AMBASSADOR HANFORD MEETS WITH HANOI PROTESTANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 002328

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM KIRF PGOV VM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR HANFORD MEETS WITH HANOI PROTESTANTS

REF: A. HANOI 1466


B. HANOI 1554

C. HANOI 1112

D. HANOI 1888

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Classified By: DCM Jon Aloisi per 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: IRF Ambassador John Hanford met with
Protestant leaders in Hanoi on August 16. They noted that
the overall environment for religion in the north and
Northwest Highlands is "significantly less threatening" than
in the past, as the number of arrests, attempted forced
renunciations of faith and cases of physical abuse are on the
wane. Most house churches are able to meet once a week
without official harassment. However, the situation differs
from province to province and even from district to district
within each province. The biggest challenges the ECVN faces
at present are the lack of human resources and inadequate
administrative and church facilities. The problem
Protestants have had gaining permission to list their
religion on identity cards remains a thorny issue, and it may
be several years before believers will be issued accurate
cards by the GVN. The Protestants' main immediate target is
developing an official dialogue with the GVN. Three
achievable goals over the next year are 1) resolution of
several land disputes, 2) attaining permission to build and
open a bible school and 3) the registration of a significant
number of house churches. Northern Protestants strongly
favor Vietnam's accession to the WTO. End Summary.

Conditions for Protestants
--------------


2. (SBU) U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious
Freedom John Hanford, accompanied by the DCM, met August 16
with Reverend Au Quang Vinh, concurrently General Secretary
of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam-North (ECVN) and
Pastor-in-Charge of ECVN's Hanoi church. Representatives of
ECVN churches in Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Dien Bien, Lao Cai
and Ha Giang provinces were also present. Vinh stated that,
despite promises from the GVN that it would work with the
ECVN to resolve the organization's legal concerns following
the December 2004 ECVN General Assembly, the organization
still comprises only fifteen legally registered
congregations. The ECVN has 1,070 affiliated house church
congregations in 24 provinces of the north, Of these, 534
have "completed all application procedures" and a further 150
were on the verge of "completing their applications" when the
GVN's Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) instructed the
ECVN in early June to stop submitting more applications.
(Note: The ECVN thus calculates that nearly 700
congregations have submitted applications to register. End
Note.) Also in June, the CRA told ECVN President (and Vinh
rival) Pastor Phung Quang Huyen about GVN plans to register
eight "pilot" congregations in Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Ha Giang
(Ref A). To date, however, the ECVN has not yet been able to
confirm that any congregation has been registered, Vinh said.


3. (SBU) Overall, the environment for religion in the north
and Northwest Highlands region is "significantly less
threatening" than in the past as the number of arrests,
attempted forced renunciations of faith and cases of physical
abuse are much reduced, Vinh continued. The situation
differs from province to province and even from district to
district within each province. The biggest challenges the
ECVN faces at present are the lack of human resources and
inadequate administrative and church facilities. There are
only 14 pastors to cover twenty-four provinces and 120,000
believers, Vinh added.

Property Issues
--------------


4. (SBU) Vinh noted that the ECVN still has not been allowed
to open a bible training center for new pastors. In
addition, the ECVN's repeated formal requests to acquire a
land-use certificate for the Hanoi Church property have gone
unanswered. (Note: The ECVN maintains that it cannot open a
training center until it receives the land-use certificate
and GVN permission to add a floor to the Hanoi property's
administration building. End Note.) The ECVN faces similar
property concerns in Nghe An and Thai Binh provinces, Vinh
noted.

Registration of Coastal Region Congregations
--------------


5. (SBU) Pastor Nguyen Gia Huan of Hai Phong Province stated
that since he took over as Pastor-in-Charge of the (legally
registered) Hai Phong ECVN church ten years ago, three

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sub-congregations have applied and re-applied numerous times
to register with provincial religious affairs officials, but
only recently received an informal reply to these
applications. The Hai Phong Provincial People's Committee
(PPC) only told the three groups that it is okay for them to
practice their religion, but said nothing about granting
formal registration status, a necessary condition for the
acquisition of much needed property to expand the churches.
Local officials also told Huan that he cannot preach to the
three sub-congregations under his responsibility, he added.


6. (SBU) Tan Truong Sy, leader of the ECVN's unregistered
Halong City congregation in Quang Ninh Province (Ref B) noted
that since the Ambassador's meeting with congregation leaders
in October 2005 and after Poloff's recent visit, local
security officials have kept harassment of the congregation
to a minimum, although they still closely watch the group's
activities. ECVN pastors have also been allowed to visit the
congregation. Nevertheless, the Quang Ninh PPC refuses to
register the congregation, Sy said. He also noted that a
separate Quang Ninh congregation in Mong Cai District
(bordering China) was recently given written permission from
local officials to gather for worship, although this did not
constitute official registration.

Conditions for Northwest Highlands Congregations
-------------- ---


7. (SBU) The house church deacons from Dien Bien, Ha Giang
and Lao Cai provinces stated that ECVN congregations in the
three provinces have difficulty gathering for worship. Vinh
explained that while there are fewer arrests of believers who
assemble in the region, and that pressure on house church
congregations is significantly reduced, the congregations'
legal limbo makes most ECVN believers hesitant to practice
their faiths openly. Nevertheless, all of the 1,070
congregations are able to meet at least once a week. In some
locations, local officials simply ignore the churches'
activities -- especially in areas where local party and
village chiefs are Protestants themselves. In other areas
local officials will stop groups from worshipping if they
observe the Protestants assembling, Vinh added. The Dien
Bien deacon noted that some local officials do not hesitate
to stop groups from gathering. The deacon from Lao Cai said
that he knew of three congregations in Bao Thang District of
his province (Ref C) that were recently told by local
officials that the province will register them soon. (Note:
This was the first that Vinh heard of this development. End
Note.)

Forced Renunciation and the ID Card Issue
--------------


8. (C) Vinh stated that the issue of national identity cards
for Protestants that identify their religious affiliation
remains a thorny issue. Some local officials, especially in
the northwest, seem to believe that issuing cards that
identify a believer's religion is an undesirable admission
that Protestantism exists within their communities.
Officials generally inform Protestant applicants that they
are "not allowed" to identify themselves as Christians. Vinh
noted that, even in Hanoi, his own daughter had difficulty
requesting her identity card because the responsible
officials initially refused to recognize her Protestant
faith. (Note: Vinh had this decision reversed after he
phoned a "friend" at the local police station. End Note.)
Most adults in the northwest don't have identity cards
because they are only needed to gain permission to travel
outside one's district, to purchase property or to "do
business." The ECVN believes that it will be several years
before believers will be issued accurate identity cards by
the GVN, Vinh surmised.

The Way Forward
--------------


9. (SBU) Vinh noted that the ECVN's Executive Board sent a
letter to GVN leadership last year requesting resolution of
the main problems facing the ECVN. The GVN never replied to
this petition. Vinh identified getting a formal answer from
the GVN to the board's letter and the development of an
official CRA-ECVN dialogue as one of the ECVN's main goals
this summer. Vinh also assessed that three achievable goals
for the ECVN in the next year are 1) resolution of the land
issues in Nghe An and Thai Binh provinces, 2) attaining the
land-use certificate for and permission to remodel the Hanoi
Church property for use as a bible school and 3) the
registration of a significant number of house churches.


10. (C) The ECVN strongly favors Vietnam's accession to the

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WTO because "deep down we want to see Vietnam join the
international community," Vinh continued. However, he
refused to comment on whether Vietnam's Country of Particular
Concern designation on religious freedom should be lifted.
(Note: In past meetings with Poloff, Vinh has repeatedly
stated his belief that WTO accession will further force the
GVN to open Vietnamese society and hence increase the space
for religion. End Note.)


11. (SBU) In conclusion, Vinh noted that, recent GVN
propaganda to the contrary (Ref D),the ECVN has no intention
to unite with the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam
(SECV). There has been no real discussion of unification
between the two religious groups, and the ECVN remains
hesitant to address the idea until most of its own problems
have been resolved, he said.


12. (SBU) Ambassador Hanford cleared this message.
MARINE