This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001404 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL ECON VM HUMANR ETMIN CVR
SUBJECT: NGUYEN CAO KY VISITS HCMC AGAIN - ADVISING THE GVN? 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  We met November 9 in HCMC with former Vice 
President of the Republic of South Vietnam Nguyen Cao Ky, who made 
headlines with a well-publicized reconciliation visit to Vietnam 
in January 2004.  Ky told us he was back on a "quiet working 
visit" to engage the GVN on Viet Kieu reconciliation as well as 
domestic socio-economic issues, including the Central Highlands 
and corruption.  Ky told us that GVN officials informed him that 
they had approved an initiative to rehabilitate a large ARVN 
cemetery near HCMC -- a gesture that the Mission had separately 
urged the GVN undertake in its efforts to build bridges with the 
Vietnamese community overseas.  Ky says that almost all GVN 
officials that he has met -- even many in the North -- are keen to 
improve ties with the United States, in part to act as a 
counterbalance to Chinese influence in the region.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) At the implicit suggestion of Special Envoy of the PM to 
the South, Vo Viet Thanh (septel), DPO and PolOff met November 9 
at the ConGen with Nguyen Cao Ky, former General and Vice 
President of the Republic of Vietnam.  Ky, who had been in country 
for two days, told us that he was in Vietnam as an unofficial 
advisor to the GVN on a range of issues, from the GVN's policy in 
the Central Highlands to its outreach efforts with the Vietnamese 
Diaspora in the United States.  Unlike his previous visit during 
the "Tet" holidays in January 2004, this visit was very low key. 
Ky expressed surprise to have received VIP treatment upon his 
arrival, having been whisked through customs by the External 
Relations Office, Police and other GVN officials.  Since his 
arrival two days ago, Ky said that he had met with Director of the 
HCMC Office of External Relations Hung, twice with special advisor 
to the Prime Minister Vo Viet Thanh and with Deputy Chairman of 
the HCMC People's Committee, Dr. Nhan.  Other meetings with GVN 
officials are planned in Hanoi, Danang, Nha Trang and Dalat over 
the course of the next month. 
 
Ties to the Viet Kieu and the United States 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ky said that he is a core member of a quiet process of 
reconciliation between the GVN and the Viet Kieu community in the 
United States.  Despite the negative press that his initial visit 
to Vietnam created in the Viet Kieu community in the United 
States, the long-term fallout to him and his family has been 
minimal.  He maintained that both in Vietnam and in the United 
States, hardliners were a dying breed.  This process of 
reconciliation has happened to him on a personal level as well. 
He said he and Vo Viet Thanh (who, inter alia, was a Viet Cong 
leader) now are "brothers," a sentiment echoing Thanh's comments 
in our meeting with him November 8. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ky said that he was particularly encouraged by a recent 
GVN decision to rehabilitate a major ARVN cemetery near HCMC.  He 
told us that in his February 2004 meetings with GVN officials, 
they had expressed real reticence to move forward, largely because 
the issue still was "too sensitive" for conservatives and military 
officials.  Ky advised them, however, that, "if you want to 
reconcile with the Viet Kieu, you have to reconcile with their 
dead first." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ky told us that three weeks ago he hosted a reception for 
visiting Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Phu Binhin 
Orange County and Binh said that the GVN had agreed to move ahead 
quietly with the cemetery's rehabilitation.  Ky said the GVN has 
assigned Deputy PM Pham Gia Khiem and the MoD to oversee the 
rehabilitation.  After the work is completed, Ky will lead a 
delegation of Viet Kieu to reopen the cemetery. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ky added that officials in southern Vietnam had expressed 
a clear desire to forge close ties with the United States. 
Vietnamese officials were driven both by a fear of China by and a 
desire to expand business ties.  While he had not yet visited 
Hanoi on his current visit, during his January visit he had sensed 
more suspicion of the United States.  But even in Hanoi, Ky said 
that GVN officials had told him Vietnam needs to "counterbalance" 
China, a role that only the United States could play. 
 
Corruption 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Ky said GVN leaders clearly understand that corruption is 
the biggest threat to economic growth and, ultimately, the 
legitimacy of the one-party state.  In Ky's view, the fundamental 
problem is that almost all GVN and Party leaders are buried deep 
in corruption, making it hard for them to argue that the next 
generation of leaders should behave any differently.  This 
corruption, he said, goes all the way to the top of the Party and 
to the highest levels of the government.  What he saw in South 
Vietnam when he was Vice President pales in comparison with 
corruption in Vietnam today, Ky asserted. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) While part of the problem is structural -- Vietnam does 
not have the institutions to combat corruption -- Ky also 
indicated that the other part of the problem is ideological. 
Other than for old-timers in the party, Communism is dead. 
Vietnam, he argued, is left with a one-party state with no 
ideological moorings. 
 
Deja Vu in the Central Highlands 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Ky said that GVN officials also have asked him during 
this visit to take a look at the problems they face in the Central 
Highlands.  Ky recounted the development, social 
disenfranchisement and minority/majority tensions over land that 
he had encountered as Vice President.  (Note:  With the exception 
of the new dimension of religious freedom, eerily similar 
conditions exist today.  End note.)  Ky said the key to easing 
problems in the region was to ensure that local officials are 
pressed from the center to implement the government's policies. 
Official development support from the international community also 
was important to help the process of reform in the Highlands.  In 
his opinion, GVN officials -- at least at the central level -- 
would welcome U.S. development assistance. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment:  The extent of Ky's influence within the Party 
and GVN in the south is difficult to gauge.  However, meetings 
with local heavyweights such as the Director of the HCMC External 
Relations Office and the HCMC People's Committee do not come easy 
to private individuals, especially Viet Kieu with only advice to 
give.  It is also interesting the Ky is making his second visit in 
less than a year, and this time with neither publicity nor 
propaganda aspects.  Ky's comments on a GVN decision to 
rehabilitate the ARVN cemetery near HCMC bear close watching, as 
we have been pressing the GVN to take such a dramatic step to 
break the ice with the Viet Kieu community.  So do Ky's comments 
that the GVN may be ready to accept U.S. development assistance in 
the Central Highlands. 
 
WINNICK