VZCZCXRO7170
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0226/01 0571034
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 261034Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7271
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 4347
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/VO, CA/OCS/CI AND EAP/MLS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS CASC CMGT KOCI VM CN
SUBJECT: Baby Buying: Selling Infants to China Sparks Outrage; Some 
Tactics Similar to Those Uncovered in American Adoptions 
 
Ref: Hanoi 1299, 1465, 1820, 1834, 1843, 1856, 1893, 1912, 1928, 
1977, 1979, 2082, 2109 and 2118 
 
HANOI 00000226  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Over the past week, major Vietnamese media outlets 
have highlighted the case of four individuals arrested for smuggling 
newborn infants to China, among other abuses related to trafficking 
in children.  One was an investigative report on a local 
baby-selling ring in Ha Tay province, on Hanoi's western border, 
citing the collusion of orphanage officials, local officials, 
medical staff, and possibly high-level officials of the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs.  These articles, and others before them, generate 
popular anger at criminals who traffic in infants, and also feed a 
general dissatisfaction with China.  Given that criminal acts 
documented in these stories parallel those used by individuals 
involved in acquiring infants for adoption to the United States, it 
is possible that revelations in future articles could involve 
infants sought by American prospective parents.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Vietnamese culture is strongly family-based. "Do you have a 
family yet?" is a standard get-to-know-you question.  Parents are 
expected to live for their children, and for a married couple to be 
childless remains for many an assault on a long-standing social 
structure.  National propaganda highlights the importance of family. 
 Public buildings are decorated with images of a saintly Ho Chi Minh 
surrounded by children in his role as "Uncle Ho," and red banners 
over Hanoi streets encourage pregnant mothers to monitor their 
intake of vitamins.  Recently, stories of child abuse sparked much 
debate and anguish - another demonstration of the devotion to 
children generally evidenced by the Vietnamese. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On February 20, both Thanh Nien and Phap Luat newspapers 
ran articles providing detailed information on how impoverished 
Vietnamese women are pressured or tricked to give up their infant 
children so that the children can be sold to adoptive parents.  The 
newspapers also announced the arrest of four infant traffickers by 
Hanoi police.  The stories came on the tail of reports highlighting 
horrific conditions in orphanages, and in particular news that over 
half of the 19 infants who had been sent from nearby orphanages to a 
Hanoi hospital to be treated for pneumonia had died.  These stories 
have caused public outrage. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The wife of an orphanage director (herself an employee of 
the orphanage) was named as the leader of an infant trafficking ring 
in Ha Tay province, to the west of Hanoi.  The ring allegedly 
colluded with local officials and medical staff to operate a 
baby-selling network, purchasing infant girls for a price of 
approximately 500 USD and infant boys for approximately 625 USD and 
later reselling the infants for more than double the price, between 
1250 USD and 1525 USD.  Some infants were resold abroad, usually to 
China.  According to the ringleader, "We don't earn that much by 
just focusing on the domestic couples."  Some children were taken 
from their mothers without any payment.  The locality where the ring 
operates has been the site of several child kidnappings.  In recent 
months, Vietnamese papers have also reported cases of infant 
kidnappings in ethnic minority villages along the Chinese border and 
the arrest of kidnappers who intended to sell the infants to Chinese 
parents for adoption. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Abuses like those described in these reports are consistent 
with the results of consular investigations conducted by Mission 
Vietnam, which have found that orphanage staff, local officials, 
police, and medical staff are often intricately involved in 
producing fraudulent documents in an effort to stock orphanages with 
children for international adoption.  In one Ho Chi Minh City case, 
documents listed an infant as deserted at the hospital by its birth 
mother.  Our investigation uncovered the birth mother's name and 
address.  A follow-up interview revealed that she had not intended 
to relinquish the child; the child had been placed in an orphanage 
when she failed to pay the hospital bill.  The child has been 
returned to its biological family.  On February 20, consular staff 
spoke with a family living near the Chinese border which had placed 
their four-year-old child in a nearby orphanage in exchange for 
money to buy a pig; orphanage officials, who provided the payment, 
told the illiterate biological parents that their child would visit 
them "every few months."  Without their knowledge and against their 
wishes, that child has been referred to an American family for 
adoption. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: The recent slew of press articles has had a 
decidedly anti-China perspective, feeding a historical distrust and 
animosity toward Vietnam's powerful northern neighbor.  Watching a 
February 19 Vietnam television report while inside a crowded market 
along the Chinese border, a Hanoi consular officer heard the angry 
reactions of viewers as the reporter noted that after selling her 
still unborn child to the Chinese, traffickers planned to sell the 
birth mother, as well.  This, in combination with the Vietnamese 
value on family and children, causes widespread public anger. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment (continued): There is overwhelming evidence that 
 
HANOI 00000226  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the high prices paid by American adopting parents make the United 
States the most lucrative of all markets for baby traffickers.  Post 
is concerned that the articles may also be a veiled warning to other 
countries.  The spotlight could quickly shift to focus on the worst 
American adoption cases, with Americans replacing the Chinese as 
baby buyers.  Given the high profile and sensitive nature of this 
issue, such an event has the potential to have a negative effect on 
broader foreign policy goals. 
 
MICHALAK