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RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060653Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0659
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0432
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000243 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND EB/TPP/BTA/ANA 
STATE PASS USTR FOR EBRYAN AND GHICKS 
USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
TREASURY FOR OASIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EINV WTRO PREL PGOV TBIO VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM: ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL'S CALL ON 
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER VU KHOAN 
 
 
HANOI 00000243  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and Introduction:  On January 13, 
Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill met with Deputy 
Prime Minister Vu Khoan.  The Deputy Prime Minister 
laid out a roadmap of five steps to prepare for the 
visit of President Bush in November:  work to close 
bilateral WTO market access negotiations in the first 
quarter, set up a political consultative mechanism to 
oversee preparations, review deliverables, expand 
humanitarian cooperation and settle outstanding issues 
such as the Country of Particular Concern (CPC) 
designation.  Assistant Secretary Hill suggested that 
Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang direct the 
consultations, called for conclusion of the WTO talks, 
expressed the desire to discuss regional issues and 
noted that APEC issues would also need to be included. 
A/S Hill said he would return to Hanoi in the spring to 
continue preparations for the President's visit.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) EAP Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill, 
accompanied by Ambassador Marine, met with Deputy Prime 
Minister Vu Khoan on January 13.  Vietnam's Assistant 
Minister for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Nguyen Duc Hung 
also attended.  Expressing satisfaction with the 
development of bilateral relations, A/S Hill 
congratulated the DPM on Vietnam's economic 
achievements.  The DPM concurred with A/S Hill's 
assessment that relations are going well, but pointed 
out that there is more to do.  Remarking that Vietnam 
will host APEC in 2006, he said that he was pleased 
that President Bush would come to Vietnam.  Prime 
Minister Phan Van Khai's visit to Washington last year 
had been a great success and a high mark in bilateral 
relations.  It is therefore important to maintain this 
momentum in the run-up to the President's visit to 
ensure that relations will move to a higher level. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Since the focus of the 2006 relationship would 
be preparations for President Bush's visit, Vu Khoan 
enumerated a roadmap of five concrete steps. 
Vietnam's top priority is concluding the bilateral WTO 
negotiations.  Pleased that the U.S. team will come to 
Vietnam next week, DPM Khoan noted that these 
negotiations are not only important to Vietnam, but are 
in the best interest of promoting bilateral relations. 
For this reason Vietnam's team had been instructed to 
do its utmost to conclude the negotiations early.  The 
two negotiating teams will hopefully bear in mind that 
Vietnam is ready to go further within the framework of 
current WTO rules, especially with respect to its level 
of development, but Vietnam hopes that the U.S. team 
will not seek to impose conditions from Free Trade 
Agreements or the unconcluded Doha Round.  The DPM 
clarified that he does not intend to shirk any existing 
WTO rules, but to avoid future possible rules, he 
stressed.  Completing the bilateral negotiations in the 
first quarter of this year would be very good. 
 
¶4. (SBU) To prepare for the President's visit, the 
Deputy Prime Minister issued another call for the 
bilateral political consultations that the Prime 
Minister had proposed in June in Washington.  Such 
consultations could take place in Hanoi or Washington 
at a level subject to agreement by both sides.  The two 
countries would need to review which agreements could 
be concluded during the President's visit, such as the 
bilateral maritime agreement reached in principle in 
December 2005.  On humanitarian issues, the DPM 
expressed satisfaction with bilateral cooperation on 
POW/MIA accounting and HIV-AIDS.  Vietnam welcomes U.S. 
support on avian influenza and hopes for even more 
cooperation in this area.  It is important to clear up 
any outstanding issues prior to the President's visit, 
such as Vietnam's designation as a Country of 
Particular Concern.  Vietnam is prepared to discuss 
this matter in order to find a solution.  While there 
are other issues, these are the ones needing attention 
 
HANOI 00000243  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
before November, the DPM emphasized.  Exchanges between 
legislators is another way to boost relations.  People- 
to-people ties are also important.  DPM Khoan expressed 
his desire to work closely with the Assistant Secretary 
and the Ambassador to prepare for President Bush's trip 
to Vietnam.  Cooperation with the United States is 
necessary for the APEC Summit to be successful, he 
concluded. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Observing that 2005 had been a very busy year, 
A/S Hill said that there is potential for a rich 
harvest in 2006, but there is much work to do.  On WTO 
accession, the U.S. side would also be giving some 
clear instructions to the U.S. negotiating team. 
Success in the coming week is important and critical in 
the next few weeks because this is a Congressional 
election year.  The bilateral WTO agreement will be of 
great importance to U.S. firms as well as to Vietnamese 
firms.  Trade has risen dramatically since the 
Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) took effect and 
investment is also rising.  A/S Hill called on the DPM 
to help make the negotiations for the bilateral 
agreement move forward.  He voiced support for the 
DPM's proposal for a systematic review of bilateral 
relations and suggested that MFA Vice Minister Le Van 
Bang head the GVN delegation.  The review would need to 
cover bilateral issues, APEC issues and regional 
concerns.  A/S Hill also praised Vietnam's rapid 
economic growth rate and its efforts on AI. 
 
Regional Issues 
--------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) DPM Khoan said that regional issues are of 
great importance.  Some regional developments had not 
been seen in the previous century, such as the rise of 
China.  Vietnam and its neighbors pay a lot of 
attention to their relations with China.  New forums 
such as the East Asia Summit are emerging.  Relations 
between China and Japan were also important.  While 
both are Vietnam's friends, sometimes it is torn 
between them on issues such as UN Security Council 
enlargement.  New developments in the region require 
new attitudes.  Given such important changes, the U.S. 
role is key.  More attention from the United States is 
important; otherwise, other players will fill the 
vacuum. 
 
¶7. (SBU) A/S Hill pledged to pay greater attention to 
ASEAN and said that Secretary Rice will attend the next 
ASEAN Regional Forum in the Philippines.  The United 
States wants to work with China and Japan, but not to 
compete with them.  Relations with China are good, but 
the rising trade surplus is unsustainable.  Laid-off 
U.S. workers tend to blame China for their job losses, 
even those resulting from exports from other countries. 
On the East Asia Summit, A/S Hill expressed the desire 
for the EAS to be open and transparent so that no one 
concludes it is meant to exclude other countries.  He 
expressed concern about Burma, which he termed "in 
another world."  On Cambodia, the United States is 
concerned about Hun Sen's recent decisions to arrest 
government critics.  The many tough issues before us 
will require much hard work in 2006. 
 
Human Right and Religious Freedom, CPC 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) A/S Hill pressed for the DPM to work to make 
the upcoming visit of DRL A/S Lowenkron successful 
following the model of the successful visit by 
Congressman Chris Smith.  More progress on human rights 
and religious freedom is necessary.  The United States 
wants to resolve these issues so as not to burden the 
bilateral relationship. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The DPM noted that it had not been easy to 
allow (elderly dissident) Hoang Minh Chinh to go to the 
United States for medical treatment and expressed 
 
HANOI 00000243  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
concern about Chinh's public criticism of Vietnam. 
This cannot be allowed, he said.  He expressed 
willingness to have a dialogue about these issues, 
noting that Vietnam does not want them to become an 
obstacle to the larger relationship.  A/S Hill 
responded that openness made Vietnam look stronger and 
more confident. 
 
¶10. (SBU) A/S Hill said that he would be back in the 
spring to work on the preparations for the President's 
trip.  The American people's impression of Vietnam is 
very positive, and this is good for investment as 
American firms take note of their customers' views. 
Vietnam's economy is a rising star, one in which U.S. 
firms want to participate.  Concluding, the DPM said he 
is pleased that the United States will have a new 
embassy in Hanoi. 
 
¶11. (U) Participants: 
 
United States 
------------- 
 
Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill 
Ambassador Michael W. Marine 
EAP Special Assistant Kamala Lakhdhir 
Pol/C Marc Knapper 
Econ/C Sam Watson (notetaker) 
 
Vietnam 
------- 
 
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan 
Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Duc Hung 
Americas Department Deputy Director Nguyen Anh Dzung 
U.S. Desk Officer Lai Thai Binh 
 
¶12. (U) A/S Hill has cleared this message. 
 
BOARDMAN