Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05HANOI767
2005-03-31 10:07:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Hanoi
Cable title:  

EXILED BUDDHIST LEADER RETURNS TO VISIT HOMELAND

Tags:  PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VM HUMANR RELFREE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000767 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VM HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: EXILED BUDDHIST LEADER RETURNS TO VISIT HOMELAND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000767

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VM HUMANR RELFREE
SUBJECT: EXILED BUDDHIST LEADER RETURNS TO VISIT HOMELAND


1. (SBU) Summary: Exiled Buddhist leader Thich Nhat Hanh
(TNH) completed a "successful" two-and-a-half-month visit to
Vietnam, his first in almost forty years. In a private
meeting with the Ambassador March 26, he described the
Buddhist community in Vietnam as split and weakened due to
Government interference in religious affairs. In public
statements during the visit, however, he did not criticize
GVN policies on religion. In a meeting with Prime Minister
Phan Van Khai, TNH recommended the "separation of Church and
State" in Vietnam and emphasized that a revitalized Buddhist
Church could help to address social divisions and
corruption. TNH made the ability to travel freely in
Vietnam and the publishing of his previously-banned books
prerequisites to his visit. In addition to his meeting with
the PM, during the trip TNH met with large numbers of the
faithful as well as with intellectuals. Leaders of the
banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) condemned
the visit as legitimizing Government control of religion.
The UBCV criticisms came after the UBCV and TNH's delegation
failed to agree on modalities for their leaders to meet.
The UBCV reportedly insisted that TNH agree to meet with the
UBCV as an independent Buddhist organization, but TNH
countered that he would only meet with UBCV leaders in a
private capacity. End Summary.


2. (SBU) During his March 26 meeting with the Ambassador,
TNH described the Buddhist community in Vietnam as being
"deeply split." Regular believers are free to go to temple,
but the overall health of Buddhism is poor, largely as a
result of Government interference in the Church. Many monks
have been placed in leadership roles for political reasons,
and representatives of the officially recognized Vietnam
Buddhist Sangha (VBS) "act like government employees." The
VBS is tied to the GVN for financial support and for
permission to conduct such activities as training monks
abroad. This "turns people away" from Buddhism. Despite
the benefits of Vietnam's rapid economic development, the
country is suffering social trauma. There is a deep divide

between the older generation, which struggled with political
problems, and the young, who are consumed with
commercialism. "The suffering between generations is very
large. Youth do not believe in the happiness of family
life," TNH averred.


3. (SBU) TNH recounted that he had met with Prime Minister
Phan Van Khai for an hour and a half the day before. PM
Khai had called upon him to follow the Party's lead in
seeking unity within Vietnam. TNH rejected this, replying
that, instead of unity, Buddhists should seek "brotherhood"
in which they are separate from political groups but do not
conflict with them. In addition, he told Khai that
"Communists should become more Vietnamese" by accepting
traditional ideas of ancestor worship and Buddhist culture
that are fundamental to Vietnamese society. Failing to do
so will "bankrupt" politics and cause the Party to lose the
support of the people. TNH called upon Khai to "separate
church and state" in Vietnam. "Monks should not be forced
to join the National Assembly and People's Councils," and
"the Church should not be forced to become a member of the
Fatherland Front."


4. (SBU) On balance, TNH considers his visit to have been a
"success." He spoke to large numbers of believers and
estimated that 10,000 people came to listen to him at a
teaching in Hue despite efforts by officials to dissuade
them. He remarked particularly on his opportunities to
speak with Vietnamese "intellectuals," saying he had
addressed a gathering in HCMC, as well as 300-500 people at
the Ho Chi Minh Political Academy in Hanoi. In Hue, TNH
recalled that he brought together the unreconciled factions
of the Buddhist community there, allowing them to repeat the
Buddhist precepts together for the first time in 13 years.
TNH claimed that the initial printings of 10,000 copies of
all twelve of his previously banned books had sold out, and
that the effect of these books has been "like a hurricane
sweeping through the country." Still, he expressed
frustrations at efforts by "conservatives" to interfere with
his visit and limit his contact with believers. This group
is "very strong" and is permeated by a legacy of suspicion
and authoritarianism resulting from the war and difficulty
of unification.


5. (SBU) TNH's attempts to meet with leaders of the Unified
Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) were unsuccessful. He had
sought to meet UBCV Secretary General Thich Quang Do in HCMC
in January and traveled to Binh Dinh Province on March 30 in
a failed effort to meet Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang.
Although the GVN "didn't want to allow this," it did not
prevent TNH from seeking the meetings. Both UBCV leaders
refused to receive him, however, and the UBCV's Paris-based
"Information Bureau" released statements criticizing TNH's
visit to Vietnam as propaganda that served to legitimize the
VBS. UBCV contacts in HCMC reported that the UBCV and TNH's
delegation had negotiated over the modalities of meetings.
Thich Quang Do insisted that TNH acknowledge such meetings
as "official" and wanted them included in TNH's public
schedule. According to the UBCV, TNH reportedly would only
meet with the UBCV if his visits were labeled private and
unofficial. Thich Huyen Quang was reportedly less insistent
on this point than Thich Quang Do, but decided to reject the
meeting with TNH to maintain UBCV "solidarity." (Note:
Prior to leaving France for Vietnam, TNH's principal aide,
Sister Chan Khong, was quoted in press reports as saying
"The flags of the old regime are hidden behind some of these
banned churches." Chan Khong, also present at the meeting
with the Ambassador, claimed that she had been misquoted.
Her message was that when the old flag of the South
Vietnamese Government is flown at pro-UBCV rallies abroad,
the GVN sees it as a political, not religious, movement.
End note.)


6. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that TNH's planned visit in
1999 had been cancelled and asked what had changed to allow
the trip in 2005. TNH explained that the GVN had previously
only been willing to allow him to conduct a tightly
controlled visit as a "guest" of the VBS, which he refused
to accept. "This time we were able to dictate our terms,"
which included traveling with an entourage of 100 monks and
nuns, meeting with GVN officials while here, the publication
of TNH's books in Vietnam and the ability to hold retreats
for believers. "The Ministry of Public Security was
reluctant to allow this, but the Foreign Ministry supported
the visit." (Note: In his public appearances throughout
Vietnam, TNH did not publicly criticize the GVN's policies
on religion. End Note.)


7. (SBU) At the end of their discussion, TNH presented the
Ambassador with copies of a document he had given to PM Khai
entitled "Seven Points Proposed by Monk Thich Nhat Hanh on
the Policy of the State of Vietnam Towards Buddhism." The
document, written both in the form of a set of policy
statements that the GVN could issue and as questions
directed to the State, consisted of the following basic
ideas:

- "The State confirms the intention to separate religious
power from political power." As part of this, monks will
not hold public office or receive commendations from the
Government.

- Leading Buddhist figures in Vietnam, including from the
UBCV, will meet to reconcile their differences and "restore
brotherhood in the Buddhist community and establish good
communication with the State." This does not require the
creation of a single Buddhist Church, but the leaders are
asked to advise on how to "put this community out of the
influence of domestic and overseas political powers."

- Buddhist pagodas will be able to conduct ethics-based
programs to prevent social problems and restore harmony.

- "What specific measures" can Buddhists take "to help put
an end to the corrupt situation of seminarians, monks and
nuns who are only interested in securing their fame and
power?"

- "The State shall order its agencies to support monks and
nuns by issuing permanent resident registration certificates
to any monk or nun who wants to join a pagoda...."

- Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do shall "have the right
to move freely, provide teachings and practice religion
everywhere in the country."

- The Government Committee for Religious Affairs shall "only
observe and make recommendations" to Buddhist leaders. In
return, Buddhists will have their own "Committee for Liaison
with the Secular Administration" which will advise the GVN
"on measures to eliminate abuses, injustice, corruption, and
what is detrimental to the State, the nation and Buddhism."


8. (SBU) Comment: The GVN allowed TNH some degree of
latitude in his activities, but it is clear that they were
concerned about the possibility of his becoming a mass
figure. It strikes us that TNH is looking for the
opportunity to be the catalyst for Buddhism to flourish
again in Vietnam, and he acknowledged to the Ambassador that
he can envisage returning to Vietnam to play that role. End
Comment.


9. (SBU) Bio Note: Thich Nhat Hanh, born in 1926, is a
France-based monk sometimes described as the world's second
most followed Buddhist leader (after the Dalai Lama). After
studying at Princeton and lecturing briefly at Columbia
University in the early 1960's, TNH returned to South
Vietnam and helped found a university and Buddhist social
services group. He preached a doctrine of reconciliation
between North and South Vietnam. While traveling in the
United States in 1966, he was warned not to return to
Vietnam. In his subsequent four decades in exile, TNH has
become a prolific writer and popular spiritual leader. He
espouses a personal philosophy of "mindfulness" and has
spiritual centers in France (Plum Village, where he lives)
and in the United States (California and Vermont). During
his time in exile, TNH avoided direct criticism of the GVN
or mention of issues of human rights or religious freedom.
Nonetheless, his books were banned in Vietnam. In 1999, he
made an attempt to return to Vietnam that drew some support
from Congress and the Department.
MARINE