SCENESETTER FOR U.S. VISIT OF VIETNAM PRIME MINISTER DUNG

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000731 SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR PRESIDENT BUSH FROM AMBASSADOR MICHALAK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OTRA ECON ETRD EINV PREL PHUM KIRF EAIR VM SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR U.S. VISIT OF VIETNAM PRIME MINISTER DUNG ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Vietnam's Prime Minister views his June 24 White House meeting as an opportunity to confirm to all -- including those who hate us -- that the United States will remain a big part of Vietnam's future. In particular, he will celebrate our remarkable economic partnership, built on U.S. technical assistance, and "sell" the idea of further significant partnerships in education and science and technology. We should embrace the Prime Minister's broad vision of engagement, which strongly supports U.S. national interests, while underscoring that we want to see changes in Vietnam leading to greater freedoms for the nation's young, wired, dynamic population. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will arrive in Washington as the leader of a nation proud of its increasing clout in the region. There is much to celebrate. Vietnam's economic reforms have set the country on a successful market economy path defined by average annual economic growth of 7.5 percent over the last decade. In 2007, the economy grew at a rate of 8.5 percent. Poverty rates have tumbled, from 58 percent in 1993 to under 15 percent in 2007, according to the GVN's latest figures. A recent World Bank study described this poverty reduction rate as the most significant in such a short period of time of any nation in history. The middle class is growing and retail markets are booming. The transformation of Vietnam's economic, social and technological landscape is beginning to create more "space" for Vietnam's people to be heard, even on some sensitive issues. Acknowledging U.S. Help; Seeking More -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Dung and his key supporters understand that the United States has -- and is -- playing a direct role in creating the conditions for their nation's success. Dung is thankful, in particular, for the key technical assistance we've given over the past seven years in reforming the system of economic governance. He wants more. On this trip, Dung hopes to highlight and deepen very positive bilateral trends in cooperation in the key, forward-looking areas of education and scientific cooperation on climate change, both key concerns of the Vietnamese people. We are already expanding our efforts in those areas, so we will be able to respond positively. Dung should also welcome U.S. help in the broader areas of good governance, and rule of law, all previously considered too sensitive for U.S. involvement. This is good news. Facing Challenges -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Your meeting with Prime Minister Dung, however, also comes at a point when Dung is battling to maintain his position in the complex political environment here. Having staked his reputation on delivering solid economic growth, this year's spike in inflation creates definite political challenges. Current woes expose weaknesses in the economy and economic policy which were papered over in the go-go years of huge FDI inflows and increases in exports. In addition, the recent passing of one of Dung's mentors, former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, robs Dung of a strong advocate of reform at a sensitive time. All this aids Dung's more conservative counterparts in questioning the Prime Minister's embrace of the United States, while charging that Dung may not "have what it takes" even in economic matters. ¶5. (SBU) To date, the Prime Minister has not been knocked off his agenda. Indeed, all signals indicate that Dung is determined to boldly call for a significant expansion of out bilateral relationship in the economy, educational exchanges, environment and overall assistance in ways that can and will energize the process of reform that Dung now leads. GROWING RELIANCE ON U.S. ADVICE -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Dung's motivation to seek stronger ties is clear. We are Vietnam's largest market and one of its closest trading partners. Dung and his colleagues also appropriately see the United States as an important force in maintaining a stable regional environment and balancing a rising China. Domestic considerations play a role as well. As Vietnam continues its rapid economic and social transition, many Vietnamese view the strength of its relations with the United States as a key indicator of how much progress has been made in leaving the dark days of the 1970's and 1980's behind. For these reasons, Dung is committed to continued progress in bilateral relations and will speak positively and optimistically about the future of U.S.-Vietnam ties. Differences over human rights remain, however, and lingering fears that the United States supports the overthrow of the current regime continue to complicate the relationship. HANOI 00000731 002 OF 004 ¶7. (SBU) For our part, Vietnam provides an important opportunity in East Asia for advancing U.S. national interests in securing a stable and peaceful Asia-Pacific region. We are also encouraged by the steady liberalization of the government's role in the life of its citizens. Problems remain, as noted below, but all agree that basic trends are positive with regard to personal freedoms, when viewed over time. TESTS FOR VIETNAM: EDUCATION, CORRUPTION AND STATISM -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Despite its achievements, Vietnam still faces substantial challenges. Its outdated education system is failing to keep up with the demands of a modern economy and an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled labor is already posing a major roadblock to development. Since my arrival one year ago, I have been leading a multi-faceted, multi-year effort which has already helped result in a deepening of U.S. engagement with Vietnam on education issues. We are helping broker partnerships between Vietnam's academic institutions and the private sector, including public-private partnerships with U.S. businesses, as well as significantly increasing the number of Vietnamese students choosing the United States for overseas training. These efforts will pay great dividends now, but even greater dividends ten or twenty years down the road. ¶9. (SBU) As mentioned above, high inflation worries the national leadership, and one of the main culprits is inefficient, opaque spending by State Owned Enterprises, or SOEs, which account for 37 percent of Vietnam's GDP. SOE leaders, largely entrenched Party insiders, resist the reform agenda and have deep and powerful connections to current and past top leaders. Dung to date has been unwilling or unable to privatize or significantly limit the growth of the big SOEs. Governments, multilateral development banks and financial institutions have all urged the GVN to improve oversight of the state sector. ¶10. (SBU) Corruption also continues to be a major problem in Vietnam, and Transparency International's perception index ranks Vietnam at 123 of 179 countries, a continuous backsliding since ¶2002. More worrisome was the arrest in April of two popular reporters who made their name on graft-busting, and their two government sources. The detentions sent chills through a press that had thought itself increasingly free -- in fact encouraged by the leadership -- to go after corrupt officials. To help Vietnam keep reform on track, we need to support and emphasize the vital role that an active press plays in ferreting out corruption. ADOPTIONS - AN AMERICAN POLITICAL ISSUE -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Corruption and fraud in the field of intercountry adoption have created an atmosphere where child selling can and does occur. There are documented cases of local officials kidnapping children and then offering them for adoption. When we uncover specific cases, Vietnamese authorities flatly refuse to punish offenders. As a result, the U.S. announced we cannot agree not to renew our adoption agreement which expires in September 2008. Some prospective American parents and adoptions groups were initially critical of USG vigilance with regard to these issues; my Embassy's issuance of a report outlining the abuses we are seeing has dampened that criticism. The issue remains a sensitive one, however. We continue to encourage Vietnam to join the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions, which would require it to put in place robust safeguards to protect the rights of children and birth parents. Dung will say the right thing in this regard, but may also call for intermediate measures as well. OUR MESSAGE ON HUMAN RIGHTS -------------- ¶12. (SBU) While we share common views with the GVN in many areas, differences over human rights remain, and lingering fears that the United States supports the overthrow of the current regime continue to complicate the relationship. The existence of groups in the United States and elsewhere that explicitly advocate regime change helps generate charges by conservatives that the U.S. Government supports the overthrow of the current regime. These stoke a lingering paranoia that we are indeed still "the enemy." Reassuring the GVN that the USG does not support violent separatist groups can assist in building a better human rights dialogue based on mutual trust. ¶13. (SBU) Serious human rights deficiencies in Vietnam include lack of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. HANOI 00000731 003 OF 004 My Mission tracks approximately 50 individual cases of prisoners of conscience and activists under various forms of house arrest, surveillance, and/or harassment. We continue to call for the release of all prisoners of conscience and freedom of peaceful expression of political views, but where we see individuals expressing their political opinions, many of our government interlocutors see "lawbreakers" trying to destabilize the regime. ¶14. (SBU) In other areas of governance and civil society, however, perceptible progress is being made. Key Vietnamese leaders, including PM Dung, are committed to enhancing governance, establishing the rule of law and combating corruption -- all critical in building guarantees of individual freedoms. Vietnam's leading newspapers are more aggressive in what they publish and in their willingness to push back against censors. As noted above, however, generally good progress on allowing the press more freedom to highlight corruption and general government inefficiency has been marred by crackdowns that appear to occur when the media focus their sights too high up within the leadership hierarchy. ¶15. (SBU) With regard to religious freedom, Vietnam continues to make progress. More needs to be done, but the country no longer qualifies as a particularly severe violator of religious freedom under our legal definition and we removed the nation from the list of countries of particular concern in late 2006. OUR TRANSFORMATIONAL ASSISTANCE -------------- ¶16. (SBU) Eighty-five percent of all U.S. Official Development Assistance to Vietnam focuses on health issues, and we are expanding our cooperative efforts, under your Emergency Program for AIDS Relief to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and combat Avian Influenza. Vietnam has been a model partner in the global effort to fight Avian Influenza, in particular, which is significant given the recalcitrance of others. In other areas, we have been building bridges with Vietnam's small nuclear regulatory sector, in part to set the stage to enable our companies to help the nation achieve its goal of building a nuclear power plant. This engagement also serves counter-proliferation objectives. Our technical assistance directed at helping Vietnam reform its system of economic governance remains a mainstay, as noted above. ¶17. (SBU) Given its topography, Vietnam would be one of the countries most severely affected by a rise in sea levels and has begun to develop adaptation and mitigation strategies. In preparation for this visit, our Vietnamese counterparts, at the direction of the Prime Minister, repeatedly highlighted the need for U.S. assistance to respond to the impacts of climate change. Several U.S. agencies already work with Vietnamese counterparts in this area. GRADUAL PROGRESS IN DEFENSE COOPERATION -------------- ¶18. (SBU) Defense relations have advanced at a measured pace, but have actually come quite far if viewed over time. We are in year three of a new IMET program, and we now have professional military exchanges with the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in a limited but growing range of areas including military law, military nursing, public affairs, search and rescue, weather prediction and disaster preparedness. Since 2003, U.S. Navy ships have made five port visits to Vietnam, including most recently a November 14-18 visit by two mine countermeasures ships. Reaching our full potential for closer cooperation in defense activities, including multilateral peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance efforts and attendance at U.S. military schools is attainable, but will require time, persistence and patience, and a lot of hard work. AGENT ORANGE/DIOXIN -------------- ¶19. (SBU) Over the past few years, we have begun to see a new approach by the GVN in dealing with Agent Orange/dioxin, which in the past has been used to demonize the United States. The GVN has responded positively to increased U.S. engagement and the two countries have started to move beyond scientific dialogue towards cooperation on dioxin remediation projects. Building on earlier technical assistance, Congress appropriated an additional USD 3 million in Economic Support Funds (ESF) for "dioxin mitigation and health activities," which we are in the process of implementing. While this represents significant progress, the Vietnamese media and GVN officials continue to request additional support and Prime Minister Dung likely will raise this issue with President Bush. A WORD ABOUT CHINA HANOI 00000731 004 OF 004 -------------- ¶20. (SBU) While Vietnam's engagement with the United States will continue to broaden, China remains Vietnam's strategic preoccupation. This is not to say that Vietnam is "choosing" China over the United States; the situation is much more complex than that. Vietnam's leadership is sophisticated enough to realize that relations with China and the United States do not represent a zero sum game; it is possible to have good relations with both. Each relationship also creates challenges, however. While China constitutes a vital and necessary commercial partner and former ally, it is also perceived as a significant and frustrating constraint to Vietnam's freedom of action. Most Vietnamese also dislike China on one level; the Chinese ruled Vietnam for a thousand years and sometimes the "older brother" approach wears thin. CONCLUSION -------------- ¶21. (SBU) Your interactions with then-PM Phan Van Khai, your meetings with President Triet and PM Dung here in 2006, then your White House meeting with President Triet in 2007, all served to open doors to new modes of cooperation. Frankly, this year's interaction may prove the most significant. Our current concrete cooperation in the economy, education, environment and energy has already added significant new momentum to the relationship. PM Dung, in my view, is skillfully pushing for advances into additional new areas of cooperation. This in turn recommits Vietnam to the reform agenda that has improved the lives of millions of Vietnamese. More importantly, however, it locks us in for years to come, foreshadowing an even greater U.S. influence in the years and decades to come. MICHALAK