VZCZCXRO3578
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #0617/01 1480850
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270850Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7895
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 4772
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000617 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF AND DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF PGOV PREL VM
SUBJECT: CONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES ON VESAK DAY CELEBRATIONS:  THE 
VBS AND UBCV 
 
REFS: A) HANOI 571   B) 07 HCMC 609   C)07 HCMC 766 AND PREVIOUS 
D)HANOI 184 
 
HANOI 00000617  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  While the vast majority of Vietnamese Buddhists 
celebrated Vesak Day with an exuberantly colorful display of 
Buddhist traditions and full GVN support throughout Southern 
Vietnam, the outlawed United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) held 
private ceremonies at their pagodas.  While the VBS enjoys good 
relations and high-level support from the GVN, UBCV leaders maintain 
they have no desire to register through the legal framework on 
religion because they do not feel they need the GVN's approval to 
legitimize their organization or to practice their faith.  Because 
of their confrontational stance and advocacy for various social and 
political causes, the UBCV has been a notable exception in Vietnam's 
progressively positive story of widening religious freedom.  Post 
continues to receive reports of police harassment and intimidation 
of UBCV monks and followers in southern Vietnam.  There is a 50-year 
history to the conflict between government officials and Buddhist 
activists in southern Vietnam that portends more trouble for some 
time to come.  End summary. 
 
Vesak Day, Southern Style 
------------------------- 
¶2. (U) Brightly colored Buddhist flags and banners decorated streets 
and pagodas in HCMC and across the Delta provinces, announcing 
annual Vesak Day celebrations commemorating the birth, enlightenment 
and passing of the Buddha.  While Hanoi hosted the official events 
for the United Nations Day of Vesak May 14-17 (Ref A), the HCMC 
Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) also held a ceremony here on May 19 
that coincided with the anniversary of Ho Chi Minh's birthday. 
Thousands of Buddhists from HCMC's 21 districts joined senior VBS 
monks and government leaders in an early morning ceremony at a large 
stadium owned by the military near Tan Son Nhat airport. 
 
¶3. (U) Among the attendees were Deputy National CRA Chief Nguyen Huu 
Oanh, National Fatherland Front Chief Representative Le Minh Hien, 
HCMC People's Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan, Lieutenant General 
Le Manh, Commander-in-chief of the 7th Military Zone and the Vicar 
General of the Catholic Church.  Diplomats and monks from several 
Buddhist nations, including India, Cambodia, Thailand and Japan, 
were also in the VIP seats.  (Note: ConGen HCMC was the only 
"Western" consulate present.  End Note.)_ Patriotic and socialistic 
motifs were woven throughout the Vesak celebrations, with HCMC 
leaders making reference to the Buddha's birthday and Ho Chi Minh's 
birthday in their official remarks while Vietnamese flags and 
popular Ho Chi Minh bon mots were interspersed with Buddhist flags 
and banners in HCMC and the Delta provinces. 
 
UBCV Celebrates Quietly 
----------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) contacts in Ho 
Chi Minh City, Thua Thien Hue and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provinces also 
held smaller celebrations commemorating Vesak this year and most 
reported no interference from local authorities.  Thich Thien Hanh, 
Chief Representative of the UBCV in Thua Thien-Hue Province, said 
the UBCV Board celebrated Vesak at Quoc An Pagoda in much the same 
way they did last year with approximately 120 monks and 2,000 
followers gathered (Ref B).  Some pagodas did report an increased 
security presence, but Monk Thich Vinh Phuoc at Phuoc Buu pagoda in 
Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province said that with the thousands of 
international visitors here for the United Nations Vesak Day 
celebrations, it was "not surprising that security was tightened." 
Vesak notwithstanding, UBCV leaders continue to experience 
limitations on their ability to communicate and assemble, in part 
due to their long history of conflict with the GVN. 
 
A Brief History of the UBCV 
--------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) Readers of a certain age will recall a long period of 
repression of Buddhists in the former Republic of South Vietnam that 
captured international attention only when Thich Quang Duc immolated 
himself during a public demonstration in June 1963.  In 1964, 
Buddhists regained official status and formed the Unified Buddhist 
Church of Vietnam.  In 1975, the Communist Party attempted to create 
a state-controlled Buddhist organization in the South and harshly 
suppressed those who opposed their efforts.  The officially 
sanctioned Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) was founded in 1981 from 
the rank and file of the UBCV.  Those UBCV adherents who opposed the 
Communists and refused to join were considered "outlaws," although 
the GVN never officially disbanded the UBCV.  (Note: Since many 
senior VBS monks were once a part of the UBCV, the two groups 
maintain informal contacts and some have speculated that the GVN is 
"easier" on the UBCV than it is on other political activists because 
many VBS monks in high positions sympathize with their estranged 
Buddhist brethren.  End note). 
 
¶6. (SBU) Since 1981, the GVN has implemented tactics ranging from 
coercion and intimidation to persuasion and diplomacy to encourage 
 
HANOI 00000617  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
UBCV leaders to join the VBS.  In recent years, the GVN has also 
encouraged the UBCV to register under the legal framework on 
religion.  UBCV leaders, however, assert their legitimacy does not 
hinge on the GVN's approval, and UBCV General Secretary Thich Quang 
Do has often said "asking for permission [from the GVN] for the 
right to practice our faith implies that we do not have it already." 
 The UBCV has claimed they would accept Buddhist "reunification" 
under the following conditions: 
 
--Official GVN recognition of the UBCV's legitimacy; 
--An end to "State management" over Buddhism; 
--Clarification regarding the circumstances of death of UBCV leader 
Thich Thien Minh (believed to have died during police interrogations 
in 1978); and 
--return of certain UBCV properties confiscated after 1975. 
 
¶7. (SBU) There are no official statistics on the number of UBCV 
adherents as many UBCV monks reside in VBS pagodas or "house 
pagodas."  The main centers for the UBCV are in HCMC, Hue and Binh 
Dinh province, but the growth of the UBCV can be seen through the 
increasing number of UBCV representative boards that have sprung up 
in provinces in recent years.  One UBCV contact confirmed that the 
organization has now introduced representative boards in some 20 
provinces and towns. 
 
UBCV's Political Activism 
------------------------- 
¶8. (SBU) The UBCV's fight for freedom of religious practice is 
inextricably tied to its struggle for human rights, democracy and 
political pluralism in Vietnam.  UBCV leaders have longstanding 
connections with several pro-democracy activists and share similar 
views on a number of "sensitive" domestic and international issues 
such as Chinese actions in the Spratleys/Paracels, the suppression 
of human rights in Burma and the crackdown on Buddhist monks in 
Tibet. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In his meetings with US officials over the past year, UBCV 
leader Thich Quang Do has advocated for the reinstatement of the 
Countries of Particular Concern designation for Vietnam as a way to 
pressure the GVN to improve its human rights record.  Despite his 
lack of mobile phone and Internet access, he manages to track 
Vietnam human rights measures in Congress and is well-versed on 
which Congressional representatives advocate on behalf of Vietnamese 
religious and political activists.  When Poloff informed Thich Quang 
Do of the upcoming Human Rights Dialogue in Hanoi, he advised us 
"not to be fooled by the GVN" because "they say one thing and do 
another." Thich Quang Do said "after APEC, PNTR, WTO were over, the 
GVN returned to its true identity as suppressor of human rights." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Last year UBCV leader Thich Quang Do joined the 
land-rights protesters gathered in front of the National Assembly 
Office in Ho Chi Minh City to offer spiritual support and give them 
money raised by overseas Vietnamese supporters (Ref C).  The 
protests, which had proceeded without incident over several weeks, 
were broken up by police shortly after Thich Quang Do called for 
multiparty democracy via loudspeaker.  Recently, a land-rights 
organizer in HCMC told Poloff that land rights activists "know" they 
can go to UBCV pagodas for aid and assistance if needed.  As a 
result of their activism, UBCV leaders are often targets of official 
harassment and intimidation. 
 
Recent reports of UBCV harassment 
--------------------------------- 
¶11. (SBU)  In Lam Dong province, UBCV contacts reported that 
Superior Monk Thich Tri Khai from Giac Hai Pagoda received an 
eviction notice from local authorities ordering him to turn the 
pagoda over to the VBS on April 6.  Contacts say Fatherland Front 
representatives and police gathered other Buddhists to publicly 
denounce Thich Tri Khai and offered "rewards" to those who 
participated in the public denouncement.  UBCV Buddhists adherents 
protested the officials' actions and around 200 signed a petition in 
support of Thich Tri Khai.  Several followers were subsequently 
summoned by the police for questioning. 
¶12. (SBU) Subsequently, on April 29, Chief Monk Thich Nhu Tan and 
Deputy Chief Thich Tam Man were briefly detained for a three hour 
police interview after they visited Giac Hai pagoda.  The two also 
received summons to return to the police station before Vesak Day, 
but both refused to attend.  Thich Nhu Tan said authorities forcibly 
removed him and other resident monks from the pagoda, searched the 
property and changed the locks on May 7 and 8.  Because of the 
ongoing harassment, UBCV contacts say Thich Tri Khai suffers from 
ill health and has come to HCMC for medical care.  Contacts cannot 
confirm his whereabouts presently. 
¶13. (SBU) In Hue, contacts reported that Deputy Chief of UBCV 
Representative Board Monk Thich Chi Thang was summoned to attend a 
public denouncement session accusing him of conducting "illegal 
activities" in April and suggesting that he be expelled from the 
VBS's Phuoc Thanh pagoda.  Contacts say Hue police also tried to 
 
HANOI 00000617  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
prevent Thich Khong Tanh from giving the funeral service for 
Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV) dissident Hoang Minh Chinh in 
Hanoi (Ref D).  Thich Khong Tanh said he had stopped in Hue to meet 
with UBCV leaders there en route to the funeral when local police 
came to his hotel and asked him to come to the police station for 
questioning.  Thich Khong Thanh said he decided to leave the hotel 
early the next morning in order to avoid the attending the 
interview, which could have delayed his arrival in Hanoi. 
 
¶14. (SBU)  In Binh Dinh province,  Thich Minh Tuan, a disciple of 
UBCV Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang at Nguyen Thieu Monastery, said 
police maintain heavy surveillance over the pagoda and have 
prevented the Patriarch from traveling outside.  On February 23 
during the Lunar New Year holiday, Thich Minh Tuan said hundreds of 
policemen gathered in front of the monastery to conduct "exercises," 
ostensibly blocking the road and preventing the Patriarch from 
attending traditional ceremonies at another local monastery.  Que 
Me, the UBCV's official overseas website, claims the police were 
also trying to deter the Patriarch from paying Lunar New Year visits 
and receiving UBCV clergies from other provinces. 
 
¶15. (SBU) UBCV Monk Thich Thien Minh told us he decided to relocate 
from Bac Lieu province to Ho Chi Minh City two months ago, partly to 
get medical treatment and partly because of the repeated harassment 
and public denouncements held by local authorities there over the 
past year. According to Thich Quang Do, Thich Thien Minh has since 
resigned from the UBCV executive board and is now concentrating on 
his work with the Association for Former Political and Religious 
Prisoners, an organization that includes dissident Nguyen Dan Que. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶16. (SBU)  Although the GVN continues to make progress in its 
relationship with many religious denominations, including the VBS, 
the Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations, the UBCV 
remains a thorn in its side.  The UBCV's political and social 
activism and its refusal to accept the GVN's legal framework on 
religion means there is no hope of any reconciliation between the 
UBCV, the VBS and the GVN in the near future.  It is no more likely 
that the GVN will agree to the four conditions set out by the UBCV 
than the UBCV will agree to set aside its political agenda and join 
its VBS brethren.  It is an irreconcilable dispute, a half-century 
in the making, pitting officials bent on conformity against Buddhist 
activist-adherents with minds of their own.  However, it is worth 
recalling that the UBCV represent only a very small fraction of 
Vietnam's Buddhists, the vast majority of whom enjoy relative 
freedom of worship -- so long as they steer clear of political 
activism.  End comment. 
 
¶17. (U) This telegram was coordinated with Consulate General HCMC. 
 
MICHALAK