VZCZCXRO5596
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #1340/01 2111510
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301510Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5941
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3421
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001340 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KIRF OTRA ECON VM
 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH COMMITTEE ON RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS ON 
PROTESTANTISM: MUCH PROGRESS, MORE TO BE DONE 
 
HANOI 00001340  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Vietnam's point person on religion underscored 
progress in improving religious freedom, but also admitted that 
there is still work to be done.  Vietnam plans to recognize a number 
of additional religious groups, including the Baha'i Faith while 
Protestant congregations in the Central Highlands have enjoyed 
significant progress over the last year with over 1,000 new meeting 
places registered.  In his July 24 meeting with the acting head of 
the Committee on Religious Affairs, the Ambassador pressed for 
quicker GVN registration of Protestant congregations in the 
northwest, GVN assistance in obtaining permission for churches to 
train religious workers, and speedy publication of a H'mong-language 
Bible to meet the needs of the numerous H'Mong Protestants.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador met with Nguyen The Doanh, Vice Chairman of 
the GVN Committee on Religious Affairs (CRA), on July 24.  (Note: 
Doanh has been in charge of CRA since the retirement of Chairman Ngo 
Yen Thi in March 2007.  End note.)  The Ambassador noted the 
important work that has been done on religious freedom during his 
three years in Vietnam.  When the Ambassador started his posting, 
Vietnam was on the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). 
Vietnam is now off that list and the Ambassador said he was pleased 
at how well the two sides have worked to create the progress that 
led to this result.  He underscored that there is still work to be 
done, as President Bush noted in his June meeting with President 
Nguyen Minh Triet in Washington. 
 
 
Slow Pace of Church Registrations 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) One year previously, the USG and the GVN had been engaged 
in discussions concerning the registration of house churches 
associated with the Evangelical Church of Vietnam North (ECVN) in 
northern Vietnam, the Ambassador noted.  At that time, there was 
considerable progress in the Central Highlands but registrations in 
the north and northwest of the nation were lagging.  CRA Chairman 
Thi and others had explained to IRF Ambassador Hanford that they 
intended to facilitate registration of churches in the northwest as 
soon as possible.  The ECVN put forward more than 530 applications 
before the GVN asked ECVN to stop, even though another 600 
congregations had not yet applied.  By the end of 2006, only some 30 
were registered.  Despite that low number, Vietnam was taken off the 
CPC list with the expectation that registrations would continue.  So 
far, however, we understand that only 10 more have been registered. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Doanh responded by noting that, while the ECVN claims there 
are 500 congregations to be registered, meeting places and 
congregations are "relative concepts."  The GVN has not discussed 
the definitional criteria with ECVN, but there must be a meeting 
place for religious services with someone properly trained (or at 
least literate) in charge.  This need for clarification and setting 
agreed definitions was slowing to some degree the process of 
registration.  The GVN will conduct at least four more training 
sessions for local officials and four at the commune level in the 
Central Highlands and Northwest Highlands in the coming months.  The 
Ambassador urged the GVN to directly engage the ECVN so pending 
registrations can be resolved. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Doanh noted that Protestant congregations under the 
Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam (SECV) in the Central 
Highlands have enjoyed significant improvements as a result of the 
GVN helping local people and officials to understand the 2004 
ordinance on religion.  More than 1,000 congregations in the Central 
Highlands have been registered, and 200 additional unaffiliated 
meeting places have been registered with the help of local 
authorities. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Doanh said that, by contrast, in the Northwest Highlands 
the topography, local customs and lack of awareness among officials 
and the broader society of the new policy regarding religion have 
slowed the progress of registration.  Thus far, 45 meeting places 
have been registered in the northwest and the GVN hopes to register 
another 45 by the end of the year.  Now almost all the provinces in 
the region have seen improvement with the exception of Son La 
Province, according to Doanh.  The Ambassador said he would add Dien 
Bien Province as a problem area.  He mentioned reports that 
Protestantism has been denounced there by some local authorities as, 
among other things, an "American" religion. 
 
 
New Religious Groups Registered 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
HANOI 00001340  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Doanh said that, in addition to Vietnamese Protestantism's 
two main entities, the SECV and ECVN, five more Protestant entities 
have been registered and another five will soon be registered for a 
total of 10 new entities.  While in total only six religions and 16 
religious organizations have been recognized by the GVN, in the 
"near future" a total of ten religions and 20 organizations will be 
recognized in accordance with the ordinance, including the Baha'i 
Faith, the Vietnam Seventh-Day Adventist Church, the Grace Baptist 
Church, the United World Mission Church, one faction of the 
Mennonite church, and two smaller Buddhist groups - the Tu An Hieu 
Nghia group and the Pure Land Buddhist Home Practice Association. 
(Note: Post will follow up seeking details.  End note.) 
 
 
GVN Support for Training of Clergy 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador said for the ECVN to train its religious 
workers it needed permission for its workers to travel to Hanoi and 
to upgrade its facilities for a Bible school there.  Doanh agreed 
training of clergy is also an important issue and said the GVN is 
doing its best to help meet the demand.  He agreed the ECVN's 
facility in Hanoi is inadequate but said there is an issue of 
ownership of the facilities between ECVN and the Hanoi Protestant 
Church which must be resolved before the property can be improved. 
In addition, the Catholic Church has six seminaries in Vietnam and 
if the church would like to propose others the GVN is prepared to 
consider them.  Space has also been given in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh 
City for the construction of Buddhist training centers and to the 
SECV in the south to set up Bible schools. 
 
 
H'mong Bible Publication Faces Technical Hurdles 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Ambassador noted the GVN had allowed the Bible to be 
published in several ethnic minority languages but permission had 
not been granted to ECVN to publish in the H'Mong language despite a 
need from more than 114,000 H'Mong Protestants.  Doanh said the 
government does not wish to create obstacles for its publication in 
the H'mong language, but there are technical difficulties.  The 
H'mong language has its own script, but there is now a new version 
of the language using the Latin alphabet and the H'mong Bible would 
use this alphabet.  This new alphabet has not yet been accepted as 
legal by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), which has 
the lead on the issue. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Doanh concluded that there have been significant 
improvements on religious freedom in Vietnam and more will follow. 
The Ambassador agreed that the meeting showed how important it is 
for the Embassy staff to remain in close contact with the CRA in 
order to keep abreast of developments. 
 
¶11. (U) Comment: due to time constraints, the Ambassador could not 
raise a number of Catholic Church-related issues.  He told Doanh 
that he would share those in a letter next week. 
 
MARINE