in Southeast
Asia is to strengthen its relations with the members of
ASEAN, FM Nien continued. In response to the recent tsunami
disaster, the United States is playing an important role.
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai had attended the Jakarta
summit, and Vietnam is now ready to allow U.S. ships and
planes to "cross Vietnam's territory to carry out their
humanitarian missions," he said. (Note: Later that
afternoon, the Embassy received a diplomatic note announcing
a GVN decision to grant blanket clearance through February
15 (septel). End note.)


8. (SBU) Thanking the Foreign Minister for the news about
the overflight permission, the Ambassador remarked that, in
response to this world tragedy, it is important for the
international community to stand together in the rebuilding
efforts, which could last for years. On the issue of
creating the right atmosphere for the Prime Minister's
visit, there are two ways to go about this, the Ambassador
observed: working steadily to resolve as many issues as
possible in the lead-up to the visit; or saving up
agreements and progress for announcement on the occasion of
the visit. The first option is the better one as it is more
systematic and can have a greater impact, the Ambassador
said. As for visits to the United States of Party and other
delegations, the United States would welcome such visits and
we would work with Vietnam to ensure their success.


9. (SBU) In terms of specific issues in the relationship,
there are two that will require our attention in the weeks
ahead the Ambassador continued. The first relates to our
bilateral WTO discussions. We had recently provided Vietnam
with our revised agricultural and non-agricultural goods
market access requests. We are still waiting for Vietnam's
revised tariff and services offers. Once we have these, we
can begin to talk about scheduling the next round of
negotiations, which will require four to six weeks to
prepare. The United States remains firmly supportive of
Vietnam's efforts to join the WTO. At the same time, it
would be good for Vietnam to cultivate the support of U.S.
business, as they have a role to play. Congress will have
to consider Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) as part
of the process. With a number of outstanding issues in
important business sectors, we will look to Vietnam for
significant movement in the months ahead, the Ambassador
explained.


10. (SBU) The other issue requiring our attention is
Vietnam's designation as a Country of Particular Concern
(CPC) for religious freedom violations, the Ambassador
continued. We will have to decide by early March what kind
of action we will take in light of this designation. Over
the next two months, it will be important for Vietnam to
make progress in several areas of concern. One obvious one
is the publication of the new religion ordinance's
implementation decree.


11. (SBU) Related to this, the Ambassador noted, is the
issue of the Central Highlands and GVN concern about
possible unrest there this past Christmas. We were grateful
that the MFA informed the Embassy about its concerns, which
enabled us to pay special attention to the region and any
untoward events that might take place. In the end, there
were fortunately no incidents. While there were some press
reports that the UNHCR was somehow involved -- which we do
not believe -- we do not deny that there are some who want
to make trouble. If the GVN has any concrete information on
this, it should tell us, the Ambassador stressed.


12. (SBU) There is a clear need for the UNHCR to work in
Vietnam, as part of the solution, to help mitigate against
tension and problems, the Ambassador said. We are aware
that the GVN is working to develop the Central Highlands,
both economically and socially. In the meantime, finding a
solution for those with legitimate grievances cannot be done
without the UNHCR. Thanks to the GVN's message to us about
its concern in the Central Highlands over Christmas, we
watched carefully and are aware that, while people in Gia
Lai and Kon Tum Provinces were free to worship, provincial
authorities restricted Christmas celebrations in Dak Lak
province, the Ambassador noted.


13. (SBU) Finally, the Ambassador expressed his gratitude to
the Foreign Minister for his personal intervention in the
issue of securing land for the construction of a new Embassy
compound. We are on the cusp of starting preliminary
negotiations and have submitted a proposal for talks the
week of January 25, the Ambassador said.


14. (SBU) Thanking the Ambassador for U.S. support for
Vietnam's WTO accession, the Foreign Minister said that 2005
would be a very important year for Vietnam. Vietnam hopes
that the two countries will "expedite and conclude" their
discussions before December. "We will try our best," FM
Nien said, but, because Vietnam is a "new and developing
economy," we need "help, assistance and guidance."


15. (SBU) On the Central Highlands, FM Nien said that the
GVN will "continue to get in touch with you" and expressed
his "sadness" at hearing that Christmas services were
restricted in some areas, something he would "check out."
Up until two years ago, Vietnam had a good relationship with
the UNHCR and reached a tripartite agreement with the UNHCR
and Cambodia, but the UNHCR's "withdrawal" worsened the
relationship with Vietnam. However, Vietnam will "continue
to work with the UNHCR" on the issue of refugees in
Cambodia. The High Commissioner's decision to replace the
UNHCR's personnel in Cambodia will hopefully create a
"better atmosphere," FM Nien noted.


16. (SBU) Turning to religious freedom, FM Nien said that he
is "unhappy" with Vietnam's CPC designation and added that
he would like to "get Vietnam off the list." The Ambassador
responded that the United States shared this objective, but
Vietnam had to take steps to resolve the issues that
overshadow the overall -- and generally good -- religious
situation in Vietnam. Vietnam's inclusion as a CPC is
"unfair," FM Nien rejoined, and Vietnam would try to get off
the list by "increasing understanding and cooperation." The
Ambassador noted that, during his meetings with religious
leaders around the country, many expressed optimism and look
forward to the publication of the new religious ordinance's
decree. However, issues surrounding the Unified Buddhist
Church of Vietnam and Protestants in the Central Highlands
are central to the religious freedom question and have to be
resolved. That said, it is possible for Vietnam to turn
this issue from a problem area into one that is positive,
the Ambassador asserted.


17. (SBU) There are "bad social elements" that cause trouble
"under the guise of religion," FM Nien said. Vietnam must
separate these elements from religion and will make clear
that Vietnam prohibits actions that force people to renounce
their faith. The Ambassador responded that how Vietnam's
laws and regulations are publicized and enforced is
important: local attitudes can make a big difference, as we
saw in the different situations over Christmas in the
Central Highlands.


18. (SBU) Addressing the issue of the land for the new
Embassy compound, the Foreign Minister said that he is "not
happy" with the Russians, who are "too slow." Russia will
send a team next month to discuss the issue. The growing
U.S.-Vietnam relationship deserved a new building, FM Nien
said.


19. (SBU) FM Nien concluded by expressing his sadness at the
Secretary's departure and his hope to welcome the Secretary-

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designate to Vietnam.


20. (SBU) Comment: We have heard from Vice Foreign Minister
Le Van Bang and others that the Foreign Minister has been
ill -- some say he is suffering from prostate cancer -- and
that he has received treatment in Singapore. He did not
look well and appears to have lost weight. Furthermore, he
twice turned to his staff to remind him of what issues the
Ambassador had just raised. End comment.

MARINE