VZCZCXRO2602
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0783/01 0950812
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050812Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1381
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0877
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 0001
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0338
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0081

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000783 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CODEL 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS AND H/EAP 
 
H PLEASE PASS TO THE SPEAKER'S OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OREP PHUM PGOV PREL ECON ETRD EFIN VM
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR SPEAKER HASTERT'S VISIT TO VIETNAM 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Mr. Speaker:  Your visit to Vietnam comes at an 
important time in our bilateral relationship.  Last year, 
the United States and Vietnam commemorated the tenth 
anniversary of normalized relations, the highlight of which 
was the very successful visit to the United States by Prime 
Minister Phan Van Khai.  Our two countries are engaged in 
dialogue and cooperative efforts across a broad range of 
areas, many of which were heretofore considered too 
contentious or sensitive to address.  Finally, as host of 
APEC 2006, Vietnam is preparing to hold the APEC Leaders 
Meeting in November, which will include a visit by President 
George W. Bush. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Vietnam's leaders are engaged in intense 
preparations for the Tenth Congress of the Vietnamese 
Communist Party, which will take place April 18-25.  This 
congress will be an opportunity for the Party to both 
evaluate the last 20 years of economic liberalization and 
international integration and set the nation's policies for 
the next five years.  The congress will also usher in a new 
slate of leaders, some of whom may represent more reformist 
tendencies than in the past.  Against this backdrop, a 
modest, but nonetheless refreshing, political debate is 
taking place in the press and on the internet that is 
raising questions about the role and future of the Communist 
Party.  While the primacy of the Communist Party is in no 
danger, this debate is giving the Vietnamese public a taste 
of what an open political discussion is all about, and could 
auger well for future political progress. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Vietnam has traditionally reserved the period 
immediately before the Party Congress for visits by 
Communist brethren.  (A member of the Chinese Communist 
Party's Politburo has reportedly asked to come to Hanoi next 
week as well.)  Agreeing to welcome you at this important 
and sensitive time is significant and sends a message about 
the growing importance of our bilateral relationship.  Your 
visit can amplify this by conveying to senior Vietnamese 
leaders and the public our desire to engage with Vietnam as 
a friend and partner to address mutual concerns. 
 
¶4. (SBU) There is a growing conviction among senior 
Vietnamese leaders that, in addition to being a vital source 
of financial and technical assistance and a huge market for 
Vietnamese goods, the United States represents a key 
counterpart in efforts to advance Vietnam's national 
interests, particularly in the areas of trade and 
investment.  Economic ties are central to the U.S.-Vietnam 
bilateral relationship, and Vietnam's strong desire to 
accede to the WTO this year (including receiving the 
blessing of a favorable PNTR vote) will figure heavily in 
your meetings here. 
 
¶5. (SBU) During your visit, we hope that you will: 
 
-- underscore solid U.S. support for Vietnam's 
WTO accession and encourage continued economic reform; 
 
-- suggest that our increasingly overlapping national 
interests argue for even greater cooperation and 
coordination on a number of global and regional issues of 
mutual concern, including the rise of China, HIV/AIDS and 
Avian Influenza; 
 
-- stress that Vietnam's efforts to improve its human rights 
and religious freedom situations will send an important 
message to the American people and the international 
community about Vietnam's commitment to address our 
concerns; 
 
-- and, thank the Government of Vietnam for their assistance 
in accounting for those lost during the Vietnam War and urge 
further progress. 
 
WTO Accession 
------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) At the top of Vietnam's foreign policy agenda is 
its desire to accede to the WTO prior to the APEC Leaders 
Meeting in November.  The commitment of President Bush and 
the United States to Vietnam's WTO accession remains rock- 
solid, but the deal must be on the right commercial terms. 
What remain are a number of technical issues that both 
 
HANOI 00000783  002 OF 004 
 
 
negotiating teams need to work out.  Significantly, 
Vietnam's leadership is aware that time is running out, and 
that a bilateral deal must be completed soon. 
 
Increasing Overlap of National Interests:  China 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Vietnam's leadership increasingly recognizes that 
our two countries share a number of regional and global 
interests, and this is spurring progress in bilateral ties. 
First among these is the shared interest in ensuring that 
China rises peacefully and is not allowed to dominate the 
region or regional organizations.  Although the subject of 
China may not come up directly, you may hear that Vietnam 
welcomes the role of the United States in the region and 
urges us to strengthen our relations with the Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including expanding trade 
and investment ties.  We value our partnership with ASEAN 
and its members (Burma excepted) and we look forward to 
working with these countries to address transnational issues 
of mutual concern. 
 
Health Cooperation: HIV/AIDS... 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Another area in which U.S. and Vietnamese national 
interests overlap, and where we are expanding our 
cooperative ties, is the field of health.  Vietnam is one of 
fifteen countries in President Bush's Emergency Plan for 
AIDS Relief.  Vietnam's HIV/AIDS problem is largely a drug- 
centered epidemic that is now moving into the general 
population.  We will provide Vietnam with USD 34 million in 
Fiscal Year 2006 assistance to support prevention, care and 
treatment programs to combat HIV/AIDS.  With this funding, 
U.S.-supported programs will provide an estimated 3,500 
people with ARV treatment, HIV counseling and testing for 
97,000 individuals and care for 1,500 orphans and vulnerable 
children.  In Fiscal Year 2007, our funding is expected to 
be over USD 50 million. 
 
...and Avian Influenza 
---------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Avian Influenza is an issue of critical concern, 
with the potential to trigger a global pandemic.  From 2004 
to 2006, the United States has committed USD 24 million 
through HHS, USAID and USDA to improve Vietnam's basic 
veterinary and health systems to contain Avian Influenza in 
Vietnam, where 50 million poultry have been culled, and 42 
human deaths recorded.  U.S. industry is also playing a role 
in this effort. 
 
Assistance, Bilateral Cooperation Continue to Expand 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) U.S. assistance to Vietnam is becoming as varied 
as the areas in which our two countries cooperate.  In 
addition to working with Vietnam to combat HIV/AIDS and 
Avian Influenza, other highlights of our assistance and 
cooperative programs are: 
 
-- USAID is supporting Vietnam's transition to an open 
market economy by strengthening trade liberalization, 
particularly the legal and trade reforms needed to implement 
commitments in the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement 
and WTO accession through a USD three million program. 
 
-- Our disability assistance of USD 3.5 million focuses on 
select vulnerable groups, including victims of war injuries, 
disabilities and disasters. 
 
-- We support Vietnam's counterterrorism capacity with 
police training provided by the International Law 
Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok and through military 
exchanges.  We are seeking to expand bilateral cooperation 
to combat trade in illegal narcotics.  We also support anti- 
trafficking programs run by NGOs operating at the borders of 
China and Cambodia.  Furthermore, we provide assistance in 
humanitarian demining, clearance of unexploded ordnance and 
measures to secure trade. 
 
-- Our military-to-military cooperation program with Vietnam 
is growing.  Senior leader exchanges, U.S. Navy ships visits 
 
HANOI 00000783  003 OF 004 
 
 
and bilateral military dialogues are becoming routine. 
Vietnam has entered our International Military Education 
Training (IMET) program that will not only provide English 
language training to Vietnamese military officers, but also 
will expose them to our professional and cultural values. 
These developments will foster our ability to cooperate in 
humanitarian and other peacekeeping operations.  It is 
positive for both our bilateral relationship and for 
regional stability as well. 
 
-- Finally, through a combination of Fulbright grants and 
the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF), the United States 
sponsors over 100 students yearly for graduate study in the 
United States, primarily in science and technology.  The 
Fulbright program is the largest in Asia.  The VEF was 
established with the unpaid proceeds of loans extended to 
the old South Vietnamese government.  FY 2005 assistance 
under the Fulbright Program and the VEF was USD ten million. 
 
U.S. Firms Can Help Improve Infrastructure 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶11. (SBU) Vietnam's need to modernize and improve its 
infrastructure creates opportunities for U.S. firms. 
The quality and cost of Vietnam's telecom, ports, 
transportation, waste management and supply of fresh water 
are a concern for any investor.  The foundation of the 
information highway is a competitive telecommunications 
system, a glaring weakness here.  Electricity blackouts are 
also a major disincentive for any new investment.  Vietnam 
must also improve its handling of solid and industrial 
waste.  Already some manufacturing firms are putting their 
expansion plans on hold because the Port of Saigon will 
reach capacity by December 2006.  U.S. firms are actively 
pursuing contracts to address many of these needs. 
 
Religious Freedom, Human Rights, and Other Key Issues 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Vietnam remains an authoritarian, one-Party 
State with little room for political dissent, although 
recent reforms have made Vietnam a freer and more open 
society than it was as few as five years ago.  The press and 
the National Assembly (Vietnam's Congress) are increasingly 
able to take on subjects such as corruption, fraud and bad 
policymaking.  Modest efforts are underway to devolve power 
away from the Central Government and increase public 
accountability.  However, several prisoners of concern 
remain behind bars.  Although improving, the treatment of 
ethnic minorities in the Central and Northwest Highlands 
remains a concern to the USG. 
 
¶13. (SBU) The religious freedom picture in Vietnam is 
improving in significant ways, but problems remain. 
Although Vietnam has promulgated several important new 
policies on religion designed to facilitate religious 
practice, consistent, nationwide implementation remains 
problematic.  The Vietnamese are keenly interested in being 
removed from the list of Countries of Particular Concern 
(CPC) for religious freedom violations, and will likely 
argue that their efforts over the past year to advance 
religious freedom merit the lifting of the CPC designation. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Other key issues include the fullest possible 
accounting for our men lost during the Vietnam War and Agent 
Orange.  Vietnamese cooperation on the MIA issue remains 
solid. This year we resumed joint recovery field activities 
in the Central Highlands, and now are working out details to 
gain both greater and new access to archival records that 
may help our work to resolve the 1,382 remaining cases of 
those lost during the war era.  Conversely, with little or 
no scientific evidence, the Government and media routinely 
depict virtually all of Vietnam's 1.8 million disabled as 
"victims of Agent Orange."  We do not accept that label, but 
since 1991, the United States has provided over USD 32 
million to address the problems of the disabled here and we 
continue to look for ways to help address the dioxin 
contamination problem. 
 
15 (SBU) I and my Country Team are looking forward to your 
visit.  We stand ready to do anything we can to make your 
time in Vietnam as productive as possible. 
 
 
HANOI 00000783  004 OF 004 
 
 
MARINE