Vietnam's Impressions of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000017

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/04
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ECON MARR ASEAN BM VM
SUBJECT: Vietnam's Impressions of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat
in Danang

CLASSIFIED BY: Virginia Palmer, Deputy Chief of Mission; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The first major ASEAN meeting of Vietnam's
chairmanship, an informal foreign ministers retreat, focused
primarily on internal efforts to implement ASEAN's new charter and
on aspirations to build an ASEAN Community by 2015, according to
officials from the MFA's ASEAN Department. ASEAN's external
relations were a secondary, but important subject, with agreement
that ASEAN should remain at the core of any emerging Asian
architecture. Burma was not an agenda item -- in keeping with the
nature of the retreat, there was no formal agenda -- but the
Burmese Foreign Minister was asked to report on preparations for
the 2010 elections, which he said were tentatively planned May
27-28. Our MFA contacts gave no indication that ASEAN's human
rights body was discussed. Participants endorsed broadening
external contacts for the ADMM, with a "+8" arrangement emerging as
the most likely grouping. Vietnam continues to press for senior
U.S. participation in ASEAN events, including the Secretary's
attendance at a series of ASEAN Dialogue Partner, ARF, and Lower
Mekong Initiative meetings July 22-24, as well as a October 29-31
Leaders Summit, which Vietnam dearly wants the President to attend.
END SUMMARY.




2. (C) Vietnam kicked off its 2010 ASEAN chairmanship with a
low-key meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers January 13-14 in Danang.
According to the Director of the Political and Security Division
within the MFA's ASEAN Department, Duong Tri Hien, the FM retreat
also involved two of ASEAN's four ministerial-level committees, one
dealing with political and security affairs, the other dealing with
overall coordination. (The economic and cultural/social committees
did not meet.) The political/ security committee, Hien said, built
on discussions held last year in Phuket and focused on boosting
regional initiatives to combat human trafficking, efforts to make
the Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea more robust, and
prospects for a status-of-forces agreement in connection with
regional disaster relief exercises. Hien characterized
deliberations on all these issues as amicable but still
preliminary. The ministers also established an ASEAN Connectivity
Task Force, which will concentrate on supporting ASEAN's larger
goal to build an ASEAN Community by 2015 by strengthening "hard"
links within the region, such as maritime shipping and shared
energy grids, as well as by encouraging "soft" links, such as
cultural exchanges and more advanced and widely shared information
technology.




3. (C) As for the retreat itself, Hien said that discussions
focused primarily on setting priorities for 2010, including in
particular efforts to accelerate the implementation of ASEAN's
December 2008 Charter. The most significant achievement in this
regard was an agreement to finalize work on a dispute-resolution
mechanism in time for the April ASEAN leaders summit, Hien said.
Ministers also discussed ASEAN's external relations and affirmed
that any discussion of regional architecture must have ASEAN as its
core. There was little discussion of ASEAN "+" mechanisms, a
reflection, Hien claimed, of the fact that ASEAN is satisfied with
current arrangements.



Wish List for U.S. Participation in 2010

--------------




4. (SBU) The ministers did, however, discuss the second ASEAN-U.S.
Summit, agreeing that the event should be held in Hanoi, most
appropriately in connection with the ASEAN summit planned for the
end of October (October 29-31). Hien conceded it might be
difficult for the President to attend a late October summit, coming
immediately before the U.S. mid-term elections, and he said that
there was still much to discuss, both internally and with the
United States, before formal invitations could be extended. He
echoed the line given by nearly all GVN officials that whatever the
date, Vietnam should host the summit in Vietnam. Hien added that
ASEAN's other dialogue partners have already committed to attending

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meetings in Hanoi connected with the October summit.




5. (SBU) In a separate discussion, the MFA's Deputy DG for ASEAN
Affairs Vu Ho outlined plans for the 43rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
(AMM),as well as related post-ministerial meetings, including the
17th ASEAN Regional Forum ministerials and the Lower Mekong
Initiative. He said that the dates were not confirmed, but
stressed that none of the ASEAN members or dialogue partners had
voiced objections and absent any pushback, the schedule would go
forward as planned. As currently scheduled, the meetings would be
as follows, with the Secretary ideally participating July 22-24.



July 16-18 ASEAN SOM meetings

July 18 ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism Working Group

July 19 ASEAN FMs arrive

July 20 AMM

July 21 ASEAN+3 SOM and FM meetings

EAS FM Consultations

July 22 PMCs: +1s with China, ROK, Japan, Australia, India,

New Zealand, Canada, Russia, U.S., EU

July 23 17th ARF retreat and plenary

Closing ceremony for AMM and related meetings

Press conference by ASEAN Chair

July 24 Lower Mekong Initiative



ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting

--------------




6. (C) In addition to the AMM and Leaders Summit, our MFA contacts
confirmed that Secretary Gates would also be invited as a dialogue
partner to attend the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting, which
would likely take place immediately prior to the October summit.
On the ADMM, Hien reported that there was general agreement at the
FM retreat that there should be a "+" mechanism, but the ministers
differed slightly on how it should be structured. Vietnam's view
was that it should be a "+10" arrangement, others argued for
smaller groupings, though nobody envisioned moving directly to "+1"
discussions. DDG Vu Ho, who led a joint MFA/MOD delegation to
discuss the ADMM the week after the retreat, reported that there
was now an unofficial consensus that the ADMM should begin this
year with a "+8" arrangement (all ten dialogue partners, minus
Canada and the EU, which means: ASEAN plus China, ROK, Japan,
Australia, India, New Zealand, Russia, and U.S.); the defense
ministers themselves can decide on any future configurations, he
added, joking that by that point he would be too exhausted to care.
Vu Ho said that a date for the ADMM has not been set but would most
likely take place shortly before the ASEAN summit in late October.



Burma

--------------




7. (C) Both DDG Vu Ho and Hien affirmed that Burma was discussed
at the FM retreat, though not in great detail. According to Hien,

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FM Pham Gia Khiem, as the host, invited his Burmese counterpart
Nhan Win to brief the group. Nhan Win reported that preparations
were underway for Burma's 2010 elections, which he said his
government aims to conduct May 27-28. Nhan Win claimed that
Burma's relations with the outside world were "improving." Neither
Vu Ho nor Hien would characterize the discussions on Burma, but
gave the impression that the FMs did not push the issue
particularly hard. (Note: Other ASEAN members gave a slightly
different impression. Singapore Ambassador Simon Wong, for example,
told the Ambassador the day after the retreat, that some FMs
reportedly agreed during a "private" meeting that at a minimum the
Burmese generals needed to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to meet with the
"uncles." End note.) In both meetings, Deputy PolCouns emphasized
the need for Burma's 2010 elections to be fair and transparent,
stressing that this would be impossible as long as ASSK remained in
prison. He encouraged both Hien and Vu Ho to use Vietnam's
leverage with Burma to, in the short run, permit ASSK to meet with
the NLD leadership in full, along with representatives of national
minority groups.
Michalak