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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM HUMANR VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAMESE PROTESTANTS WARY OF / EXPEL POLITICAL 
DISSIDENT DAI NGUYEN FROM CHURCH LEADERSHIP 
 
REF: A. A) HANOI 1320 
     ¶B. B) HANOI 1520 
 
HANOI 00001535  001.6 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: 
ACTING POL/C BENJAMIN MOELING, REASON 1.5 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (S) SUMMARY. In early June, Hanoi Protestants expelled 
activist political dissident Lawyer Dai Nguyen from their 
church executive board because of concerns that his recent 
political activities would damage church interests.  They 
also suspect that, at the worst, he may be a GVN agent 
provocateur.  At the very least they consider him 
"unreliable."  Their suspicions track with some of our and 
the international communities' own concerns, though Dai has 
recently taken some extremely provocative actions to call 
attention to human rights issues in Vietnam.  Regardless of 
Dai's actual allegiances, he is a polarizing figure and our 
meetings with him severely provoke the GVN.  We will continue 
to keep a healthy distance from Dai for the time being. End 
Summary. 
 
ECVN Expels Lawyer Dai 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (S) On June 14, Poloff met with Evangelical Church of 
Vietnam North (ECVN) General Secretary Au Quang Vinh.  In 
addition to covering other subjects (Septel), Poloff asked 
Vinh for an assessment of the recent activities of Lawyer Dai 
Nguyen in support of the new Democratic Party of Vietnam 
(DPV) (Ref A).  Vinh stated that Dai is "not a reliable 
person."  Though Dai is a member of the ECVN's Hanoi 
congregation, his political activities are "damaging to 
Church interests." The ECVN board recently told him to stop 
his activities, but Dai has ignored this request.  The ECVN 
is considering unspecified punitive steps against him in the 
name of the Church, Vinh said. 
 
¶3. (S) Vinh explained that ECVN leaders have serious 
questions about Dai as a person and as a political and 
religious advocate.  In the worst case scenario, Dai may be a 
Ministry of Public Security (MPS) or other GVN security plant 
placed to spy on and discredit nascent political and 
religious movements, Vinh warned.  He noted that as an agent 
provocateur, Dai is ideally placed to do both jobs because he 
has created an important niche for himself at the 
intersection of religious freedom and political reform 
advocates in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and with overseas 
Vietnamese advocacy groups (such as Boat People SOS which is 
currently funneling USD 30,000 in NED funding to Dai,s 
training efforts ) Ref A).  Dai is also a trusted contact of 
many churches in the United States and has apparently 
received additional funding from some of them for his 
political activities.  In the best case scenario, Dai may be 
only a risk-taker who endangers more cautious advocates of 
reform with his recent aggressive and deliberate taunting of 
the government, Vinh said. 
 
¶4. (S) In Vinh's opinion the worst case scenario is supported 
by the fact that though Dai has been very active with the DPV 
and religious freedom advocacy, including publishing several 
incendiary stories on the internet, he has not been 
imprisoned.  By comparison, cyber-dissident Dr. Pham Hong Son 
has been in prison for espionage for several years primarily 
for translating a State Department pamphlet on democracy, 
while Dai has published original political statements on the 
Vietnamese Language BBC and on Viet Kieu websites dedicated 
to overthrowing the GVN, Vinh noted. 
 
¶5. (S) Vinh said that on June 13, the ECVN board formally 
decided to remove Dai as the ECVN legal advisor.  ECVN 
President and Dai booster Pastor Phung Quang Huyen was not 
happy with this decision, but ultimately agreed with the rest 
of the ECVN leaders.  Pastor Huyen and Pastor Vinh are barely 
on speaking terms over Dai and several other issues, but the 
final straw for Huyen was Dai's use of a letter of 
introduction signed by Huyen during Dai's recent trip to the 
United States.  Dai reportedly used this letter to develop a 
relationship with Boat People SOS and other Viet Kieu 
organizations, and as credentials for his meetings with USG 
officials and with NED.  Huyen never intended to give Dai any 
such entree in the United States by signing such a document, 
said Vinh. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
HANOI 00001535  002.8 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (S) Vinh,s suspicions track with our own and ConGen 
HCMC's concerns about Lawyer Dai.  Though he may be a 
legitimate political and religious advocate, his continued 
freedom and unhindered travel abroad is a wonder, especially 
given some of his recent "near misses" with police raids of 
DPV and other activist meetings.  There are too many stories 
of Dai leaving just before or arriving just after an MPS raid 
not to raise a few eyebrows.  Other western diplomats who 
have met with Dai often, particularly the French and 
Australians, have similar suspicions.  The British are less 
convinced that Dai is anything more than a naive neophyte on 
the dissident scene. 
 
¶7. (S) Comment Cont.: If Vinh's worst case scenario is true 
and Dai is an MPS agent provocateur, we are hard pressed to 
identify a reason for his recent visibly aggressive political 
activities, as they would seem to run counter to an operation 
to gather information on domestic and U.S.-based political 
reform and religious freedom advocates.  It may be that Dai 
has bought himself a certain amount of insurance somehow, 
possibly by reliably informing MPS of his and his associates' 
activities.  It is important to note that though Dai's 
frequent reporting on DPV activity and developments by e-mail 
to the diplomatic community has slackened over the last two 
weeks, he has continued to call attention to other human 
rights developments.  Most sensationally, on June 20, he 
published a report of the beating of several Protestants in 
Thanh Hoa on June 18 (Ref B) on the internet with the 
inclusion of graphic photographs.  This report may well be 
his most provocative act to date, given the GVN,s 
sensitivity over the issue of religious freedom as a PNTR 
vote looms in Congress and as Vietnam works to convince us to 
remove the Country of Particular Concern designation before 
the President,s visit in November.  It is hard to see how an 
agent provocateur would profit by such an action. 
 
¶8. (S) Comment Cont.: Whatever the case may be, it is likely 
the GVN knows that Dai has received NED and exile funding, 
and that he maintains a prominent position among the DPV 
leadership.  Regardless of Dai's actual allegiances, he is a 
polarizing figure and our meetings with him severely provoke 
the GVN.  Consequently, we will continue to keep a healthy 
distance from Dai for the foreseeable future. 
MARINE