Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HOCHIMINHCITY607
2006-06-06 09:49:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
Cable title:  

TRAN KHUE DISCUSSES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF VIETNAM

Tags:  PREL PGOV PINR VM 
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VZCZCXRO9036
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #0607/01 1570949
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 060949Z JUN 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0964
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0003
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 0711
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1009
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000607 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/6/16
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR VM
SUBJECT: TRAN KHUE DISCUSSES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF VIETNAM

REF: A) HANOI 1338; B) HANOI 1320

HO CHI MIN 00000607 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Robert Silberstein, Political Officer, ConGen
HCMC, State Department.
REASON: 1.4 (d)
CLASSIFIED BY: Consul General Seth Winnick for Reason 1.4 (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000607

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/6/16
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR VM
SUBJECT: TRAN KHUE DISCUSSES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF VIETNAM

REF: A) HANOI 1338; B) HANOI 1320

HO CHI MIN 00000607 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Robert Silberstein, Political Officer, ConGen
HCMC, State Department.
REASON: 1.4 (d)
CLASSIFIED BY: Consul General Seth Winnick for Reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary: On June 6 we met with political dissident Tran
Khue in HCMC to discuss developments related to the "Democratic
Party of Vietnam," which Khue and other dissidents launched in
Hanoi on June 1. Khue said that he has been tasked with opening
a Party office in HCMC; he has sufficient funding from "internal
and external sources" to do so. Prior to traveling to Hanoi to
launch the DPV, Khue consulted in person with other prominent
dissidents, including Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam leader
Thich Quang Do, who reportedly supports the DPV. Khue said he
has sharp difference with other dissidents, who he portrayed as
more extreme. Khue said he does not believe members of the DPV
face imminent arrest; Vietnam's WTO entry (which he supports),
the Congressional PNTR vote, the President's visit for the APEC
Leaders' Summit and internal political factors within the
Communist Party constrain the GVN from acting against the DPV.
If anything, he understands that the GVN is looking to find a
face-saving way to release prominent dissidents such as Pham
Hong Son. Thus far HCMC-based media has been muted on the DPV
and the latitude that Khue's police minders are giving him and
other dissidents to meet and consult with each other is notable.
Khue understands that his calculations on GVN restraint may be
wrong, but says he is prepared to face the risk. End Summary.

HCMC Consultations on the DPV
--------------


2. (C) On June 6 we met in a cafe in HCMC with political
dissident Tran Khue to review developments related to the
"Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV)," of which Khue is a founding
member. Khue told us that in April, prior to his departure for
Hanoi to set up the DPV, he consulted Unified Buddhist Church of
Vietnam (UBCV) General Secretary Thich Quang Do as well as with
democratic activist Nguyen Dan Que. This was his third meeting

with Thich Quang Do at the monk's pagoda in HCMC. He met Dr.
Que at his home. Khue said that Thich Quang Do approved of the
proposal to set up the DPV, telling Khue that Vietnam needed
political pluralism. TQD apparently rebuffed an offer to join,
telling Khue that as a religious figure it would not be
appropriate to join, but that "he had a political viewpoint and
that he fully supported the DPV." (Note: To date we have not
seen a public statement from the UBCV in support of the DPV or
its members, since the establishment of the DPV on June 1. End
Note.)


3. (C) Khue portrayed Dr. Que as sympathetic to the DPV, but
also unwilling to join. Khue said it was a matter of political
philosophy (and perhaps personal pride); the DPV has a
three-point agenda for free assembly, free elections and free
press in Vietnam. Que's "nine-point roadmap" goes beyond what
the DPV is willing to advocate at this point in time, Khue told
us. He said that he also met with Hoa Hao activist Le Quang
Liem, Mennonite Pastor Nguyen Hong Quang and Father Chan Tin to
discuss the DPV.


4. (C) Khue said that the DPV has sharp disagreements with
Hue-based dissident Father Nguyen Van Ly and HCMC-based
dissident Do Nam Hai (aka Phuong Nam). Khue has met with Father
Ly three times at Khue's home in HCMC since the Catholic priest
was released from prison in September 2005. Khue said that he
told Ly and Hai, his former protege, that to be effective,
activists must win the support of reformists within the
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV),avoid insulting President Ho
Chi Minh, and, accept that the Communist Party has had some
achievements. According to Khue, Ly and Hai "want to overturn
everything," and go well beyond the position of the DPV. The DPV
wants to stake out political middle ground between the communist
Party and anti-communist Vietnamese extremists.

Events in Hanoi
--------------


5. (C) Khue confirmed the depiction of events surrounding the
police raid at Hong Minh Chinh's house in Hanoi on May 27 that
DPV associate Dai Nguyen provided Emboffs (reftels). When he
refused to accompany police at the time of the raid, burly
policemen "escorted" him to the station. Once there, however,
police were respectful and he was prepared to chat with them.
The meeting was videotaped, Khue said, although he refused to
sign a "minute" of the proceedings that the police prepared. He
refused to attend a follow up session with police on May 28.
Khue said that, in addition to confiscating computer equipment
at Hong Minh Chinh's residence, the police also placed cell
phone blocking equipment near Chinh's home as well as at a
friend's house where Khue was staying.


6. (C) Khue said that he was supposed to chair the May 30
briefing for diplomats on the DPV (ref b). However, on the
morning of the day, police invited him to go on an outing at a

HO CHI MIN 00000607 002.2 OF 002


tourist resort some 30 kilometers outside of Hanoi. Khue
accepted the invitation. Police kept him eating and drinking
outside of Hanoi until 6 p.m., by which time the briefing was
over. When asked why police didn't try the same tactic with
Dai, Khue said that he did not know. He was told by Dai that
the lawyer was summoned by police in the morning for a working
session, in which Dai reportedly was warned not to bring Khue to
the meeting with diplomats. Khue noted that the police in
charge of the DPV are from the "A42" unit, which, according to
our information, is tasked with monitoring "political
opportunists and released counter-revolutionaries."

Next Steps
--------------


7. (C) Khue stated that the DPV plans to release an "action
plan" and to set up an office in HCMC in the near future. Khue
has plans to hire staff, lawyers and personal bodyguards for the
HCMC operation. Asked about funding, Khue said that the DPV has
sufficient funding from "internal Vietnamese and external Viet
Kieu sources" that are channeled through the organizers of the
Vietnamese Democratic Movement website that he helped establish
(www.ptdcvn.com). Khue also claimed that the DPV was receiving
assistance from "foreign governments and foreign NGOs," but when
pressed said that he would publicize that information "later."


8. (C) Khue lauded Vietnam's WTO accession, but said the process
must be coupled with a push for democratization inside the
country. He welcomed the June 4-6 SecDef visit to Hanoi, as it
demonstrates increased USG engagement in South East Asia. The
Vietnamese know that the U.S. is the only counterweight to
China, Khue added.

Is Arrest Imminent?
--------------


9. (C) Although saying that the "Party understands that what we
are doing is very dangerous," and that pressure on them may be
intensified, Khue did not think that the DPV members were in
danger of imminent arrest. Police did not threaten him directly
with arrest or imprisonment in Hanoi, although family members
have been warned more obliquely that he should be "careful."
Khue's family also has not faced any significant increase in
harassment from the police beyond the "usual" cutting of phone
lines and Internet access. Police also continue to intimidate
the renters of the storefront in his house, telling them that it
is an "insecure area." His family is about to lose the fifth
set of renters in the past two years.


10. (C) WTO entry, the Congressional vote on extending to
Vietnam Permanent Normal Trading Relations, the upcoming APEC
Summit and the President's visit constrain the GVN from moving
against the DPV, in Khue's view. "Everyone has read the
President's State of the Union Address and knows of the U.S.
commitment to democracy," he said. Vietnam had made commitments
to the international community on human rights and religious
freedom. Vietnam also needs to think twice about U.S. Congress
and EU Parliament reaction before making any arrests. The GVN
is aware of the experience of the Burmese junta and does not
want to go down that path, Khue said.


11. (C) In addition to external pressures, the Party also is
wrestling with the PMU-18 corruption scandal and other internal
issues that are more pressing than the DPV. If anything, Khue
sees the Party as trying to find a face-saving way to release
prominent dissidents such as Pham Hong Son and Nguyen Vu Binh,
not to "arrest more of us." Khue understands that the
authorities offered to release Son if he signed a "cease and
desist" pledge similar to the one Nguyen Khac Toan made prior to
his release from prison. Son has thus far refused to play
along, Khue said.


12. (C) Khue acknowledged that his calculations could be wrong
and that his freedom depended on Hanoi, which could decide to
move against the DPV. He was ready to accept any risk,
including jail and death, so that "others do not have to fear."


13. (C) Comment: Khue was relaxed and smiling at our meeting
and was happy to talk about the DPV gameplan. He promised us
discretion and we promised him the same. The latitude that
authorities are giving Khue and other dissidents is interesting;
the police clearly could have blocked Khue from meeting with
Thich Quang Do or Father Ly. Thus far, the official public
response to the DPV and the overall surge in dissident activity
has been muted, in contrast to the public vitriol and physical
attacks against DPV leader Hoang Minh Chinh in HCMC and then
Hanoi upon his return from the United states in early 2006.
With the exception of one op-ed in the "Voice of Vietnam," the
DPV has not yet been raised in any HCMC-based media outlets,
including the local Party mouthpiece "Saigon Giai Phong" (Saigon
Liberation). End Comment.
WINNICK