VZCZCXRO7163
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #2399/01 2621039
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191039Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3432
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 1831
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 HANOI 002399 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PREL PGOV VM
SUBJECT: COMMITTEE FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS UPDATES DCM ON RELIGIOUS 
DEVELOPMENTS 
 
REF: A) HANOI 2245; B) HCMC 1534; C) HCMC 987; D) HANOI 1466 
 
HANOI 00002399  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) On September 15, Chairman Ngo Yen Thi of the GVN's 
Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) briefed the DCM on recent 
religious freedom developments in Vietnam.  The CRA reports that 
eighteen congregations have been chosen in five out of 19 northern 
provinces for "pilot registration."  These successful registrations 
will be described to local officials from throughout the north as 
positive examples of acceptance of religion at a large CRA-organized 
meeting in September.  According to Chairman Thi, the registration 
process in the north will likely speed up following this meeting, as 
happened in the Central Highlands in 2006.  He cited local 
officials' ignorance about religion and the failure of northern 
Protestant leaders to engage with officials and believers at the 
local level for the need for this step-by-step approach.  Thi stated 
that northern Protestant leaders did not have direct contact with 
even the 150 "mature" congregations on a list presented to 
government officials.  He blamed municipal authorities for the lack 
of progress in opening a Bible school in Hanoi.  We will raise the 
issue of the Hanoi land-use certificate with the appropriate city 
authorities. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary and Comment, cont'd:  The CRA has not officially 
established a central point of contact for Protestants to raise 
their problems with the GVN, but one well-connected pastor reports 
that a back channel point of contact for Protestants may have been 
created within the Ministry of Public Security.  The news that CRA 
is moving ahead with 18 pilot registrations is welcome and would 
constitute more than a doubling of registered northern churches, if 
true, although Protestants in Hanoi have not been able to confirm 
the news.  They will to attempt to confirm these registrations 
directly with the respective house church leaders.  For their part, 
the Protestants report that they recently acquired a copy of CRA's 
policy on northern Protestantism, which explicitly recognizes the 
faith (a step forward) though it instructs local officials to 
encourage some ethnic minority believers to return to traditional 
beliefs.  Nevertheless, all Protestant congregations across the 
north are able to gather for worship regularly and do not report any 
official harassment. End Summary and Comment. 
 
Protestant Registrations 
------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) The DCM met with CRA Chairman Ngo Yen Thi on September 15 
to follow up on Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang's recent letter to 
U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom John 
Hanford detailing religious freedom developments in Vietnam.  Thi 
noted that the CRA had received the list of 150 "mature" (and hence 
easily registered) H'Mong house church congregations in nine 
Northwest provinces identified by the Evangelical Church of Vietnam 
North (ECVN) (Ref A - Paragraph 3).  The CRA has been seeking to 
verify the existence of these congregations with the respective 
provincial authorities.  This is proving difficult because of the 
remoteness of most of the congregations, as well as local officials' 
confusion over which organizations the Protestants are actually 
affiliated with, i.e., the ECVN, the Baptists, the 7th Day 
Adventists, the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) and so 
on. The provincial officials are also attempting to gather 
information from each of the identified congregations confirming 
their leadership and number of adherents, he said. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Thi explained that the CRA decided to move ahead with 
eighteen pilot registrations in five provinces in the north (Ref A). 
 Even these proved labor-intensive and time-consuming, according to 
Thi, as a CRA official must travel to the respective locality in 
order to familiarize local officials and local Protestants with the 
registration procedures for each registration.  The CRA plans to 
highlight these registrations to "prove to northern officials that 
Protestantism is purely a religious phenomenon" (rather than a 
separatist movement).  The CRA will convene a meeting in late 
September with officials from all of the northern provinces. 
Representatives of the five provinces with pilot registrations will 
present reports on their successes in registering Protestant groups 
so that "the others will understand and will build" on the pilot 
experiences to help their own Protestant residents to register.  Thi 
also noted that the CRA is using radio and pamphlets to educate 
local Protestants (and local officials) about the registration 
process, though not every community in the mountainous areas can 
receive radio broadcasts. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Thi stated that the CRA's plan for northern Vietnam is 
designed to replicate its successful experience in the Central 
Highlands last year.  During 2005, CRA officers had to persuade 
local officials (provincial, district and commune level) that, 
"though there are bad people among the believers, most believers are 
 
HANOI 00002399  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
good and should be allowed to register."  Once this was achieved, 
the Central Highlands registration process sped up significantly. 
Today, there are 700 registered meeting points and 63 registered 
full-blown congregations in the Central Highlands, with 14 churches 
built or under construction, Thi added.  However, he acknowledged 
that though the CRA expects that after the September meeting of 
provincial officials there will be a strong increase in 
registrations in the north, the process will still likely be slower 
than occurred in the Central Highlands. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Thi asserted that the main reason the CRA expects slower 
registration is that the ECVN "is currently not as involved" with 
local congregations and local officials as the SECV was in the 
Central Highlands last year.  The ECVN executive board members do 
not go to the provinces to train house church leaders; they just 
stay in Hanoi, he complained.  (Note:  ECVN leaders have told us 
before that they repeatedly have requested, and been denied, 
permission to travel to the provinces to engage local leaders and 
local Protestants in discussion about registration and other matters 
concerning the local house churches.  In general, this permission 
would be granted by provincial officials, not by central authorities 
based in Hanoi.  End Note.) 
 
Seminaries 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The DCM noted that ECVN complains that the CRA cites lack 
of trained pastors and poor penetration of ECVN into the mountains 
of the north, yet had failed to grant ECVN permission to build a 
Bible school in Hanoi on the ECVN Hanoi Church property to train 
church leaders.  Thi replied by noting that the SECV recently 
convened three training courses for pastors in Ho Chi Minh City and 
also recently received a piece of land for a new bible school (Ref 
C).  When pressed, Thi stated that the CRA hopes to replicate this 
success with the ECVN in Hanoi, but the process for approving the 
new Bible school has been slow because: (a) the ECVN does not have 
enough trained pastors to teach new church leaders, but also 
because: (b) the Hanoi authorities have been slow to approve the 
land use certificate for the church property. 
 
Point of Contact for Protestants with Problems 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The DCM asked if CRA has established a single point of 
contact for Protestants who have problems with registration to 
inform the GVN about their concerns over registration.  Thi replied 
that in each province there is a provincial CRA which should be the 
main point of contact for Protestants who run into trouble with 
their applications.  (Note: On September 15, Poloff met with Pastor 
Doan Trung Tin, a.k.a Pastor Steven, of the Vietnam Good News 
Mission.  Steven, who assists ECVN's church organizing activities in 
the north, stated that on September 12, two members of the Ministry 
of Public Security (MPS) invited him to a meeting at which they 
informed him that they had been assigned as troubleshooters for 
Protestants across Vietnam.  The MPS officers said that if Steven 
and other ECVN representatives come to them with Protestants' 
problems, the officers will do their best to assist them from within 
MPS.  However, the officers also warned that if the Protestant 
leaders report problems to foreigners, the MPS "will not do anything 
to assist them," Steven said.  End Note). 
 
Official Responses to ECVN's Petitions to GVN Leadership 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9. (SBU) The DCM asked if the GVN contemplates responding to the 
ECVN's petitions to GVN leaders for redress of a host of issues, 
including registration of churches, permission to open a Bible 
school, issuance of land-use certificates and so on.  Thi 
acknowledged that the CRA has received several petitions from the 
ECVN throughout the last year, and has forwarded each request within 
those petitions to the appropriate ministries, city officials or 
provincial officials for comment.  He reiterated that issuance of 
the Hanoi land-use certificate (which is also delaying the 
establishment of the ECVN's proposed Bible school) is under the 
responsibility of the Hanoi People's Committee which, he suggested, 
is "difficult to work with." 
 
Other Developments 
------------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) Thi noted that on September 15, in Da Nang, the CRA 
registered a United World Mission Church (Ref B).  The Ho Chi Minh 
City CRA also recently recognized Baptist, Mennonite, 7th Adventist 
organizations and a new Buddhist organization.  This shows that 
Vietnam is open to permitting new religions to develop.  Any delay 
in Protestant registration in northern Vietnam should be seen as the 
result of local ignorance, and not any official GVN policy, Thi 
added. 
 
HANOI 00002399  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
 
Details on Pilot Registrations 
------------------------------ 
 
¶11. (SBU) The CRA provided the following breakdown of the list of 
eighteen pilot registrations by province as follows (note: the six 
Lai Chau and Lao Cai registrations are the same six previously 
reported by the CRA - Ref D): 
 
I - Lai Chau Province 
--------------------- 
 
-- 1) Cung Mu Phin village, Lan Nhi Thang commune, Tam Duong 
district; 
-- 2) Than Chi Ho village, Hong Thu commune, Sin Ho district; 
 
II - Lao Cai Province 
--------------------- 
 
-- 3) Khe Den I village, Thai Nien commune, Bao Thang district; 
-- 4) Khe Pen II village, Thai Nien commune, Bao Thang district; 
-- 5) Ai Nam village, Phong Hai township, Bao Thang district; 
-- 6) Xin Chai village, Phong Hai township, Bao Thang district; 
 
III - Bac Can Province 
---------------------- 
 
-- 7) Phja Deng village, Nghien Loan commune, Pac Nam district; 
-- 8) Na Phai village, Nghien Loan commune, Pac Nam district; 
-- 9) Khuoi O village, Nhan Mon commune, Pac Nam district; 
-- 10) Nam Nha village, Xuan La commune, Pac Nam district; 
 
IV - Yen Bai Province 
--------------------- 
 
--11) Go Xoan village, Chau Que Thuong commune, Van Yen district; 
-- 12) Khe San village, Chau Que Thuong commune, Van Yen district; 
-- 13) Lien Son village, Lang Thip commune, Van Yen district; 
 
V - Thai Nguyen Province 
------------------------ 
 
--14) Choi Hong village, Tan Lang commune, Vo Nhai district; 
-- 15) Lung Hoai village, Thuong Nung commune, Vo Nhai district; 
-- 16) Dong Tam village, Dong Dat commune, Phu Luong district; 
-- 17) Tan Linh village, Tan Linh commune, Dai Tu district; 
-- 18) Hoang Van Thu precinct, Thai Nguyen city. 
 
Protestant Reaction 
------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) On September 19, ECVN General Secretary Au Quang Vinh told 
Poloff that the ECVN has not heard any confirmation from the 18 
congregations that the CRA says were included in its pilot 
registration.  He is sending requests for full reports from the 
leaders of the respective house church leaders of the congregations 
on the list, but does not expect to hear back from them before the 
end of September.  (Note: All messages back and forth from these 
congregations are hand carried and require at least several days 
travel one way.  End Note.) 
 
¶13. (SBU) Vinh noted that the ECVN has not been contacted by the CRA 
on any issue since Ambassador Hanford's August 16-18 visit to Hanoi, 
nor have they received any written response to their past petitions. 
 Poloff informed Vinh of the CRA's complaint that ECVN leaders have 
not been engaged at the local level in the north.  Vinh stated that 
the ECVN board will formally request permission from CRA and 
provincial officials to visit local communities across the north 
over the next two weeks.  The ECVN will inform post of any 
response. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Vinh also stated that he recently acquired a copy of the 
internal CRA policy manual on northern Protestantism, dated "Hanoi - 
2006".  ECVN leaders believe that this document is a step forward as 
it explicitly recognizes the existence and importance of 
Protestantism amidst the H'mong and Dzao ethnic minority communities 
of the Northwest Highlands, and also explicitly forbids local 
officials to force believers to renounce their faiths.  That said, 
the document still instructs local officials to encourage ethnic 
minority believers to return to their traditional beliefs.  (Note: 
Post is not certain of the provenance of this document and will 
continue to investigate with CRA.  End Note).  Nevertheless, Vinh 
stated that he is pleased with the current situation in the north 
for ECVN followers and noted that all of the 1,070 ECVN ethnic 
minority congregations are able to gather for worship regularly and 
do not report any harassment from police or other local officials. 
 
Comment 
 
HANOI 00002399  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) Thi was at pains to demonstrate progress in line with VFM 
Bang's recent letter to Ambassador Hanford, but he also clearly 
sought to manage our expectations for immediate results over the 
next few weeks.  The news that the CRA is moving ahead with 18 pilot 
registrations is welcome and would constitute more than a doubling 
of the number of registered ECVN churches, if true.  We will 
continue to seek ECVN confirmation of these registrations directly 
from the respective house church leaders.  Pastor Stevens claims 
that several of the 18 were issued registration certificates by 
provincial authorities, but that commune level officials continue to 
refuse to pass the certificates to congregations until they 
"demonstrate good behavior."  We also plan to raise the issue of 
ECVN's Hanoi land use certificate with the appropriate Hanoi 
officials as soon as possible.  End Comment. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) Begin text of VFM Le Van Bang's Letter to Ambassador 
Hanford: 
        September 13, 2006 
 
H.E. John Hanford III 
Ambassador at-large for 
International Religious Freedom 
U.S. Department of State 
Washington DC 
 
Dear Mr. Ambassador, 
 
 I am pleased with the outcome of your visit to Vietnam last August. 
 I believe that you may have a clear picture of the current 
situation of religions in Vietnam through your meetings with various 
Vietnamese agencies, religious dignitaries as well as through what 
you have seen by your own eyes.  In order to further enhance mutual 
understanding between Vietnam and the United States, I would like to 
update you with current developments in this regard, especially 
since the coming into effect of the Ordinance on Religions and 
Beliefs, the Government Decree No. 22 and Prime Minister's 
Instruction No. 1 on Protestantism. 
 
 Since the promulgation of Prime Minister's Instruction, three new 
Protestant denominations in the Ho Chi Minh City area (Seven Day 
Adventist Church, Grace Baptist Church and Mennonite Church) and a 
new one in Danang (United World Mission) have been registered.  In 
the Central Highlands, additional 34 chapters of the Vietnam 
Evangelical Church (South) have been recognized, nearly 800 groups 
from Protestant denominations registered, 67 pastors ordained. 
Local authorities have granted the use of land and facilitated the 
construction of 9 new churches in the region. 
 
 In Northern mountainous provinces, efforts have been made on the 
part of local authorities to implement the new legislations on 
religions.  Within only two months from July to September, 18 
Protestant groups have been registered in Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Bac 
Can, Yen Bai and Thai Nguyen.  Application by other groups are under 
consideration.  The Commission on Religious Affairs has held a 
number of training courses on new legislations for local officials. 
 
 
 Buddhism and Catholicism have witnessed a number of significant 
activities since late 2005, one of which was the historical visit by 
Vatican's Minister Cardinal C. Sepe who oversaw the ordainment 
ceremony for 57 priests in Hanoi Cathedral.  Buddhist community 
nationwide has just celebrated the 25th Anniversary of its 
unification and the 2550th Vesak (Buddha's Birthday) this June. 
 
 On occasion of the National Day of September 2nd, 2006, 5,351 
inmates were granted amnesty, including those of concern to the U.S. 
such as Pham Hong Son and Ma Van Bay. 
 
 I know that the Vietnamese Government Commission for Religious 
Affairs regularly updates you with new developments.  By citing the 
above-mentioned figures, however, I would like to stress that much 
progress has been made just within nearly two years since the 
religious legal documents came into life. 
 
 In the time to come, we will continue to attach great importance to 
the implementation of the Government policy on religions from 
central to local levels with more attention paid to remote areas. 
In this respect, we take note and consider with care issues raised 
by you and the US Embassy in Hanoi recently.  We will update you 
with information relating to those issues as soon as we can.  With 
what we have done and experience gained over the last nearly 2 years 
of implementing the legislations on religions, I can assure you that 
much more progress will be made. At the same time, I would like to 
confirm our willingness to conduct dialogues with the United States 
on issues of concern, including human rights and religious freedom 
on the basis of mutual respect with an aim to further enhance our 
 
HANOI 00002399  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
mutual understanding as well as to look for the best solutions to 
these issues. 
 
 In that spirit and in keeping with the current relations between 
Vietnam and the United States, I urge you to recommend the U.S. 
Secretary of State to remove Vietnam from the CPC list, which in our 
 
SIPDIS 
belief, does not reflect the real situation of Religions and beliefs 
in Vietnam.  As President Bush stated in his recent letter to 
President Nguyen Minh Triet, we're opening a new chapter in the 
friendship between our two countries.  We should work closely 
together to take our relationship in that direction. 
 
 Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest 
consideration. 
 
       Yours sincerely, 
 
       Le Van Bang 
      Vice Minister for 
      Foreign Affairs 
 
 
CC: H.E. Christopher Hill 
Assistant Secretary for 
East Asia and Pacific Affairs 
U.S. Department of State 
Washington DC 
 
Ambassador Michael Marine 
U.S. Embassy Hanoi 
Hanoi, Vietnam 
 
End text of letter. 
 
MARINE