EAP A/S Hill's Meeting with Vietnamese FM Nguyen

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000249

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SUBJECT: EAP A/S Hill's Meeting with Vietnamese FM Nguyen
Dzy Nien

HANOI 00000249 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: During his meeting January 13 with
Foreign Minister Nguyen Dzy Nien, EAP Assistant Secretary
Christopher R. Hill underlined the need for the United
States and Vietnam to systematize their bilateral
discussions on issues of mutual interest, such as Burma and
Cambodia; expressed support for strong regional
architecture; and pressed Vietnam to make progress on WTO
and improve its human rights situation. FM Nien pledged to
work closely with the United States to make the President's
November visit to Hanoi a success; said Vietnam would
welcome and strongly support the United States as an
observer at the East Asia Summit; noted that the DPRK's
foreign minister plans to visit Vietnam in the first half of
2006; and agreed that the situations in Burma and Cambodia
are troubling. End Summary.


2. (SBU) EAP Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill opened
his 30-minute meeting with Foreign Minister Nguyen Dzy Nien
January 13 by outlining his talks earlier in the day with
senior MFA officials responsible for American and Asian
affairs (septels, full participants list in paragraph 10).
These discussions had been valuable and pointed to a need to
systematize bilateral contacts on areas of mutual interest,
such as Southeast Asia and China. The Foreign Minister
responded that, based on the briefing he had received on
these earlier discussions, he shares most of A/S Hill's
views of bilateral, regional and global issues.

High-level Visits to Vietnam
--------------


3. (SBU) A/S Hill conveyed the greetings of the Secretary,
who had had a valuable meeting with FM Nien in Busan in
November 2005. President Bush himself is looking forward to
visiting Vietnam, to which FM Nien replied that the GVN is
ready to welcome him and work closely with the USG and
Embassy to ensure a successful outcome. Developing a
roadmap for the visit over the next several months would be
useful, FM Nien opined. A/S Hill responded that he plans to
visit Vietnam again, perhaps in the spring, for discussions
on our bilateral agenda.

Regional Issues
--------------


4. (SBU) As A/S Hill had told VFM Le Van Bang earlier in the
day, the United States and Vietnam have many issues of
common interest and need to have a structured dialogue to
exchange views. For example, the situation in Cambodia is
worrisome. Hun Sen is creating problems and may be turning
Cambodia into the next Burma. FM Nien responded that Hun
Sen "will listen if you speak frankly to him."


5. (SBU) Within ASEAN, Burma remains the odd man out, and
A/S Hill said he would meet the Malaysian Foreign Minister
to discuss this matter later in the week. Instead of
regional actors such as ASEAN, China and India taking turns
shifting responsibility to one another when it comes to
addressing the Burma problem, a more coordinated approach is
needed. Burma has great potential and natural resource
wealth, but the problem is how to develop, FM Nien observed.
The current situation is not good for Burma or the region.
Although ASEAN has its non-interference principle, this does
not mean that it cannot express its views. There are
certain ways that states need to behave, A/S Hill said, and
it is sometimes hard to draw a line between internal and
external affairs. FM Nien expressed his agreement.


6. (SBU) Another issue raised in A/S Hill's other meetings
was North Korea. FM Nien noted that the DPRK had reacted
strongly to the July 2004 mass defection of North Koreans
from Ho Chi Minh City to Seoul. Now, both countries
continue to work to "normalize" their relations, and the
DPRK Foreign Minister plans to visit Vietnam in the first
half of 2006. China needs to take greater responsibility
for North Korea, A/S Hill stressed, but the historic nature
of the DPRK-PRC relationship makes this difficult.


7. (SBU) On regional architecture, A/S Hill noted that the
December East Asia Summit (EAS) in Kuala Lumpur. The U.S.
continues to welcome regional cooperation and integration,
and would pay close attention to the EAS. On the ASEAN
Regional Forum, A/S Hill said that the Secretary plans to
attend this year's meeting in Kuala Lumpur. This reflects
our commitment to the region. FM Nien said that Vietnam
seeks an EAS that is inclusive and would welcome and
strongly support observer status for the United States and
Russia.

HANOI 00000249 002.2 OF 002



WTO
---


8. (SBU) FM Nien said Vietnam is looking forward to next
week's bilateral WTO accession talks. A/S Hill replied
that, the sooner Vietnam joins, the sooner Vietnam's economy
will reap the benefits. We should not miss this window of
opportunity, particularly because this is an election year
in the United States. We have to move quickly.

Human Rights
--------------


9. (SBU) Noting the upcoming Human Rights Dialogue
(scheduled for February 20),A/S hill said it would be
important for DRL A/S Lowenkron to be able to meet whomever
he would like to meet. The United States does not want the
issues of human rights and religious freedom to burden the
bilateral relationship, and we need to see Vietnam make
further progress. FM Nien noted that former Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore had often said that his country
had been able to avoid criticism about its human rights
situation because it was open. FM Nien thus often told his
colleagues in the GVN, including the Ministry of Public
Security, that Vietnam needs to be more open. A/S Hill
agreed, noting that the more open a country is, the stronger
it is.


10. (U) Participants:

United States
--------------

Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill
Ambassador Michael W. Marine
EAP Special Assistant Kamala Lakhdhir
Pol/C Marc Knapper (notetaker)

Vietnam
--------------

Foreign Minister Nien
Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Duc Hung
Americas Department Deputy Director Nguyen Anh Dzung
U.S. Desk Director Nguyen Hoanh Nam
U.S. Desk Officer Lai Thai Binh


11. (U) A/S Hill has cleared this message.

BOARDMAN