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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 001320 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EAP/MLS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2016 
TAGS: HUMANR PHUM PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAMESE DISSIDENTS ANNOUNCING A NEW PARTY; 
SECURITY WEIGHING OPTIONS 
 
REF: A. HCMC 412 
     ¶B. HCMC 318 
 
HANOI 00001320  001.4 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: Charge D'Affairs John Boardman. Reason 1.4 (b, d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: On May 29, a meeting convened by prominent 
Hanoi dissident Hoang Minh Chinh to prepare documents in 
advance of a planned June 1 declaration of the 
re-establishment of the Democracy Party of Vietnam (DPV), was 
raided by police.  A member of the new party called a public 
meeting with western diplomats to call attention to this 
event and to announce that the DPV will proceed with plans to 
declare themselves to the world via an internet center in 
California.  Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officers 
informed us that they are well aware of the DPV's activities 
and plan to take a "wait-and-see" approach to the dissidents 
so long as the international community does not actively 
support them.  Meanwhile, other political dissidents continue 
to press their message domestically and using overseas 
Internet websites.  The GVN understands that the next two 
months are critical for maintaining Vietnam,s reputation on 
human rights in order to finesse PNTR through congress.  Up 
to this point, GVN officials have chosen not to respond 
forcefully to dissident activity.  The dissident community 
believes that Hanoi is reluctant to act and is pushing the 
envelope accordingly.  The organizers of the DPV have timed 
their move to force the GVN to either tacitly allow them to 
organize their party or to crack down at a time when Vietnam 
is trying to show its best face to the world, particularly to 
the United States. End Summary. 
 
Raid of the Meeting at Hoang Minh Chinh's 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) On May 29, Vietnamese Human Rights Lawyer Nguyen Van 
Dai sent a broadcast e-mail message to western diplomats 
requesting a meeting to discuss recent police harassment of 
Hanoi dissidents.  The meeting was held May 30 with British, 
EC, French and Australian diplomats.  Embassy Poloff also 
attended.  In addition to Dai, Nguyen Phuong Anh, Luong Duy 
Phuong, Pham Sy Nguyen and Bach Ngoc Duong also attended. 
The meeting occurred in a cafe in a public mall and was 
closely watched, videotaped and audio recorded by 
plainclothes MPS officers. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Dai reiterated his e-mail allegations as follows. 
On Saturday, May 27, Dai, writer Hoang Tien, Professor Tran 
Khue, and Chinh met at Chinh,s home to discuss his plans to 
declare on 1 June that the DPV is re-established. (Note: 
According to Dai, the DPV existed from 1946 until it was shut 
down by the GVN in 1988. Chinh was General Secretary of the 
DPV despite serving as an expert in Marxist ideology for the 
state during this period.  End Note.)  The participants 
primarily discussed Chinh's draft by-laws for the 
reconstituted party from 4 p.m. until they adjourned at 7 
o'clock.  After the meeting, Tran Khue and Hoang Tien were 
planning to remain at Chinh's residence while Dai went home. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Dai reiterated that as the housekeeper opened the 
gate to Chinh's home, police and MPS officers rushed into the 
house and attempted to confiscate all of the party documents 
in Chinh's desk.  Dai was not stopped as he exited and 
returned safely home.  Dai said the police questioned Chinh 
who claimed that he was the sole author of the party 
documents.  The police wrote up a report and asked Chinh to 
sign it (NFI) and then took Tran Khue and Hoang Tien to Hang 
Bai Precinct station.  Khue and Tien were detained until one 
o'clock in the morning. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In a separate conversation with Khue, the political 
activist confirmed Dai's recounting of the breakup of the DPV 
meeting.  Khue noted that police were "extremely mild and 
respectful" to him during his interview session.  Police 
probed and Khue told them of the intention to resurrect the 
DPV.  According to Khue, the police said that "it was not a 
suitable time" to revive the DPV.  Khue rejoindered that 
political pluralism is a historical trend that Vietnam cannot 
avoid.  Khue plans to return to HCMC on June 2. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Dai confirmed that he was also called in by the 
police to visit Hang Bai station while the others were 
detained.  The police questioned Dai about the documents and 
he told them that he helped draft the party's by-laws.  The 
 
HANOI 00001320  002.4 OF 004 
 
 
police asked Dai to allow them to check his computer the 
following day.  Dai was released at 11:50 that night. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Dai confirmed that the morning of May 28, Khue, Tien 
and another dissident named Tran Anh Kim (who reportedly 
arrived in Hanoi from Thai Binh Province that morning) had 
lunch together at Thang Long restaurant in central Hanoi.  As 
they were leaving the cafe, police forcibly took Kim to a 
nearby police station and detained him for four hours.  Tran 
Khue subsequently told us that the police first told Kim that 
there were criminal charges against him, but once in police 
custody they questioned him exclusively about the DPV. 
Police finally bought a bus ticket for Kim to return to Thai 
Binh province and made him return immediately. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Dai reiterated that in the afternoon of May 28, six 
police searched Dai's office and found the DPV by-laws on the 
hard drive of his laptop computer.  On leaving, the police 
told him that they will "continue to work with him in the 
days to come." 
 
Democratic Party of Vietnam Plans 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) Dai reported that since he sent the e-mail on May 29, 
the Deputy Hanoi Police Director, Nguyen Van Sy, called him 
in to warn that if Dai continues to help Chinh and Khue 
re-establish the DPV, the police will arrest him. 
Nevertheless, Dai intends to keep working for the party.  He 
said that Chinh will declare the re-foundation of the party 
on June 1.  Twenty members of the party will be officially 
recognized, with the remaining membership kept secret for the 
time being.  An oral declaration will be transmitted to an 
information center set up by Vietnamese political groups in 
California (NFI) and then retransmitted to Vietnam and to the 
world press by the center.  The DPV plans to "bombard" 
Vietnamese information outlets with the declaration, he said. 
 
 
¶10. (C) Dai said that the DPV will wait ten days to gauge the 
GVN's reaction to the re-declaration of the party after which 
Khue (now officially declared as Deputy General Secretary of 
the party) will establish a party office in Ho Chi Minh City. 
 In addition, another secret political party known as the 
Bach Viet Democracy Party, founded by Nguyen Phuong Anh on 
May 9, plans to join together with the DPV.  Anh explained 
that his party is aimed at establishing a democratic and 
prosperous Vietnam.  The name Bach Viet is a reference to the 
traditional hundred tribes which ruled ancient Vietnam 
together (NFI), thus suggesting that power should be shared 
by more than one political party.  Anh refused to provide any 
more details about the membership or activities of his party, 
except to say that virtually all of the party's organization 
and work has occurred online and through e-mail.  "The 
international community will hear all about us very soon," he 
predicted. 
 
Initial Reaction from Ministry of Public Security 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶11. (C) Poloff met May 31 with three members of the MPS's 
General Department of Security (GDS).  This meeting was 
scheduled before the meeting on May 30.  These officers are 
plainclothes agents known as the "political police" and they 
handle political crimes as well as 
intelligence/counterintelligence against foreign missions. 
They also monitor the overseas Vietnamese community. 
 
¶12. (C) Deputy Director of the GDS Nguyen The Cong was 
completely familiar with the participants and subject matter 
of the previous evening's meeting and told Poloff that the 
DPV and its leaders are very well known to the GDS.  The GDS 
has been monitoring this group,s activities for a very long 
time, Cong said, and has refrained from taking any action 
beyond warning them not to break the law.  "We have tried to 
avoid a situation with international significance," Cong said. 
 
¶13. (C) Cong noted pointedly that the group's members, and 
Dai in particular, had greatly intensified their political 
activities after returning from the United States.  It 
appears, he said, that the United States is either 
encouraging or supporting the creation of illegal political 
organizations in Vietnam. (Note: Dai recently confirmed to 
Poloff that he received USD 20,000 - 30,000 National 
 
HANOI 00001320  003.4 OF 004 
 
 
Endowment for Democracy funding on a recent visit to the 
United States.  He is using this money to fund training for 
other Human Rights lawyers; e.g. Luong Duy Phuong noted 
above. Poloff did not/not mention this to the MPS. End Note). 
 
¶14. (C) Poloff asked Cong what MPS response to the group will 
be.  Cong answered that the MPS response will depend on the 
concrete activities of the group, and, especially, the 
involvement of the international community.  If the group 
appears to be receiving material or political assistance from 
another country, particularly the United States, it will 
increase the severity of the issue "greatly," he said.  At 
the moment, the GDS is pursuing a "wait-and-see" approach 
towards the group, though Cong acknowledged that some of the 
group's members have been formally warned by the police that 
they are breaking the law and risking arrest. 
 
¶15. (C) Cong said MPS has a range of actions it may take in 
response to the DPV's illegal activity.  At the highest 
level, he said, the members of the group could all be 
arrested.  "We do not prefer this option," Cong explained, 
"because for one thing it leaves us with no other further 
options, and for another it would create problems with the 
international community.  Other options include house arrest 
for some or all of the group's leaders (an option, Cong said, 
that would specifically preclude any of the group's leaders 
from meeting with foreigners) and more formal warnings. 
"What we do will depend on the concrete actions the group 
takes, and on the actions the international community takes." 
 U.S. support for the group would trigger action against its 
members, Cong said.  He defined "support" as including 
financial or material support, training or other assistance 
to the group,s members, and public endorsements of the 
group's activities or purpose. 
 
¶16. (C) "We understand the situation in terms of bilateral 
relations," Cong said, "and we have no desire to complicate 
things.  This is why we have allowed these people to carry on 
their secret illegal activities for so long without arresting 
or imprisoning them."  However, he cautioned, the GDS has its 
own domestic political equities to consider, and if the group 
pushes too far, or involves foreign support, it will create 
irresistible pressure on the GDS to act.  He vowed that GDS' 
response to the group will be as measured as possible, and 
implored Poloff to prevent the group or anyone in the United 
States from escalating the situation to the point where GDS 
would be forced to make arrests. 
 
Other Dissidents Also Pushing Hard 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) In parallel to the DPV, other political dissidents 
continue to press their message domestically and in overseas 
Internet websites.  HCMC-based dissident Do Nam Hai (aka 
Phuong Nam) and Hue-based Father Nguyen Van Ly created the 
"8406 group," named for the April 8, 2006 "Declaration on 
Democracy and Freedom for Vietnam" that the two men 
co-authored.  The "Declaration on Democracy" was originally 
signed by 118 Vietnamese activists, largely from HCMC, Hue 
and Hanoi.  Father Ly has been very active in collecting 
additional signatures domestically; the latest iteration has 
463 names, some from provinces such as Thai Binh or Hai 
Duong, areas that have not seen recent dissident activity. 
Some figures in the HCMC Protestant house church community 
have joined the 8406 Group, including Mennonite Pastor Nguyen 
Hong Quang and his wife and Pastor Tran Mai, head of the 
Inter-Evangelistic Movement church.  Separately, Father Chan 
Tin continues to publish a bi-weekly web-based magazine with 
essays and news from domestic and overseas political 
activists entitled "Freedom of Speech," which was launched in 
April. 
 
¶18. (C) The upsurge in activity appears to have exposed 
fissures in approach and philosophy within the dissident 
community.  Tran Khue did not sign the "Declaration on 
Democracy," and instead issued his own manifesto on the 
Internet.  Father Ly subsequently criticized Khue for taking 
too mild a position vis-a-vis the Communist Party, 
particularly for acknowledging that the CPV could reform 
gradually.  Prominent HCMC dissident Nguyen Dan Que has not 
yet openly contributed to the flow of dissident materials on 
the web; Do Nam Hai told us that Que opted out of signing the 
"Declaration on Democracy," or a related document "the Appeal 
of Democratic Activists" that Hai issued on April 6.  Que is 
 
HANOI 00001320  004.4 OF 004 
 
 
aware of the activities of the DPV organizers, however.  Que 
has an active ADSL connection at home, although his landline 
phone remains cut.  MPS maintains that Que's phone problems 
are technical, not political. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶19. (C) If Chinh and his associates move ahead as planned and 
declare their party on June 1, the GVN will be placed in a 
difficult position.  Hanoi understands that the next two 
months are critical for maintaining Vietnam's reputation on 
human rights in order to secure congressional approval of 
Permanent Normal Trading Relations for Vietnam and thus 
complete Vietnam's eligibility for WTO entry.  Up to this 
point, GVN officials have chosen not to respond forcefully to 
dissident activity.  Although the warning he received was 
clear, Khue was treated with kid gloves in his police 
interview in Hanoi.  Father Ly's organizing activity in 
central Vietnam for the 8406 Group is unprecedented in recent 
memory, and Do Nam Hai shrugged off earlier police warnings 
in March and remains very active in HCMC.  The dissident 
community seems to believe that Hanoi is reluctant to act and 
is taking advantage of this to push the envelope.  In this 
regard, the organizers of the DPV have timed their move to 
force the GVN to either tacitly allow them to organize their 
party or to crack down at an awkward time (with Vietnam just 
having signed its WTO bilateral with the United States at the 
APEC Trade Ministerial in HCMC).  One thing seems clear: the 
DPV likely will make a splash and the USG should consider its 
appropriate reaction very carefully. 
BOARDMAN