Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05HANOI392
2005-02-18 10:23:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Hanoi
Cable title:  

VIEWS ON PRIME MINISTER'S INSTRUCTION ON

Tags:  PHUM KIRF PGOV VM ETMIN HUMANR RELFREE 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000392 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV VM ETMIN HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: VIEWS ON PRIME MINISTER'S INSTRUCTION ON
PROTESTANTS

This is a joint Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City reporting cable.

Reftel: A) Hanoi 353, B) 04 Hanoi 1987, C) 04 HCMC 1557

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000392

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV VM ETMIN HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: VIEWS ON PRIME MINISTER'S INSTRUCTION ON
PROTESTANTS

This is a joint Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City reporting cable.

Reftel: A) Hanoi 353, B) 04 Hanoi 1987, C) 04 HCMC 1557


1. (SBU) Summary: A Government of Vietnam (GVN) official
indicated that the new Instruction on Protestants (Ref. A)
divides Vietnam's unrecognized Protestant denominations into
those established before 1975, which will be encouraged to
"regularize" their status, and those that arrived in Vietnam
after 1975, which must wait for a period of time before
regularizing. Unrecognized congregations in the Central
Highlands should be able to operate if they register with
authorities. Similar instructions exist for the Northwest
Highlands, but the GVN is concerned about the nature of
Protestantism there and indicated the process will be
slower. Official and unofficial Protestant pastors welcomed
the Instruction, but indicated that much depends on how well
it is disseminated to local officials. Protestants in Gia
Lai Province plan to act quickly to request recognition of
their house churches. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Nguyen Thanh Xuan, the Committee for Religious
Affairs' (CRA) Vice Chairman responsible for Protestant
issues, told Embassy Poloff February 16 that the Prime
Minister's Instruction on Protestants is largely a
continuation of the stipulations of the Ordinance on
Religion issued last July (Ref. B). The Instruction is
necessary, however, because Protestantism is "different from
other religions in Vietnam" in that it has far more
unrecognized denominations than recognized ones. These
denominations are divided along chronological lines, with
groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists, Christian and
Missionary Alliance and Baptists established before 1975 and
others, such as the Assemblies of God and the New Apostles,
since then. There are also divisions along geographic
lines, with rapid growth among ethnic minority adherents in
the Central and Northwest Highlands, in contrast to the
longer-established groups in other areas. The Instruction
provides "different solutions for these different areas,"
Xuan said. It also serves as "an order from the Prime

Minister to strictly implement his policies."


3. (SBU) Focusing on the new elements in the Instruction,
Xuan pointed out the way it addresses unrecognized
Protestant groups. Denominations with operations in Vietnam
before 1975 should be allowed to register their activities
and, "if all requirements are met," organize a general
assembly for the purpose of being recognized. Those
denominations that began religious activities in Vietnam
after 1975 should also register their activities with
authorities, but a period of twenty years will be required
for authorities to determine whether it is "truly a religion
or not." A CRA researcher specified to Pol FSN that this
would be twenty years from the denomination's "official
establishment" in Vietnam. When Pol FSN noted that
unregistered religions have no date of "official
establishment," the researcher acknowledged the dates might
have to be flexible. (Note: This twenty year period is not
in the Prime Minister's Instruction. We are not clear about
where it came from, and suspect it may be an arbitrary
number used to indicate that newer denominations must have a
proven track record before they can be considered for
recognition. End note)


4. (SBU) Xuan explained that the Instruction is aimed at
"normalizing" the situation of Protestants in the Central
and Northwest Highlands. In the Central Highlands,
Protestantism is longer established. In this area,
unrecognized Protestant congregations should register their
operations and authorities should accept that they are
"operating institutions." At the same time, however,
authorities must remain on guard against FULRO trying to
link itself to Protestant groups. The situation in the
Northwest Highlands is different, however. Protestantism
there has largely been spread through "indirect forms" - the
radio - and, in many cases, people's beliefs are different
from "real Protestantism." "As time passes, followers will
learn more about true Protestantism," Xuan said, and then
where "pure demand" exists, followers should be helped to
register their denominations. "In the past you were right
to say the policies of the GVN were not appropriate in the
Northwest Highlands," Xuan acknowledged, and the
requirements of the new Instruction will be "very, very new"
for the region.


5. (SBU) In response to Poloff's question, Xuan said that
public awareness is a major factor in the Instruction.
Article One calls upon all levels of the Government to
"fully realize" the State's policies and Article Two states
that the public must be made aware of the Instruction. The
GVN has also asked the CRA to develop a dissemination
program for the Instruction, which it will carry out with
extensive media participation. "There will be no gap
between policies and their implementation," Xuan promised.


6. (SBU) Reverend Au Quang Vinh (protect) of the officially
recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam: North (ECVN)
welcomed the Instruction with some caveats. Focusing
specifically on the Northwest Highlands, he said that the
Instruction formally recognized the existence of Protestants
in the Northwest Highlands, something that provincial
officials had denied until this point. The pastor welcomed
the prohibition on forced renunciations of faith, but said
it is critical that this information be distributed to local
authorities. The CRA had asked the EVCN to tell minority
Protestants in the Northwest Highlands to register with the
authorities, but our contact was not sure that they would be
allowed to do more than practice at home. The ECVN will
continue to train Protestant volunteers from ethnic minority
communities and provide them with Bibles, and has also begun
to give them copies of the Ordinance on Religion "so they
understand their rights."


7. (SBU) A leader of the Gia Lai Province branch of the
Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) told ConGenOff
that he has heard of the Instruction informally, but has not
yet seen a copy. Nonetheless, he is enthusiastic about this
development, saying he believes that it will speed up
recognition of official churches and smooth the operation of
house churches in Gia Lai. In response to the issuance of
the Instruction, the SECV in Gia Lai plans to submit to
local authorities next week a list for recognition of yet-to-
be approved SECV churches that have been operating
informally in the province.


8. (SBU) A senior pastor in the Vietnam house church
movement based in Ho Chi Minh City also told us that he has
heard about the new Instruction and is hopeful that it is a
positive step. There was no prior consultation with him on
the specific contents of the PM's order, although he and
other house church leaders had been in steady dialogue with
local Party and MPS officials in the latter part of 2004
over the needs of the Vietnam house church movement (Ref.
C). Our contact was particularly positive that the
Instruction mentions, at least according to the media
reports he has seen, the house church movement. This is the
fist time ever a GVN document appears to allow individuals
to practice at home rather than at a specific authorized
place of worship, he said. He also expressed concerns that
local implementation would be uneven.


9. (SBU) Comment: That both Government and religious
observers identified dissemination and implementation as
critical to translating the Instruction into real results is
no surprise. We believe that this will be most problematic
in the Northwest Highlands, where positive engagement
between local officials and Protestant believers has been
virtually non-existent to this point. We expect more
progress in the Central Highlands, but even there
implementation will be shaped strongly by the attitudes of
local officials. Up to now, Gia Lai Province has been far
more accommodating to Protestant believers than neighboring
Dak Lak and Dak Nong Provinces, and the speed of new
registrations and acceptance of house churches will likely
reflect this. End Comment.
MARINE