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RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
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FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
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INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0888
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000791 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL CVR VM
SUBJECT:  SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN FOREIGN POLICY UNLIKELY AT 
VIETNAM'S PARTY CONGRESS 
 
Ref: Hanoi 30 
 
HANOI 00000791  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Vietnam's foreign policy evolution, a 
gradual process, is not likely to see any sharp changes or 
surprises at the upcoming 10th Party Congress.  Instead, we 
will see an elaboration of existing policy, with efforts to 
improve relations with neighboring countries (ASEAN), 
maintain balance in the relationship among Vietnam, China 
and the United States and increase Vietnam's participation 
in international and multilateral diplomacy.  Over time, the 
most remarkable development has been the change towards 
foreign policy pragmatism in leadership thinking and away 
from Communist dogma.  End Summary. 
 
Background on Vietnam's Foreign Policy Evolution 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Over the last twenty years, Vietnam's foreign 
policy has reflected the "evolving progressive thinking" of 
Vietnam's leadership as the country has passed rapidly 
through different periods of political development, 
according to Ta Minh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Center for 
European and American Studies at the Institute for 
International Relations (IIR), the leading training and 
research academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). 
Vietnam initiated its "Doi Moi" (renovation) policy during 
the 6th Party Congress in 1986, where it focused primarily 
on relations with the former Soviet Union and considered 
that nation the cornerstone of Vietnam's foreign policy. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Two years later, the Politburo adjusted the 
country's foreign policy to respond to the "new situation" 
emerging from the 1986 decision to liberalize the domestic 
economy, shifting away from a dogmatic alliance with the 
Soviet Union and towards a new policy of "more friends and 
fewer enemies."  During this period, the policy was to co- 
exist in peace with China, ASEAN and the United States.  At 
the 7th Party Congress in 1991, Vietnam again shifted its 
focus, this time to consolidating its relations with Laos 
and Cambodia and speeding up normalization with China.  Five 
years later, at the 8th Party Congress, Vietnam reaffirmed 
that it sought to strengthen relations with its neighbors, 
ASEAN members and "traditional friends."  Not until 2001, at 
the 9th Congress, did the Government of Vietnam announce its 
current foreign policy, which the Party calls "independent 
and self-reliant diversification and multi-lateralization of 
international relations," and which the Vietnamese man-on- 
the-street calls the "friends with everyone" policy. 
 
¶4. (SBU) This evolution of Vietnamese foreign policy from 
lockstep agreement with the Soviet Union to the current 
"friends with everyone" policy reflects pragmatism in the 
GVN leadership and a desire to integrate Vietnam 
internationally, in contrast to a policy based on adherence 
to international Communist doctrine, according to Dr. Nguyen 
Thi Mai Hoa, an expert at the Communist Party History 
Journal, a monthly publication of the Ho Chi Minh Political 
Academy, the Party's top think tank. 
 
10th Party Congress: An Opportunity to Reaffirm and Develop 
Existing Foreign Policy 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The 10th Party Congress will "reaffirm and deepen 
the country's strongly supported foreign policy," Ta Anh 
Tuan said.  Vietnam's current motto is "Vietnam wants to be 
a friend and reliable partner with all nations in the 
international community, striving for peace, independence 
and development," he explained.  The Foreign Ministry was 
confident enough that Vietnam's foreign policy will stay 
consistent that Foreign Minister Nguyen Dzy Nien provided a 
foreign policy forecast for 2006 during February's Lunar New 
Year celebrations.  He said Vietnam will focus on four 
areas, including:  (1) the continued development, on the 
basis of equality and mutual benefit, of stable and long- 
term relations with "neighbors and great powers;" (2) 
enhanced efforts for international integration and accession 
to WTO; (3) the successful hosting of APEC; and, (4) 
continued implementation of the Government's Resolution 36 
concerning building relations with overseas Vietnamese. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Separately, Nguyen Thiet Son, Director of the 
Institute of American Studies (IAS), and Colonel Tran Nhung, 
former foreign affairs editor of Quan Doi Nhan Dan 
("People's Army") Newspaper, explained to us that, with the 
Government's foreign policy "not open to debate," the 10th 
Party Congress will serve only to reaffirm its continuity, 
 
HANOI 00000791  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
rather than creating any unexpected reversals.  The draft 
Political Report of the 10th Congress pledges that Vietnam 
will "expand its consistent foreign policy in the format of 
diversification and multi-lateralization of relations, which 
was first introduced during the 7th National Party Congress 
in 1991" (reftel).  According to the Political Report, the 
mission of Vietnam's foreign policy is to maintain peace and 
stability.  This means that Vietnam has to create and 
maintain peace and stability not only with China, but also 
with Laos and Cambodia to ensure a buffer zone for the 
country, according to Ta Minh Tuan from IIR.  "People tend 
to underestimate Laos and Cambodia as small countries, but 
they are vital for a stable Vietnam," Tuan added. 
 
The GVN's Foreign Policy Priorities in 2006 and Beyond: 
Consolidate Regional Relations; Balance China and the United 
States; Elevate Vietnam's International Standing 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Vietnamese leaders love their proverbs.  Explaining 
that, in spite of its "friends with everyone" policy, 
Vietnam still has to prioritize its efforts, Deputy Prime 
Minister Vu Khoan said in a press article in Nhan Dan 
("People's Daily") Newspaper on November 14, 2005 that 
"nearby neighbors are even more valuable than far away 
relatives."  Vietnam, he explained, attaches importance in 
its current foreign policy to building and consolidating its 
relations with neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, and 
those in the Asia-Pacific region.  Regardless of what the 
10th Party Congress affirms or doesn't affirm, Vietnam will 
have to balance and enhance its relations with China and the 
United States among others, multiple senior sources 
confirmed. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Vietnam understands that "the grass suffers when 
the elephants fight," and so it requires tough calculations 
for Vietnam to masterfully balance its relations with both 
China and the United States, according to IIR DDG Dr. Hoang 
Anh Tuan.  However, Nguyen Thiet Son from IAS said 
separately that in the short to medium term, there will 
likely be more "breakthroughs" in U.S.-Vietnam relations 
than in China-Vietnam relations.  History has taught Vietnam 
enough about "not getting too close or too far with China," 
said the researcher.  There is a lot more room for progress 
in U.S.-Vietnam relations in the future, he added. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Another priority is to "elevate Vietnam's image and 
position" in the international arena, according to according 
to Nguyen Quoc Dung, a senior MFA officer now attached to 
the APEC Secretariat.  To do this, he said, Vietnam will 
have to prove that it is not only a reliable partner, "but 
also an active and responsible member of the international 
community."  A successful APEC would be good evidence, he 
noted.  In an interview with Ha Noi Moi ("New Hanoi") 
newspaper, Foreign Minister Nien said that Vietnam's WTO 
accession, its hosting APEC and its candidacy for non- 
permanent membership in the 2008-2009 UN Security Council 
are all designed to elevate Vietnam's international 
position. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Vietnam is a highly stable and predictable 
political environment where sudden, arbitrary changes in 
foreign policy are unlikely.  Vietnamese leaders like to do 
things incrementally, and so any moves are likely to be 
gradual.  Traditionally, Party congresses in Vietnam are 
opportunities for changes in domestic issues like personnel 
or economic development policy, and changes in foreign 
policy are necessarily derivatives of those issues.  For the 
immediate future, Vietnam's foreign policy experts expect 
that Vietnam will want to do more with the United States, 
thus tying its foreign policy decisions to its national 
economic interests.  End Comment. 
 
MARINE