VZCZCXRO3567
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #0484/01 1160919
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 250919Z APR 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7701
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 4647
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000484 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL VM
 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH VICE FOREIGN MINISTER ON POSSIBLE 
DELIVERABLES FOR PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT 
 
HANOI 00000484  001.4 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Ambassador Michalak discussed possible 
deliverables for a visit to the United States by Vietnamese Prime 
Minister Dung with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh 
on April 25.  The Ambassador noted that we need to make progress on 
human rights before the visit. The Ambassador discussed possible 
deliverables in education, climate change, civilian nuclear power 
generation and several other areas.  Minh was receptive, and said 
the GVN would like a joint statement which could cover many of these 
issues.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Minh noted he had met with Assistant Secretary Hill and 
NSC's Dennis Wilder the previous week to discuss details of the 
visit.  The GVN had proposed the dates of June 24-25 in Washington, 
followed by visits to Texas and San Francisco.  He said the GVN 
would like to work together with the USG on a joint statement for 
the visit.  They would also like help in arranging visits with 
Senate and Congressional leaders including Senators McCain, Obama 
and Clinton.  Minh said he would send a full list of requested 
congressional meetings. 
 
Ambassador: Need for Progress on Human Rights 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Minh asked whether a joint statement would have to address 
human rights.  The Ambassador replied that any joint statement would 
certainly have to address human rights but that if we can make 
progress in this area before the visit it will be easier to find 
language upon which both sides can agree. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that the bilateral Human Rights 
Dialogue scheduled for May 29 is an opportunity to demonstrate some 
progress.  This could include releasing imprisoned activists such as 
Le Thi Cong Nhan and Nguyen Van Dai; Nhan is eligible for amnesty 
now and Dai will be eligible in the fall.  It could also include 
responding to long-standing requests by foreign news organizations 
to open offices in Ho Chi Minh City (Note: Currently they are only 
allowed to have offices in Hanoi.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Minh said the GVN wants a signal that the USG does not 
support anti-GVN activists.  The Ambassador responded that he has 
been very clear in his public statements that the USG does not 
support specific organizations but does support the rights of 
individuals to express their opinions freely without being thrown in 
jail. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador said that if Amcit Nguyen Quoc Quan remains 
imprisoned when the Prime Minister visits, his situation would be 
sure to attract negative attention.  Minh responded that the GVN 
does not wish to continue holding Quan and wants to get him out of 
Vietnam, but needs "quiet" from the U.S. side to avoid the 
impression it is responding to U.S. pressure.  He noted that Quan's 
use of false identity documents was a very serious matter, which the 
GVN regarded as terrorist activity.  The Ambassador noted that it 
has been two months since we were allowed a consular visit to Quan 
despite repeated diplomatic notes requesting access, and appealed 
again for permission for a consular officer to visit Quan. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Minh asked for assistance in ensuring that 
Vietnamese-Americans opposed to the GVN do not disrupt the visit. 
The Ambassador responded that we do not control the actions of these 
individuals but share the GVN's desire to make the visit a success. 
 
 
GVN Seeks U.S. Investment 
------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) On deliverables for the visit, Minh said the GVN would like 
to see several concrete results on the economic side.  The GVN would 
like to see increased U.S. investment in Vietnam, particularly in 
the oil and gas sector.  This was the primary reason for the PM's 
visit to Texas, where he will visit the leaders of oil and gas 
companies as well as high-tech companies and encourage them to 
invest in Vietnam. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Ambassador agreed that we could aim for results in this 
area; at least two investment possibilities could be ready by the 
visit.  One is for GE to open a facility manufacturing wind turbines 
in Haiphong for export - it has been approved in principle but the 
license has not yet been granted.  Another is an investment by 
Sabre, whose production of software for airline ticketing ties in 
thematically with the Prime Minister's desire to begin direct 
flights between Vietnam and the United States. 
 
Possible Deliverables: Education, Climate Change 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
 
HANOI 00000484  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Ambassador suggested that deliverables could be 
grouped into three or four major baskets.  Given the Prime 
Minister's focus on education, we could either sign a letter of 
intent or simply issue a statement of cooperation which would set up 
a joint task force to examine the feasibility of U.S. assistance to 
Vietnam on an American university.  Minh noted the GVN's proposal 
that the GVN provide facilities while the U.S. provides teaching 
staff, and said Germany and Britain are already well along on 
establishing universities in Vietnam.  The Ambassador noted that we 
have been in touch with Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training 
as well as U.S. universities but that, given the short time before 
the visit and the number of details involved, a task force would 
give us time to address them. 
 
¶11. (SBU)On climate change, the Ambassador suggested that we could 
announce the formation of a working group under our existing S&T 
agreement to address climate change in Vietnam, as Vietnam likely 
will be one of the countries most severely impacted by climate 
change.  Minh responded that this would be of great interest to the 
GVN.  The Ambassador said that various U.S. agencies already have 
provided assistance in this area and that we expect to expand these 
programs, while bringing in new U.S. participants. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Ambassador said that, either as a subset of climate 
change or as a separate package, we could also agree to work with 
the GVN on signing agreements and providing a program of technical 
assistance to help Vietnam develop the safety and security 
infrastructure necessary for a a civilian nuclear power program. We 
could announce expanded technical cooperation on DOE/NNSA agreements 
with the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission and the Vietnam Agency for 
Radiation and Nuclear Safety & Control (VARANSAC), agreement between 
DOE/NNSA and Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology on next 
steps towards full conversion of the nuclear research reactor at 
Dalat and for the removal of spent Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) 
from Dalat to the Russian Federation. 
 
¶13. (SBU) We believe that we can schedule the signing of an MOU for 
technical cooperation between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
and VARANSAC. We could also announce plans to negotiate/sign a 
Section 123 [of 1954 Atomic Energy Act] Agreement for Cooperation, 
which would allow commercial technology transfers for the 
development of a civilian nuclear power sector or, if deemed 
untimely, beginnegotiations for a broader nuclear cooperation MOU 
until the time we can sign the Section 123 Agreement. Another 
deliverable in this area would be a USTDA-funded Orientation Visit 
for Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and GVN officials to the United 
States to learn about nuclear power. 
 
Economic/Commercial Deliverables 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) On the economic side, the Ambassador noted we cannot yet 
say the GVN qualifies as a market economy but a deliverable could be 
in the form of an announcement of a bilateral working group to study 
the roadmap toward market economy designation, perhaps under the 
auspices of the TIFA.  The team the GVN will be sending to the U.S. 
in May to discuss the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT ) will help 
determine whether we will be ready to announce the beginning of BIT 
negotiations in time for the visit. 
 
¶15. (SBU) On GSP, the Ambassador noted thorny issues like labor and 
IPR, but added that these are areas where we would like to move 
forward and work together. This could be pursued through technical 
assistance and our next Labor Dialogue this fall. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Infrastructure assistance is another possibility, the 
Ambassador said.  USTDA is working with Vinalines to fund a port 
logistics study to determine current container movement and forecast 
trade growth in Vietnam, particularly in the South.  The study would 
be used to determine the impact of this growth on current logistics 
systems in Vietnam and identify areas of future need. 
 
¶17. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that during his recent visit to 
Vietnam HHS Secretary Leavitt agreed with the MOH to draft and sign 
an MOU on Product Safety by the time of the PM's visit; part of that 
MOU or under that MOU could be a separate set of deliverables on 
food safety. 
 
¶18. (SBU) On trade, the Ambassador noted that we are pushing hard 
for approval for Vietnam to export several types of fruit to the 
U.S. In return, we would like GVN assistance on increased access to 
the Vietnamese market for U.S. beef. 
 
Consulate Question, Adoptions, Security, Peace Corps 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 
HANOI 00000484  003.4 OF 003 
 
 
¶19. (SBU) The Ambassador said we are very supportive of the GVN's 
opening a consulate in Houston, and we hope to see this done in 
connection with resolving the Ho Chi Minh consular district issue. 
Minh said it would be good for the Prime Minister to see the opening 
of the new Houston consulate.  The Ambassador responded that if the 
Ho Chi Minh consular district issue is resolved that could indeed be 
possible.  Minh said we could work on this issue. 
 
¶20. (SBU) On adoptions, we hope Vietnam will announce its intention 
to join the Hague Convention before our current agreement expires on 
September 1 - this could help address the widespread abuses in the 
current adoption system in Vietnam.  Minh responded that this was an 
issue for the Ministry of Justice, but Vietnam certainly does not 
want to see misuse of the adoption process. 
 
¶21. (SBU) On the security side, the Ambassador said Vietnam's 
joining PSI was one possibility.  Vietnamese engagement in the 
Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative (GPOI) is another 
possibility.  Minh said he had requested a list of training courses, 
and said once it is received he would work with the Ministry of 
Defense to see where the GVN could participate. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Progress towards an agreement on Peace Corps would depend 
on the GVN engaging the Peace Corps directly, the Ambassador said. 
Minh said the GVN would work on this. 
 
¶23. (SBU) The Ambassador said we look forward to working with MFA as 
well as the relevant ministries on these deliverables.  Minh thanked 
the Ambassador for sharing these ideas and said MFA looked forward 
to advancing these deliverables for the visit. 
 
MICHALAK