VZCZCXRO1141
OO RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #0848/01 2380639
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 260638Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0028
INFO ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0001

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000848 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ECON ETRD BM VM
SUBJECT: President Triet Assures Ambassador that Relations Good, 
Vietnam Remains Committed to Reform 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: In a cordial meeting August 18, State President 
Nguyen Minh Triet assured the Ambassador that Vietnam's leadership 
remained committed to deepening reform and viewed its relationship 
with the United States as positive and improving.  Noting that 
Vietnam would chair ASEAN in 2010, Triet suggested that a 
U.S.-ASEAN Summit could be held in Hanoi and encouraged President 
Obama and Secretary Clinton to visit; he had little else to offer 
on the subject of Vietnam's tenure as ASEAN chair.  The Ambassador 
agreed with Triet's upbeat assessment of bilateral relations, 
adding that the U.S. Embassy could do more with increased staffing. 
The Ambassador also urged Vietnam to press Burma to release Aung 
San Suu Kyi, a subject that would surely arise during Senator Jim 
Webb's August 19 meetings in Hanoi.  President Triet and the 
Ambassador expressed differing views on human rights, though both 
pledged to continue dialogue.  Triet voiced familiar positions on 
Agent Orange and U.S. restrictions on catfish imports.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
Relations Good and Getting Better 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Meeting August 18, the Ambassador and Vietnam's State 
President Nguyen Minh Triet exchanged views on the overall state of 
bilateral relations.  The Ambassador noted that it was two years to 
the day that he had presented his credentials to President Triet 
and praised cooperative efforts in the areas of education, climate 
change, and global and regional affairs.  He said that the U.S. 
Embassy could do even more if long-standing staffing requests were 
met.  Triet agreed that bilateral relations were on a positive 
trajectory.  He waxed nostalgic about his trip to the United States 
in 2007 and praised as historic PM Dung's visit in 2008; he also 
recalled fondly the 2006 visit to Hanoi of President Bush, 
describing at some length the throngs of smiling well-wishers that 
had greeted the U.S. President on his arrival.  Stressing that 
Vietnam would assume the ASEAN Chair in 2010, Triet said that Hanoi 
would be delighted to host a U.S.-ASEAN summit and extended 
invitations to President Obama and Secretary Clinton. 
 
 
 
Deepening Doi Moi 
 
----------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Responding to a question about the 11th Party Congress in 
2011, President Triet emphasized that the Communist Party remained 
committed to its program of reform and opening ("renovation" or Doi 
Moi).  (Note: Fellow Politburo member, Hanoi Party Secretary Pham 
Quang Nghi told the Ambassador nearly the same thing in their 
meeting the week before.  Reftel.  End note.)  Triet said that 
going into 2011, particular effort would be made to deepening 
Vietnam's international economic integration.  Less convincingly, 
Triet insisted the 11th Party Congress would further implement what 
he called "socialist-oriented rule of law" through administrative 
and judicial reform. 
 
 
 
Burma and ASEAN 
 
--------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Previewing the August 19 visit of Senator Jim Webb, the 
Ambassador urged Vietnam to press Burma to release Aung San Suu Kyi 
so that more constructive dialogue could begin.  President Triet 
commended the Obama Administration for its more "flexible" approach 
to Burma, as well as to Iran and North Korea, but offered little 
specific commentary.  Asked what priorities Vietnam would bring to 
its ASEAN chairmanship, Triet was similarly nonresponsive, saying 
only that it was a bit early to discuss. 
 
 
 
Human Rights 
 
HANOI 00000848  002 OF 002 
 
 
------------ 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Though the conversation remained cordial throughout, the 
Ambassador and Triet offered starkly different views on human 
rights.  The Ambassador said that recent incidents (such as 
violence at the Tam Toa Church ruins in Quang Binh and attacks on 
the Plum Village Order in Lam Dong) threatened to obscure progress 
in enlarging religious freedom.  Triet said that as a student 
activist, he had himself been arrested without charge and beaten 
(presumably by the South Vietnamese authorities), and so was 
personally committed to human rights.  Nevertheless, he said that 
Vietnam had a conflicted and difficult history, and it was unfair 
to judge his country by the standards of another.  Taking a harder 
tone, he said that Vietnam's leadership was responsive to 
dissenting views, but insisted that opinions had to be 
"constructive."  "Destructive" opinions were like sticks thrust 
into the spokes of a speeding bicycle, he said.  Triet and the 
Ambassador agreed that whatever our differences, the best way to 
move forward was through continued dialogue. 
 
 
 
Agent Orange and Catfish 
 
------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) President Triet urged the United States to "play a more 
active role" in assisting "victims" of Agent Orange, noting that a 
USD 3 million cleanup effort, while welcome, was still small.  He 
also urged the United States not to classify certain types of 
Vietnamese fish as catfish, arguing that this would unfairly harm 
local producers.  On Agent Orange, the Ambassador noted progress in 
dioxin cleanup at the Danang airport hotspot and said that the 
United States was committed to further discussion of science-based 
solutions, both on health issues and to further environmental 
remediation.  He took note of Vietnam's familiar position on 
catfish, and said that, as a larger issue, ongoing BIT and TIFA 
discussions were essential to furthering our already growing trade 
relations. 
MICHALAK