AMBASSADOR VISITS HAIPHONG ON THE OCCASION OF HISTORIC U.S.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001975 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS USTR FOR DBISBEE AND RBAE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ECON KIRF TBIO KHIV PINS OEXC CVIS PGOV PHUM VM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR VISITS HAIPHONG ON THE OCCASION OF HISTORIC U.S. NAVY PORT CALL HANOI 00001975 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Ambassador made his first visit to Haiphong City, in part to participate in activities related to an historic port call by two U.S. Navy warships. The Ambassador paid a courtesy call on the Vice Chairman of the Haiphong City People's Committee and expressed concern over an incident earlier that day in which Haiphong Police disrupted a house church congregation with three Americans in attendance. The Ambassador also paid a visit to the Haiphong School for Deaf Children and the School for Blind Children to participate in United States Navy community relations activities; visited the Haiphong Provincial Health Service and Hoa Phuong Women's Health Club to learn about continuing efforts to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Haiphong region; and visited Haiphong University's American Corner, where he delivered remarks and took questions from university students and the press. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador visited Haiphong City November 15-17 on the occasion of an historic courtesy port call by two U.S. Navy mine warfare ships, the USS Patriot and USS Guardian. The port call by the Patriot and Guardian marked the first visit by American warships to Haiphong since 1973. Haiphong, 120 kilometers east of Hanoi, is Vietnam's third largest city with a population of 1.8 million. Second only to Hanoi in terms of population and economic importance in northern Vietnam, Haiphong has long-standing connections to the national economy and is home to considerable heavy industry, including steel, shipbuilding, production of animal feed, and cement. The two largest American investors are Chevron Vietnam, which operates an asphalt facility and lubricating plant under the Caltex brand name, and the American International Group (AIG),which owns a sizeable stake in Haiphong's Dinh Vu Industrial Zone. Haiphong also has an international sister city relationship with the city of Seattle. ¶3. (SBU) In a November 15 courtesy call on Haiphong City People's Committee Vice Chairman Hoang Van Ke, the Ambassador outlined his priorities, including strengthening the economic, commercial and educational ties between the United States and Vietnam. He also described his focus on human rights and religious freedom. The Ambassador thanked Vice Minister Ke for the warm welcome shown by Haiphong City to the crewmembers of the USS Guardian and USS Patriot, calling it another step in the deepening U.S.-Vietnam partnership. HAIPHONG POLICE DISRUPT HOUSE CHURCH SERVICE -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Just prior to the start of his meeting with Vice Chairman Ke, the Ambassador learned about an incident earlier in the day in which Haiphong Police disrupted a congregation of the Inter-Christian Fellowship House Church with three Americans in attendance, including Pastor Mike Kirkiele (Note: Protect under Privacy Act. End Note). According to Kirkiele, with whom the Ambassador spoke by telephone, the police initially confiscated the Amcits' passports and instructed them to report to the city immigration office. After a short time, however, the police returned the passports and ordered the attendees to stay away from the home. Feeling unwelcome in Haiphong, Kirkiele and the other Americans returned to Hanoi that evening. ¶5. (SBU) Under a February 2005 law, the GVN allows government-registered Protestant groups to practice religious activities in their homes or "suitable locations" without interference by the state. Moreover, the law ostensibly permits unregistered house churches to operate so long as they are "committed to following regulations" and are unaffiliated with separatist political movements. The Ambassador asked Vice Minister Ke to explain the circumstances behind the police action and to ensure that Haiphong's police follow the letter of the 2005 law. In response, the Vice Minister said he was unaware of the incident, calling it "very regrettable." He defended Haiphong's record on religious freedom, noting that the city recently hosted a large religious congress of followers from Catholic dioceses from several northern provinces. The Vice Minister speculated that the house church had failed to register with the authorities, but said he would look into the matter and get back to us. ¶6. (SBU) Concluding the meeting, Vice Minister Ke thanked the Ambassador for past USG support in the areas of health care, in particular, HIV/AIDS prevention, and education and expressed his hope that cooperation would continue throughout the Ambassador's tenure. The Vice Minister noted that Haiphong is set to introduce a methadone project in January 2008 to help area heroin addicts overcome their addiction and curtail the transmission of HIV/AIDS through shared needles. PEPFAR MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN HAIPHONG -------------- HANOI 00001975 002.2 OF 002 ¶7. (SBU) In a meeting later in the day with Dr. Nguyen Van Vy, Director of the Haiphong City Health Service, and a subsequent visit to the Hoa Phuong Women's Health Club, the Ambassador learned how USG PEPFAR-funded support is helping to reduce the rate of HIV/AIDS in Haiphong. Dr. Vy described Haiphong as an HIV/AIDS "hot spot," and blamed the high rate of infection on the city's traditionally large numbers of drug users and sex workers, who comprise 80 percent of new cases. Nevertheless, Dr. Vy credited Vietnam's newly instituted clean needle exchange programs and international assistance, notably PEPFAR support, with lowering Haiphong's rate of new HIV infections by 40 to 50 percent over the last two years. ¶8. (U) The Ambassador also paid a visit to the Haiphong School for Deaf Children and School for Blind Children to participate in friendship building and community relations activities conducted by crewmembers of the USS Patriot and USS Guardian in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy's Defense Attache Office. These activities included facilities renovation work and delivery of gifts to the children, including winter coats, soccer balls, and sewing machines for vocational training. AN ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME AT HAIPHONG UNIVERSITY -------------- - ¶9. (SBU) On November 16, several hundred university students in traditional Vietnamese dress enthusiastically greeted the Ambassador's arrival at Haiphong University. At a courtesy call, the University Rector, Dr. Le Quoc Bang, thanked the Ambassador for his visit and noted that 220-300 students visit the university's American Corner each day. American Corner, part of the U.S.-Vietnam Studies Project, is a resource center offering university students and visitors a wide range of information about the United States. The Ambassador assured Dr. Bang that U.S. Mission Vietnam would continue to support American Corner and make improvements. He also asked the Rector to help speed up the university's time-consuming and often belated process for approving cultural activities and speakers at the Corner. ¶10. (SBU) Following the courtesy call, the Ambassador delivered remarks and hosted a question and answer session before an audience of students at American Corner. He noted that one of his immediate goals as U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam is to increase the number of Vietnamese students who go to the United States to study in the "world's finest academic system." He pointed out that U.S. Mission Vietnam has granted 5,600 academic visas to Vietnamese students so far in 2007, a 54 percent increase over 2006, and encouraged students not to be intimidated by the visa application process. In response to a query regarding the lack of English language learning opportunities at American Corner, the Ambassador noted continuing efforts to bring the Peace Corps to Vietnam to teach English. ¶11. (SBU) Lastly, in a roundtable interview session with local reporters, the Ambassador praised Vietnam's economic reform and progress but said, "much remains to be done." He noted that foreign investors favor timely decision-making and transparent rules and regulations, including an opportunity to comment on new laws before they take effect. On a positive note, the Ambassador noted that Haiphong moved up five spots in Vietnam's 2007 Provincial Competitiveness Index, scoring 37 out of 64 provinces, but pointed out that the province still lags in the middle of the pack. MICHALAK