VZCZCXRO9533
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #0499/01 1200724
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290724Z APR 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7726
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 4657
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0051
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000499 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIRF PHUM PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT:  Thai Ha Church Land Ownership Dispute Continues 
 
REFS: A. Hanoi 0160  B. Hanoi 0446  C. Hanoi 0278 
 
HANOI 00000499  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Despite numerous calls from Hanoi authorities to 
cease, Catholic believers continue to gather at a site adjacent to 
Hanoi's Thai Ha Catholic parish church, in a dispute with the 
Government of Vietnam (GVN), now in its fourth month (Refs A, B). 
While the numbers of congregants gathering at the site has lessened 
for the time being, the dispute is far from resolved and local Hanoi 
officials appear to be at a loss on next steps.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In an ongoing dispute with local government officials, 
Hanoi Thai Ha parish congregants are seeking the return of property 
currently controlled by the GVN and have been gathering at the 
disputed site, off and on, since January 2008 (Refs. A and B).  In 
an April 23 meeting with Poloff, Father Nguyen Van Khai, one of the 
senior priests at Thai Ha parish, clarified that the impetus for the 
recent gatherings at the site was a negative media campaign by the 
local state-controlled press.  Press reports criticized Catholic 
believers for their efforts, accused them of making the situation 
increasingly tense, and called for them to obey an order from local 
authorities to stop gathering and clean up the site before noon on 
April 7.  Local newspapers also reported that the crowd of Catholic 
believers was prepared to confront law enforcement.  The reports 
stated that law enforcement officials did not rise to the challenge, 
implying that the Catholic congregants were seeking a violent 
confrontation, according to Father Khai. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Instead of discouraging the gatherings, Father Khai 
explained that the media campaign actually had the opposite affect. 
While only small groups of congregants have been gathering at the 
site at 6 am and 7:30 pm to attend 15 minute praying sessions 
everyday over the last few months, several hundred Catholic 
believers began showing up at the disputed site following the 
offensive press reports.  According to Father Khai, approximately 
1,000 people who attend each Mass on Saturday and Sunday (one each 
morning and one each evening) now gather at the site for 15 minutes 
of prayer following the service. 
 
¶4. (SBU) On April 11, the municipal People's Committee of Hanoi 
summoned the parish leadership to discuss the ongoing dispute at the 
offices of the Hanoi Department for Natural Resources and 
Environment.  Local officials accused parish priests and 
parishioners of violating current laws and regulations related to 
traffic, construction, and public order by illegally gathering at 
the disputed site, causing noise, blocking traffic, illegally 
installing two tents on public property, and destroying public 
property by dismantling a wall intended to separate the disputed 
land from a street.  According to Father Khai, he and a group of 
Thai Ha parish priests disputed each allegation, noting that the 
prayer gatherings are twice a day for 15 minutes, those gathered 
stay on the public sidewalk and are quiet and respectful, and the 
tents are temporary and while they may be a violation of law, so is 
construction of a wall and continued GVN control of the land. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Regarding the land dispute, local officials stated that 
they had completed their investigation into the matter and 
determined that there is no legal foundation behind the Church's 
claim to the land.  The Thai Ha parish leadership, in turn, 
presented documents to prove their ownership over the disputed land 
and pointed out that the GVN never issued any formal decision to 
confiscate the land (as required by law), nor had the Church ever 
formally sold or returned the land to the GVN.  In response, local 
officials offered to turn part of disputed land into a public garden 
and another part, currently housing a temporary chapel, into a 
community center.  Doubting that the local officials would keep 
their word, Father Khai and the rest of the group refused the offer 
and restated the parish's legal claim to the land.  Father Khai 
noted that although the local official stated their decision was 
final, "we've heard that before." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Father Khai noted that four police cars were present when 
the group arrived for the April 11 meeting and that police, both 
uniformed and plain-clothed, maintain an ongoing presence at the 
disputed site.  He confirmed that there has been no violence between 
police and those gathered, but noted that the police frequently film 
the gatherings and take pictures. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Father Khai highlighted that many local officials have 
visited the site, attempting to persuade Church officials to ask 
people to stop gathering at the site, including representatives from 
the neighborhood and city level administrations, the Vietnam 
Fatherland Front, the Vietnam Women's Union, and the People's 
Committee.  However, given that a number of Catholic bishops have 
announced their public support of Thai Ha Church's efforts, the Thai 
Ha leadership and those gathered have no intention of giving in to 
the pressure.  Father Khai asserted that Catholic believers will not 
be shaken in their confidence that they would win this battle, 
claiming that Catholic believers are becoming more and more 
 
HANOI 00000499  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
determined to continue the fight.  He believes local officials are 
now at a loss for what to do about the ongoing gatherings - they 
have tried all means at their disposal, yet the Catholic believers 
continue to gather and insist on the return of the land. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment: Although resolving the dispute over the site at 
Thai Ha parish is not a stated priority for the Catholic Church 
leadership in Vietnam, the disagreement with Hanoi authorities seems 
to have touched a nerve with local Catholics, who refuse to be cowed 
by threats or persuaded by cajoling, and has left the Hanoi People's 
Committee with few remaining options.  All efforts by local 
authorities at intimidation and persuasion appear to have the 
opposite affect on the parishioners, hardening their resolve and 
increasing calls for a return of the land to the church.  The Hanoi 
People's Committee must now decide whether to continue its efforts 
to seek a resolution or allow the construction of a planned factory 
to begin at the site.  The latter will likely require the detention 
and possible arrest of Catholic parishioners, and almost certainly 
result in public outrage of the wider Catholic community, both in 
Vietnam and elsewhere.  Whether the national government will become 
involved should the local authorities attempt to pursue the latter 
course of action, as the GVN did in the dispute over the former 
Vatican residence (Ref. C), remains to be seen.  End comment.