VZCZCXRO2001
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1975/01 3250929
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210929Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6756
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3977
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001975 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
USTR FOR DBISBEE AND RBAE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON KIRF TBIO KHIV PINS OEXC CVIS PGOV PHUM
VM 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR VISITS HAIPHONG ON THE OCCASION OF HISTORIC U.S. 
NAVY PORT CALL 
 
 
HANOI 00001975  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Ambassador made his first visit to Haiphong 
City, in part to participate in activities related to an historic 
port call by two U.S. Navy warships.  The Ambassador paid a courtesy 
call on the Vice Chairman of the Haiphong City People's Committee 
and expressed concern over an incident earlier that day in which 
Haiphong Police disrupted a house church congregation with three 
Americans in attendance.  The Ambassador also paid a visit to the 
Haiphong School for Deaf Children and the School for Blind Children 
to participate in United States Navy community relations activities; 
visited the Haiphong Provincial Health Service and Hoa Phuong 
Women's Health Club to learn about continuing efforts to control the 
spread of HIV/AIDS in the Haiphong region; and visited Haiphong 
University's American Corner, where he delivered remarks and took 
questions from university students and the press.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador visited Haiphong City November 15-17 on the 
occasion of an historic courtesy port call by two U.S. Navy mine 
warfare ships, the USS Patriot and USS Guardian.  The port call by 
the Patriot and Guardian marked the first visit by American warships 
to Haiphong since 1973.  Haiphong, 120 kilometers east of Hanoi, is 
Vietnam's third largest city with a population of 1.8 million. 
Second only to Hanoi in terms of population and economic importance 
in northern Vietnam, Haiphong has long-standing connections to the 
national economy and is home to considerable heavy industry, 
including steel, shipbuilding, production of animal feed, and 
cement.  The two largest American investors are Chevron Vietnam, 
which operates an asphalt facility and lubricating plant under the 
Caltex brand name, and the American International Group (AIG), which 
owns a sizeable stake in Haiphong's Dinh Vu Industrial Zone. 
Haiphong also has an international sister city relationship with the 
city of Seattle. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a November 15 courtesy call on Haiphong City People's 
Committee Vice Chairman Hoang Van Ke, the Ambassador outlined his 
priorities, including strengthening the economic, commercial and 
educational ties between the United States and Vietnam.  He also 
described his focus on human rights and religious freedom.  The 
Ambassador thanked Vice Minister Ke for the warm welcome shown by 
Haiphong City to the crewmembers of the USS Guardian and USS 
Patriot, calling it another step in the deepening U.S.-Vietnam 
partnership. 
 
HAIPHONG POLICE DISRUPT HOUSE CHURCH SERVICE 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Just prior to the start of his meeting with Vice Chairman 
Ke, the Ambassador learned about an incident earlier in the day in 
which Haiphong Police disrupted a congregation of the 
Inter-Christian Fellowship House Church with three Americans in 
attendance, including Pastor Mike Kirkiele (Note: Protect under 
Privacy Act.  End Note).  According to Kirkiele, with whom the 
Ambassador spoke by telephone, the police initially confiscated the 
Amcits' passports and instructed them to report to the city 
immigration office.  After a short time, however, the police 
returned the passports and ordered the attendees to stay away from 
the home.  Feeling unwelcome in Haiphong, Kirkiele and the other 
Americans returned to Hanoi that evening. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Under a February 2005 law, the GVN allows 
government-registered Protestant groups to practice religious 
activities in their homes or "suitable locations" without 
interference by the state.  Moreover, the law ostensibly permits 
unregistered house churches to operate so long as they are 
"committed to following regulations" and are unaffiliated with 
separatist political movements.  The Ambassador asked Vice Minister 
Ke to explain the circumstances behind the police action and to 
ensure that Haiphong's police follow the letter of the 2005 law.  In 
response, the Vice Minister said he was unaware of the incident, 
calling it "very regrettable."  He defended Haiphong's record on 
religious freedom, noting that the city recently hosted a large 
religious congress of followers from Catholic dioceses from several 
northern provinces.  The Vice Minister speculated that the house 
church had failed to register with the authorities, but said he 
would look into the matter and get back to us. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Concluding the meeting, Vice Minister Ke thanked the 
Ambassador for past USG support in the areas of health care, in 
particular, HIV/AIDS prevention, and education and expressed his 
hope that cooperation would continue throughout the Ambassador's 
tenure.  The Vice Minister noted that Haiphong is set to introduce a 
methadone project in January 2008 to help area heroin addicts 
overcome their addiction and curtail the transmission of HIV/AIDS 
through shared needles. 
 
PEPFAR MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN HAIPHONG 
-------------------------------------- 
 
HANOI 00001975  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) In a meeting later in the day with Dr. Nguyen Van Vy, 
Director of the Haiphong City Health Service, and a subsequent visit 
to the Hoa Phuong Women's Health Club, the Ambassador learned how 
USG PEPFAR-funded support is helping to reduce the rate of HIV/AIDS 
in Haiphong.  Dr. Vy described Haiphong as an HIV/AIDS "hot spot," 
and blamed the high rate of infection on the city's traditionally 
large numbers of drug users and sex workers, who comprise 80 percent 
of new cases.  Nevertheless, Dr. Vy credited Vietnam's newly 
instituted clean needle exchange programs and international 
assistance, notably PEPFAR support, with lowering Haiphong's rate of 
new HIV infections by 40 to 50 percent over the last two years. 
 
¶8. (U) The Ambassador also paid a visit to the Haiphong School for 
Deaf Children and School for Blind Children to participate in 
friendship building and community relations activities conducted by 
crewmembers of the USS Patriot and USS Guardian in conjunction with 
the U.S. Embassy's Defense Attache Office.  These activities 
included facilities renovation work and delivery of gifts to the 
children, including winter coats, soccer balls, and sewing machines 
for vocational training. 
 
AN ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME AT HAIPHONG UNIVERSITY 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9. (SBU) On November 16, several hundred university students in 
traditional Vietnamese dress enthusiastically greeted the 
Ambassador's arrival at Haiphong University.  At a courtesy call, 
the University Rector, Dr. Le Quoc Bang, thanked the Ambassador for 
his visit and noted that 220-300 students visit the university's 
American Corner each day.  American Corner, part of the U.S.-Vietnam 
Studies Project, is a resource center offering university students 
and visitors a wide range of information about the United States. 
The Ambassador assured Dr. Bang that U.S. Mission Vietnam would 
continue to support American Corner and make improvements.  He also 
asked the Rector to help speed up the university's time-consuming 
and often belated process for approving cultural activities and 
speakers at the Corner. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Following the courtesy call, the Ambassador delivered 
remarks and hosted a question and answer session before an audience 
of students at American Corner.  He noted that one of his immediate 
goals as U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam is to increase the number of 
Vietnamese students who go to the United States to study in the 
"world's finest academic system."  He pointed out that U.S. Mission 
Vietnam has granted 5,600 academic visas to Vietnamese students so 
far in 2007, a 54 percent increase over 2006, and encouraged 
students not to be intimidated by the visa application process.  In 
response to a query regarding the lack of English language learning 
opportunities at American Corner, the Ambassador noted continuing 
efforts to bring the Peace Corps to Vietnam to teach English. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Lastly, in a roundtable interview session with local 
reporters, the Ambassador praised Vietnam's economic reform and 
progress but said, "much remains to be done."  He noted that foreign 
investors favor timely decision-making and transparent rules and 
regulations, including an opportunity to comment on new laws before 
they take effect.  On a positive note, the Ambassador noted that 
Haiphong moved up five spots in Vietnam's 2007 Provincial 
Competitiveness Index, scoring 37 out of 64 provinces, but pointed 
out that the province still lags in the middle of the pack. 
 
MICHALAK