NSC SR. DIRECTOR GREEN TALKS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000311

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SUBJECT: NSC SR. DIRECTOR GREEN TALKS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND
THE PARTY'S FUTURE WITH CPV OFFICIAL TA MINH CHAU



1. (U) Summary: Vice Chairman of the CPV Central Committee's
External Relations Commission Ta Minh Chau told visiting NSC
Senior Director Michael Green that sustained economic
development would solve Vietnam's social problems, and that
the Party plans to accelerate political and economic reforms
when the tenth Party Congress convenes in early 2006.
Religious freedom is developing quickly in Vietnam, Chau
said, with the number of active worshippers currently in the
range of 20 million Vietnamese. Chau also cited the visit
of formerly exiled Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh as an
example of religious tolerance, and expressed confidence
that future religious freedom problems will be solved after
the issuance of implementing regulations for the ordinance
on religion. Chau said there will be no major policy shifts
after the tenth Party Congress, but instead a reaffirmation
of Doi Moi and Vietnam's foreign policy. End Summary.


2. (SBU) National Security Council Senior Director for Asia
Dr. Michael Green, accompanied by the Ambassador and Poloff,
met February 4 with Vice Chairman of the Commission for
External Affairs of the Communist Party of Vietnam Ta Minh
Chau. Chau provided a lengthy description of Vietnam's
economic and social development progress.


3. (SBU) Chau said the Vietnamese economy has changed
greatly in the last 15 years, especially in the development
of the import/export sector. This development, he said, was
validation of the CPV's policy of "promoting synergy within
the development of a multi-sectoral economy with help and
assistance from outside parties." Export volume and foreign
direct investment (FDI) were both high and "all the biggest
companies in the world" were represented in Vietnam, Chau
commented proudly. "Foreign friends know that Vietnam is a
great place to work, and we can see how much investment has
improved." This sustained economic development is also the
Party's solution to social problems, Chau explained. The
growing economy allowed the GVN to commit resources to
health care, education, training, culture and especially the
effort to develop the agricultural sector and rural areas,
which represent more than 80 percent of Vietnam. This had
led to great progress in poverty reduction, he added,
inviting Dr. Green to "walk around, look around, see how
well we have done."


4. (SBU) The Party is not content with economic reforms,
Chau told Dr. Green. Its goal is to accelerate political
reforms to "bring the government closer to serving the
people," he said. To this end, Vietnam had increased the
role of the National Assembly and improved the functioning
of the government. The CPV is, of course, the "ruling
party," Chau observed. This year, the Party will convene
congresses at all levels to prepare for the tenth national
Party Congress early in the second quarter of 2006 in which
it will review 20 years of implementation of the "Doi Moi"
(economic renovation) policy. The tenth Party Congress will
also "provide guidance on modernization and
industrialization of the country towards the goal of making
Vietnam a modern, industrial country by 2020," Chau said.


5. (SBU) Vietnam's foreign policy was to "pursue
diversification and multilateralization with self-reliance,"
Chau clarified. Successes of this policy in 2004 included
the Asia Europe Meeting summit (ref A) and the Asia Pacific
Parliamentarians Forum (ref B). These events are
characteristic of Vietnam's "proactive participation in many
multilateral organizations," Chau said. The next main
multilateral organization Vietnam wants to join is the WTO,
he noted, and he asked for Dr. Green's assistance in
concluding the WTO negotiations with the United States. All
of Vietnam's leaders had visited "main countries" each year,
he added. These policies had resulted in an improvement in
Vietnam's international prestige, and that in turn led to
improvements in bilateral relations. The United States is a
good example, Chau said, citing progress in developing
trade, economic, political and military relations that have
developed over the past ten years. To expand on these
relations, the United States and Vietnam should pursue
"multilevel, multifaceted exchanges," he recommended.


6. (SBU) The United States and Vietnam would have
differences, Chau noted. The most effective way to resolve
those is to have dialogues on equal footing "in a safe
manner." In 2005, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai would visit
the United States, which would serve as proof of the
leadership's goodwill. The tenth anniversary of relations
would "open a new phase in our bilateral relations." Chau
then offered the group a toast, accompanied by warm, sweet
Bulgarian sparkling wine.


7. (SBU) Dr. Green thanked Chau for his encouraging overview
and said he hopes the United States and Vietnam can succeed
in bringing relations to the next level. Strengthening
relations would be good for both countries in an
international context, he noted, especially considering
Vietnam's plans to host the 2006 APEC summit. Both Vietnam
and the United States are seeing relations with China
improving, as well as improving relations with each other.
That in turn would make both countries more attractive to
China, thus strengthening and broadening regional
cooperation in a "virtuous circle." Vietnam's strategic
role in Southeast Asia has more and more significance, Dr.
Green said, adding that the United States wants to expand
its strategic discussions with Vietnam to "see how best to
deepen our role." Regarding Vietnam's WTO accession, he
said the United States was "working on it," and noted that
the accession was dependent on Vietnam's passing key
legislation implementing WTO requirements. An omnibus law
covering all of the requirements at once might be an
effective way to handle the problem, Dr. Green suggested.
Both sides should do their best on this issue to try to
provide a positive topic for the Prime Minister's
discussions with President Bush, he added. Whatever Vietnam
decided, it should make an effort to accelerate economic
reforms and thus make Vietnam an investment magnet.


8. (SBU) Religious freedom is a thorny bilateral issue, Dr.
Green said. Vietnam and the United States should shift
their thinking from an adversarial mindset to a
dialogue/learning mindset. By learning from each other, Dr.
Green explained, both sides can make progress. The United
States' main interest was having a vibrant, strong Vietnam,
a regional leader confident in its territorial integrity.
The United States looked forward to a win-win dialogue on
the issue. Chau agreed that dialogue was necessary,
especially since the United States needed to "understand
Vietnam better." In previous decades, Chau said, "few
Vietnamese" worshipped publicly or followed any specific
religion. Now, more than 20 million are classified as
"believers." Many churches have been built in recent years
to accommodate all of the believers, including in the
Central Highlands. "Even (former South Vietnamese Vice
President) Nguyen Cao Ky recognized the great progress of
religious freedom in Vietnam." Another example is the visit
of formerly exiled Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and several
hundred of his followers, which demonstrates how open the
Party is to religious believers and to overseas Vietnamese,
Chau declared. By conducting dialogue and learning more,
the United States would have a better understanding of
religious freedom in Vietnam. Dr. Green said he is indeed
heartened to see the millions of Vietnamese believers, and
believes that where there are problems, he is confident that
they will be resolved by the GVN following the implementing
regulations on the ordinance on religion.


9. (SBU) Answering Dr. Green's question on the future of the
leadership of the party, Chau said that the Party's
socioeconomic and other policies are developed long-term and
not by any individual or any specific political personality.
As a result, "the policies, once developed, have long-term
value despite a possible change in leadership." Within the
Party, there was a system to develop new members and a
system to "change generations" to allow the older leaders to
step down. In every institution, Chau explained, there were
three generations: the eldest and most experienced, the
middle-aged and the youth. The Central Committee of the
Party, for example, changes over 1/3 of its membership after
each Congress. Personnel changes are routine, he noted, and
done "in an appropriate manner in accordance with
Constitutional policies to assure consistency and
continuity." Those changes did not affect policy, and "one
thing I can assure you: the next Party Congress will
reaffirm the will of the party to accelerate Doi Moi and
foreign policy," he stressed.


10. (U) Bio note: Ta Minh Chau, Vice Chairman, CPV External
Affairs Commission, was born in 1949 in Vinh Phuc Province.
He graduated with a bachelor's degree in literature in
Poland, then later did his Ph.D. in the same area, also in
Poland in the 1970s. Chau is a poet, and currently a member
of Vietnam Association of Writers. Chau has composed and
published several sets of poems, and translated Polish
poems. He came back to Vietnam in (approximately) 2002
after serving in the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland as
Ambassador. Within the Commission, Chau was previously the
director of the Baltic and Eastern Europe Department,
Personnel Department, and Assistant Chairman of CPV's
External Affairs Commission before he became Vice Chairman
in 2003 (est). Chau appears to understand some English, but
he does not use it, beyond a few polite phrases, in his
meetings.


10. (U) Dr. Green cleared this message.

MARINE