TORCH RELAY OR TUG OF WAR: GVN AND CHINESE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000633 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2018 TAGS: PREL CH VM SUBJECT: TORCH RELAY OR TUG OF WAR: GVN AND CHINESE OFFICIALS' SPAT IN HCMC HANOI 00000633 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Acting POLITICAL Counselor Peter Eckstrom. Reasons 1.4 ( B and D). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Western media accounts of a peaceful, controlled April 29 Olympic torch rally in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) missed the intense wrangling between Vietnamese and Chinese officials over control of the event. The opening ceremony included an unwelcome intervention by the Chinese ambassador, a GVN deputy prime minister/relay runner stomping away in anger, and a high-level city official extinguishing the flame rather than running past pro-China demonstrators. Despite the intended "feel-good" nature of the event, the following account, based on the Consul General's conversations with multiple sources in HCMC, highlights the unanticipated ways in which underlying tensions and the complicated nature of Sino-Vietnamese RELATIONS can surface. End Summary. Chinese Ambassador's Unwelcome Role -------------- ¶2. (C) When planning the Olympic torch run through HCMC, the Government of Vietnam (GVN) informed the Chinese Government that Hanoi would not tolerate the appearance of organized groups of pro-Chinese "students" who had appeared at other relays to "protect" the torch. Vietnamese officials told their Chinese counterparts that Hanoi would not permit demonstrations during the relay and that Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials were fully capable of ensuring the torch's safety. The GVN also decided that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) representative in HCMC for the relay should hand the torch to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, who would be the first runner. ¶3. (C) On the day before the torch relay, however, the Chinese announced that the Chinese ambassador, not the IOC representative, would hand the torch to DPM Nhan. GVN officials did not accept this, saying that, since the relay was taking place in Vietnam, Hanoi was within its rights to decide that the IOC representative would start the ceremony. ¶4. (C) Despite the GVN's plan, on the day of the relay, the Chinese ambassador strolled on to the stage in front of HCMC's large Opera House to accept the torch from the IOC representative. The ambassador gave a few remarks to open the relay. He then waited on the stage for DPM Nhan, who had positioned himself at the bottom of the steps, to come take the torch. When DPM Nhan did not mount the steps, the Chinese ambassador first announced over the microphone that DPM Nhan would now accept the torch. The ambassador then sent an emissary down to escort DPM Nhan up the stairs. This apparently was the last straw for the DPM, who marched off "in a huff." ¶5. (C) In a quick flurry of decision-making, the GVN then sent HCMC People's Committee Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thu Ha to take the torch and begin the relay. As she was scheduled to be the second torch carrier anyway, Deputy Chairwoman Ha was already dressed in an Olympic track suit. (Comment: HCMC People's Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan was not at the event. He and the Chinese ambassador reportedly share a deep mutual dislike and avoid appearing together. End Comment). The Not-So-Eternal Olympic Flame -------------- ¶6. (C) After the awkward start, Deputy Chairwoman Ha accepted the torch. Several Chinese flag-waving demonstrators appeared at the route's beginning in contradiction of strict orders from Hanoi that all demonstrators -- anti-China or pro-China -- stay away from the route because it was supposed to be a Vietnamese event. While police officers were under orders to arrest any anti-Beijing demonstrators, none of whom materialized, out of deference to Beijing, they just kept the pro-China demonstrations blocked off in a nearby park so they would not dominate the torch relay. ¶7. (C) Deputy Chairwoman Ha at first decided to try to run in a slightly different route across a large paved square in front of the Opera House, but crowds and reporters lined up on each side of the street effectively blocked her, creating a corridor leading to the Chinese flags. Instead of running, Ha stopped while organizers asked the Chinese flag-wavers to clear the way. When the flag wavers failed to disperse instantly, she turned the torch off. A moment later, the police had opened a clear route for her and the procession continued as planned. HANOI 00000633 002.2 OF 002 The Fall-Out -------------- ¶8. (C) HCMC Party and MPS officials reportedly are deeply upset with the Chinese over their behavior before and during the event. These officials are mad at the Chinese Ambassador for upstaging their event and in direct contradiction of their instructions. They also are not happy at the Chinese Embassy and Consulate, as they are convinced the Chinese Mission recruited and organized the pro-China flag wavers. HCMC officials also are mad at the MPS, which failed to keep the Chinese flag wavers away from the torch route and the press at the start of the relay. ¶9. (C) Australian Consul General Malcolm Skelly told the Consul General that the muted local press coverage brought home the extent to which the GVN is able to stifle the media. Foreign correspondents were present, but because they were unaware of the drama taking place behind the scenes, they accepted the official explanation that Deputy Chairwoman Ha had stopped because the torch had accidentally gone out, Consul General Skelly offered. ¶10. (C) The only concrete fall-out thus far has been on the ethic Chinese community in HCMC. The Chinese were able to recruit a number of Vietnamese-Chinese from HCMC to join the pro-China demonstrations. The MPS has summoned these people and some leaders of this community in for multiple "working sessions" in an effort to find out if the participants acted on their own or if the ethnic Chinese community had consciously decided to "support China's public RELATIONS goals at Vietnam's expense." The Sources -------------- ¶11. (C) The Consul General pieced together this account from regular ConGen contacts. They included: HCMC People's Committee External RELATIONS Deputy Director Nguyen Vu Tu, who has close ties to police officials; HCMC Union of Friendship Organizations President Le Hung Quoc; Singapore Consul General Jimmy Chua, who maintains excellent RELATIONS with Vietnamese-Chinese community leaders; Saigon-Singapore Trading Company Director Huyn Van Minh, an ethnic Chinese businessman; Nguyen Thanh Hung, a local business leader; and, Jimmy Lee Chua, an Australian businessman of ethnic Vietnamese-Chinese origin who maintains excellent ties to HCMC's Chinese community. MICHALAK