VZCZCXRO0581
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0407/01 1010203
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110203Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2490
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1805
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//USDP/ISA/AP//
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J00/J2/J3/J5//
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2679

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000407 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS; EAP/RSP; EAP/EP; DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SOCI PHUM KIRF PGOV OVIP PINR VM
SUBJECT: EAP DAS JOHN MEETS HCMC DISSIDENT LEADERS 
 
REF: HANOI 636; B) HCMC 261; C) HCMC 365; D) 06 HCMC 808 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000407  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) GVN officials in Hanoi and HCMC protested but did 
not prevent EAP DAS Eric John from holding meetings on 
April 9 with dissident leaders Thich Quang Do and Tran 
Khue.  Meeting in his pagoda where he has been under house 
arrest since October 2003, Thich Quang Do, General 
Secretary of the banned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam 
 
SIPDIS 
(UBCV) welcomed the opportunity to talk for two-hours about 
the need for political change in Vietnam and urged 
international pressure on Vietnam for its human rights 
violations.  The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) will 
never willingly give up its monopoly on power, the monk 
said.  The relatively open period of political openness in 
which dissidents could operate was only a CPV smoke screen 
to con the international community.  He added that the 
notion that there are rival factions within the GVN ?- 
reformers on one side with pro-China hardliners on the 
other -? is another CPV fabrication. Thich Quang Do also 
was scathing in his condemnation of Buddhist Zen Master 
Thich Nhat Hanh, who he termed a "communist agent" brought 
back to Vietnam to pretend that there is religious freedom 
for the Buddhist community and to undermine the UBCV.  (Per 
ref B, the internationally-recognized Thich Nhat Hanh is in 
Vietnam to conduct a series of reconciliation ceremonies 
and to encourage a Buddhist revival.) 
 
¶2. (SBU) Thich Quang Do strongly criticized the lack of 
linkage between trade and human rights during Vietnam's WTO 
membership drive and said that U.S. silence on human rights 
during the November 2006 APEC Summit in Hanoi left him and 
other dissidents "bitter and disappointed."   Now that the 
CPV has everything it wants ?- PNTR with the U.S., WTO 
membership, and lifting of its designation as a Country of 
Particular Concern (CPC) -- the Party feels free to 
crackdown on dissent.  While Vietnamese had to lead the 
struggle, they needed U.S. and international support. 
Thich Quang Do called for reinstatement of CPC and the 
imposition of targeted sanctions against the CPV for its 
human rights violations.  Lifting of CPC signals to the 
world that Vietnam does not violate religious freedom, 
which is not the case, Thich Quang Do concluded. 
 
¶3. (SBU) DAS John noted that the USG has a firm political 
commitment to press for human rights in Vietnam and does so 
at all levels, from the President on down.  The U.S. shares 
the monk's goal of a pluralistic society in Vietnam, but we 
must work step-by-step to reach that goal.  CPC was "not a 
pre-APEC gift" to the GVN, but, as Do had asserted, a 
factual decision based on benchmarks, the DAS added. 
 
¶4. (SBU) While equally critical of the CPV and eager for a 
multiparty system, Tran Khue, Deputy General Secretary of 
the Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV), called the 
President's APEC visit and improved U.S. ties important for 
Vietnam and for Vietnamese reformers. The U.S. is key to 
balancing Chinese influence in South East Asia.  Khue 
claimed that the DPV had the support of "millions of 
Vietnamese" and 150 people ready to contest the upcoming 
National Assembly elections but the DPV decided not to 
participate, knowing full well the results would be rigged. 
If individual DPV members want to contest, he will not 
object, however.   Khue acknowledged the ongoing crackdown 
against him and other dissidents; he had been summoned to a 
"working session" with police immediately after our 
meeting.  However, he viewed the pressure as a sign of 
weakness and nerve in the ?Maoist? faction of the CPV.  In 
a phone call April 10, Khue told us that police questioned 
him about his meeting with DAS John.  Khue said he told the 
police that he would not attend any future ?working 
sessions.?   If the police wish to arrest him based on the 
indictment they already have issued (Ref C), he has packed 
and is ready to return to jail.  (Ref D provides additional 
detail on Khue and the DPV.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Despite repeated threats that our "unauthorized" 
meetings with dissidents would lead the GVN to cancel its 
official meeting in HCMC, DAS John called on Nguyen Thanh 
Tai, Standing Vice Chairman of the HCMC People?s Committee. 
The discussion focused mainly on the city?s economic 
development.  Although the Vice-Chairman noted repeatedly 
that "political and social stability" were key to economic 
growth in Vietnam, he did not raise directly human rights 
or the DAS? meetings with Thich Quang Do and Tran Khue. 
DAS John noted the real progress in church registrations in 
2006 and urged the HCMC leadership to ensure that the 
positive trend continued in 2007. 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000407  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:  Substantively, there was no major change 
in either dissident's presentation.  The uncompromising 
Thich Quang Do continued to spit fire against the CPV and 
against anyone -- including his former Buddhist colleague - 
-- who would look for alternative approaches to achieve the 
same ends.  A former member of the CPV himself, Tran Khue 
was more moderate and in favor of continued U.S. engagement 
to press for human rights improvements. 
WINNICK