VZCZCXRO0148
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1888/01 2061025
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251025Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2862
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1545
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001888 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KIRF PHUM PGOV HUMANR VM
SUBJECT: Prime Minister Meets with Protestant Leaders 
 
HANOI 00001888  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
This is a joint Hanoi-HCMC report. 
 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung met July 24 with the 
leaders of Vietnam's two officially recognized Protestant churches 
to welcome their contributions to national development while 
cautioning against the use of religion for "hostile purposes." 
During the meeting, the PM reportedly promised to facilitate the 
return of confiscated properties and to ease the approval of some 
churches and congregations in the Central Highlands.  In subsequent 
public remarks, which were widely broadcast and printed here, the 
Prime Minister also applauded reported plans to merge the two 
churches, although church leaders note that the Evangelical Church 
of Vietnam North (ECVN) and Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam 
(SECV) remain far apart on several issues, including the question of 
who would lead a unified church.  While the PM publicly admonished 
local officials to effectively implement Vietnam's Ordinance on 
Religion and Belief and the Prime Minister's Instruction on 
Protestantism, he made no public reference to registering churches 
or recognizing new religious groups.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
Prime Minister Greets Protestant Leaders... 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) On July 24, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung met with 
Protestant pastors and dignitaries from the Executive Board of the 
Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) and Pastor Phung Quang 
Huyen, President of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam North (ECVN). 
In widely broadcast and printed remarks, the Prime Minister welcomed 
the contributions of Protestants to the cause of national 
development.  The GVN has always respected and ensured citizens' 
religious as well as non-religious freedom, but it would fight 
against hostile forces' attempts to take advantage of religious 
belief to undermine the country's Doi Moi (renovation) process.  The 
Prime Minister said he hopes that local authorities will effectively 
implement the Ordinance on Religion and Belief and the Prime 
Minister's Instruction on Protestantism.  Furthermore, the two 
churches should uphold their principles and mobilize their followers 
to be "vigilant" against the trickery of hostile forces that may 
attempt to divide the "great national unity."  PM Dzung also 
applauded the wish of the two churches to merge under a single 
Evangelical Church of Vietnam. 
 
...But Too Early to Talk of ECVN-SECV Merger 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Rev. Au Quang Vinh, the ECVN's General Secretary, told us 
that the SECV Executive Board members had traveled to Hanoi to pay a 
courtesy call on the Prime Minister and discuss with ECVN Executive 
Board members the issue of possibly merging the two churches under 
the same roof.  Vinh added, however, that there had been no plan for 
members of the ECVN Executive Board to join in the meeting with PM 
Dzung until the "last minute."  In fact, five of six members of the 
ECVN's Executive Board refused to go to the meeting.  However, the 
GVN's Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA) ultimately succeeded in 
persuading ECVN President Phung Quang Huyen to be present at the 
meeting, and he was joined by "an ordinary pastor." 
 
¶4. (SBU) On the subject of merging the two churches, apparently the 
CRA had "jumped the gun" in its presentation to the Prime Minister, 
Vinh continued.  There have been no formal meetings or interactions 
between the ECVN and the SECV following a resolution passed by the 
SECV General Assembly in 2005 calling on the SECV Executive Board to 
conduct discussions with the ECVN on a possible merger.  Members of 
the two executive boards were only planning to meet on July 26 for 
the first time to discuss various aspects of a possible merger. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Vinh cited "objective reasons" as well as differences 
between the two churches in predicting a long and complicated road 
to the two churches' merger.  One key objective reason, according to 
him, is the lack of a dominant leader in either the SECV or the ECVN 
to guide the two groups through their discussions.  One of the 
differences is the two organizations' disagreement on whether to 
re-establish "Protestant districts" to address requests for 
assistance from congregations that feel they have been let down by 
both the ECVN and SECV, leading to the congregations' "secession" 
from one organization or the other.  The SECV's most recent charter 
provides that provincial Protestant representative boards be 
established to deal with the issue, while ranking members of the 
ECVN believe that "Protestant districts" must be re-established. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The other issue of concern to the ECVN is that of a new, 
unified organization's leadership.  ECVN Executive Board members are 
afraid that a single executive board would be dominated by 
southerners given the overwhelming number of southern church 
members.  This in turn could hamper church efforts to reach out to 
remote, mountainous areas in the north.  (Note:  According to 
 
HANOI 00001888  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
current statistics, there are about 550,000 and 130,000 Protestants 
affiliated with the SECV and the ECVN, respectively.  End Note.) 
 
The View from the SECV 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) SECV Secretary General Le Van Thien and Chairman Thai Phuoc 
Truong told ConGenOff by phone that they are cautiously optimistic 
following the meeting with PM Dzung and a separate meeting with the 
central-level CRA.  The atmospherics in the Dzung meeting were very 
good; they hoped that it would lead to faster results.  According to 
the SECV officials, Dzung promised "in principle to return 
confiscated SECV churches and properties, but noted that the details 
needed to be worked out with the CRA.  Dzung also informed the SECV 
that "in near future" congregations and churches in Central 
Highlands will be approved faster and more transparently.  The two 
SECV leaders noted that Dzung also mentioned that he received a 
letter of congratulations from President Bush, and noted that it is 
a "good sign." 
 
¶8. (SBU) The SECV leaders said that, following their courtesy call 
with the PM, they had a longer and more substantive meeting with the 
CRA.  At that meeting, they reportedly told the CRA that the SECV 
needs "concrete actions to back up GVN promises."  The SECV leaders 
said that they presented the CRA with a detailed list of requests 
that they wished to have fulfilled by the end of 2007, but sooner if 
possible.  These included: 
 
-- Return of 217 churches and protestant properties (135 in the 
Central Highlands).  The top priority is the return of the former 
SECV headquarters in downtown HCMC, which now is being used a youth 
cultural house. 
 
-- Construction of a Theological Institute in HCMC's District 2. 
The SECV leaders said that last week, HCMC People's Committee Vice 
Chairman Nguyen Van Dua instructed the Department of Construction to 
speed up the permit process for the building, which has been pending 
for at least six months.  According to the SECV, if all approvals 
are granted, construction could begin in August. 
 
-- Unification of the SECV and ECVN.  However, the SECV leaders 
acknowledged that "certain individuals" on the ECVN Executive Board 
are resisting the merger. 
 
-- Publication of Bibles and other religious materials in five major 
ethnic languages in the Central Highlands.  According to the 
officials, former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan promised to carry 
out this request in a meeting with the SECV in early 2006, but the 
SECV has not yet seen progress. 
 
-- Accelerated approval for registration and recognition of 
congregations, pastor promotions and transfers and special events 
and celebrations. 
 
-- Opening permanent SECV training schools in eight provinces in the 
Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta. 
 
-- GVN facilitation of overseas training for SECV pastors. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) This rare show of public support for Protestantism by the 
Prime Minister so early in his tenure is welcome.  However, we would 
note that, although PM Dzung called on local authorities to 
effectively implement Vietnam's legal framework on religion, there 
was no public mention of registering new congregations or 
recognizing new religious groups.  While his call to protect 
"national unity" from "hostile forces" may be no more than the usual 
pro-forma language needed to assuage hardliners in the Communist 
Party, that excuse has been used in the past to slow the process of 
legalization of a number SECV congregations in the Central 
Highlands.  For their part, SECV officials almost certainly 
recognize that some elements of the SECV "wish list," particularly 
the rapid return of a large number of properties, are unrealistic; 
return of some key properties in HCMC and other locations (such as 
the former SECV seminary in Nha Trang) probably would suffice for 
the near term.  The SECV also understands that it must overcome 
opposition from the ECVN to a merger before it can realistically 
press this demand -- allowable under Vietnam's legal framework -- 
with the GVN.  End Comment. 
 
MARINE