AMBASSADOR ENGAGES ASSISTANT MINISTER ON BURMA,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 002484

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV BM VM ASEAN WTO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR ENGAGES ASSISTANT MINISTER ON BURMA,
ASEAN


1. (SBU) Summary: The Ambassador met with Assistant Minister
of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Trung Thanh September 22 to
discuss Vietnam's role in ASEAN and other regional
architecture institutions and how Vietnam can help advance
political change in Burma. Thanh said Vietnam is heavily
invested in ASEAN as an institution that both enhances peace
and security for the ten member states internally, and
allows them to "stand up as one" and interact more equally
with other "strong powers." Thanh affirmed the primacy of
APEC and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Asian regional
architecture and advocated an ASEAN-United States summit on
the margins of the APEC summit in Hanoi in 2006. He
described Burma as a wayward brother who brings shame on the
family, but who must be dealt with carefully to avoid
provoking a counterproductive reaction. End Summary.

ASEAN AND REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE
--------------


2. (SBU) Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Trung Thanh, who
has responsibility for ASEAN affairs in the Foreign
Ministry, told the Ambassador that for Vietnam, ASEAN
represents "the peace and independence of member states and
the ability to stand on their feet together with a common
position to allow constructive engagement with strong powers
that would not be possible as individual states." Now that
the ASEAN member states have put their ideological
differences behind them, ASEAN represents "an important
element of our international politics and security." The
main task, he said, is "to manage economic integration,
through and beyond the ASEAN Free Trade Area, and use that
economic integration to address transnational threats and
build our common capacity." ASEAN's objective is to "reach
2020 as a cohesive whole and achieve the targets set in the
Bali Concord." The date, he acknowledged, is notional, and
probably would be moved up. "ASEAN is quite accustomed to
adjusting the goal markers. We see this flexibility as a
positive quality."


3. (SBU) Thanh said that, in looking at the East Asian
Summit (EAS),it is necessary to put the meeting into the
context of what ASEAN is trying to achieve overall. In that
light, it is possible to see the EAS as an ASEAN+3 summit,
which is an ASEAN goal. The EAS, he said, deepens and
intensifies what can be accomplished in the ASEAN+3
framework. More importantly, the concept has evolved to
include 16 countries, and now has become an important
parallel mechanism to the ASEAN+3. The EAS will "cover
strategic matters of the region and the world." From
ASEAN's point of view, the EAS is a reflection of ASEAN's
basic paradigm of internal development and constructive
external engagement. The Ambassador said the news that the
EAS would be open and inclusive is welcome to the United
States, but the United States is still trying to understand
fully how the EAS will fit with existing regional
architecture and what the agenda will be. It would not be
beneficial to ASEAN or the United States if the EAS
diminishes the importance of other key mechanisms such as
APEC and the ARF, he stressed.


4. (SBU) Thanh argued that practically speaking, Asia has no
regional architecture comparable to what exists in Europe
and the Americas. The purpose of the EAS is certainly not
to derail or diminish existing regional architecture in
Asia, but rather to help leaders get together, add value to
existing mechanisms and build constructive and workable
solutions for peace, unity and solidarity in the region. So
far there is no full answer to those problems, despite the
existence and importance of the ARF and APEC. The EAS would
create another forum to discuss these important issues.


5. (SBU) ASEAN wants to continue to strengthen its
partnerships with the United States, Japan, India, Korea and
even Russia, Thanh continued. Of these, the United States
is particularly important, which is why Vietnam proposed a
stronger U.S.-ASEAN partnership at the U.S.-ASEAN dialogue
in August. Vietnam believes ASEAN should continue
cooperating with the United States on important issues such
as terrorism, but also that the two sides should look at
terrorism as something to be eliminated, and therefore ASEAN
and the United States should consider ways to develop side-
by-side economic and political cooperation that can be the
basis of a long-term partnership. The Enterprise for ASEAN
initiative and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
proposal are good steps, but both sides need to think about
what else the United States and ASEAN can do together that
reaches beyond the traditional bilateral activities and
relations that exist today. The U.S.-ASEAN summit might be
something along those lines. Whether it occurs or not is up
to the United States at this point; ASEAN has already
proposed it for the margins of the APEC summit in 2006.


6. (SBU) ASEAN-U.S. relations are already riding high based
on good bilateral relations between many member states and
the United States, Thanh said. In August at the U.S.-ASEAN
dialogue, Thanh noted, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and
Thailand were all either just coming off of or about to hold
a successful leadership visit to the United States.

WTO. . .
--------------


7. (SBU) The best thing the United States could do now for
Vietnam's interests and its own interests in ASEAN would be
to conclude WTO talks with Vietnam, Thanh continued. He
asked the Ambassador to consider how Vietnam operates in
ASEAN now, and to recognize that a successful, economically
healthy and strong Vietnam in ASEAN is in the United States'
national interest because a "weak and muddled" Vietnam is
vulnerable to pressure and influence from "other states,"
while a strong Vietnam contributes to a strong ASEAN that is
a good partner for the United States. The Ambassador
replied that at this point it is difficult to imagine
Vietnam as "weak and muddled," even in the absence of an
early conclusion to WTO negotiations.


8. (SBU) Thanh put in another plug for the United States to
support Vietnam's entry into the WTO both in the bilateral
negotiations and the multilateral talks. He made a parallel
to Vietnam's entry into ASEAN in 1995, saying that at that
time some countries said that Vietnam had so much economic
reform to complete before AFTA requirements would be
realistic that it would be at least 2005 or 2010 before
Vietnam would be ready to join ASEAN. Vietnam made the case
that it should be allowed to join ASEAN while making the
necessary economic adjustments over time, a formula that had
been very successful. "Vietnam's entry into ASEAN had
positive effects that would not have been possible until
much later if Vietnam had been held to an impossible
economic standard," Thanh said. The Ambassador responded
that it is up to Vietnam to accept the difficult aspects of
international economic integration, which in this case
include such thorny questions as telecommunications issues
and economic liberalization.

BURMA
--------------


9. (SBU) Speaking of thorny issues, the Ambassador noted to
Thanh that Burma's political problems and failure to change
are a drag on ASEAN and an obstacle to many of Vietnam's and
ASEAN's objectives. Thanh chuckled and said that as the
official in charge of the 2004 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
Summit in Hanoi, "Burma was on my mind 36 hours per day."
Beginning a very labored metaphor, Thanh said ASEAN is a
family with many brothers. One of those brothers is not
doing well, but the answer to those problems is to keep him
close and encourage him, not throw him out on the street.
"If we throw our brother into the street, he becomes a
victim of drug gangs, criminals and hostile neighbors,"
Thanh warned. The entire family is unhappy with the one
brother's problems, he continued; they affect everyone. But
your brother is like the finger on your hand, he said, and
you would not cut off the finger because it had problems.
The Ambassador said he understood Thanh's point, but that it
is clear that Burma needs more encouragement to change.


10. (SBU) Thanh said that is clear to the GVN and that it is
a mistake to consider Vietnam "aloof" from Burma's problems.
He said Vietnam has sent several high-level delegations to
talk to the Burmese leadership, including Presidential
envoys and former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet. The thrust of
Vietnam's intervention with Burma is that Vietnam is aware
of the difficulty of engaging in economic and political
reform, getting on its feet after many years of fighting
multiple enemies, "stabilizing internal problems from
within" and ultimately regaining its political position in
the region and in the world. "Doi moi (Vietnam's economic
reform policy initiated in 1986) is the tool we used to do
that, and we shared that with Burma," Thanh said. Vietnam
is torn, he continued, between irritation at being seen as
"dirt" in the international community as a result of
association with "the brother's" behavior on one hand, and
the "risk of our brother's exploitation by a mischievous
neighbor" on the other. At the same time, Vietnam knows
from its own experience that externally imposed solutions do
not work, no matter how elegant. They must be "home grown"
to have any chance of success. Adding more similes to his
metaphors, Thanh said "imposing an external political
solution on our brother is like giving a large piece of
Godiva chocolate to a starving man who is used to plain
porridge. It may be rich and delicious, but it will only
make him sick."


11. (SBU) Externally supplied political solutions have a bad
track record in Southeast Asia, he declared. "Would you
like to see one party become one hundred with violence and
chaos?" he asked rhetorically, alluding to Cambodian
politics. "You can call that democracy if you want, but it
is not good for the country and it is not really democracy."
Providing an ultimatum or a single choice to a country will
make the situation even worse, he said. The Ambassador
challenged Thanh's family model, saying that failure to
confront problems in a family member was tantamount to
enabling the bad behavior to continue, and said that Vietnam
and ASEAN have an obligation to help Burma get its house in
order. And while the ultimate solution would have to be
Burmese, there are international norms of governance and
human rights that have to be respected, regardless of
whether they are considered indigenous. The situation in
Burma is bad, the Ambassador reiterated, and it reflects
badly on ASEAN. More can, and should, be done.


12. (SBU) Still, Thanh continued, the international
community should be careful what it wishes for when it comes
to Burma. International pressure convinced Burma to pass on
the 2006 ASEAN Chairmanship, but that act enabled the
generals to return to Burma and "do what they like with less
international attention." The solution in Burma will have
to be based both on principles and practicality, or else
actions will have a counterproductive outcome.


13. (SBU) Comment: Thanh's discussion of Burma, despite the
tortured metaphors, was as blunt as we have ever heard from
high-level GVN officials. This was also the first
acknowledgement we have had that former PM Vo Van Kiet's
trip to Rangoon in 2004 addressed the issue of political
change in Burma. The Vietnamese have as much influence as
anyone with Rangoon, which is to say very little. But it is
heartening to learn that they are focused on the problem and
genuinely interested in a solution. End Comment.

14 (SBU) Bio Note: Nguyen Trung Thanh, Assistant Minister of
Foreign Affairs since 2003, speaks fluent British-accented
English. He served in London as Deputy Chief of Mission in
1999 and earlier in his career in Canberra. He is married
to the daughter of Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien.

MARINE