Wikileaks: 06HANOI243, VIETNAM: ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL'S CALL ON

On Cambodia, the United States is

concerned about Hun Sen's recent decisions to arrest

government critics.

Reference ID: 06HANOI243

Created: 2006-02-06 06:53

Released: 2011-08-30 01:44

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Origin: Embassy Hanoi

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SUBJECT: VIETNAM: ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILL'S CALL ON

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER VU KHOAN

HANOI 00000243 001.2 OF 003

Sensitive but unclassified protect accordingly.

¶1. (SBU) Summary and Introduction: On January 13,

Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill met with Deputy

Prime Minister Vu Khoan. The Deputy Prime Minister

laid out a roadmap of five steps to prepare for the

visit of President Bush in November: work to close

bilateral WTO market access negotiations in the first

quarter, set up a political consultative mechanism to

oversee preparations, review deliverables, expand

humanitarian cooperation and settle outstanding issues

such as the Country of Particular Concern (CPC)

designation. Assistant Secretary Hill suggested that

Vice Foreign Minister Le Van Bang direct the

consultations, called for conclusion of the WTO talks,

expressed the desire to discuss regional issues and

noted that APEC issues would also need to be included.

A/S Hill said he would return to Hanoi in the spring to

continue preparations for the President's visit. End

summary.

¶2. (SBU) EAP Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill,

accompanied by Ambassador Marine, met with Deputy Prime

Minister Vu Khoan on January 13. Vietnam's Assistant

Minister for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Nguyen Duc Hung

also attended. Expressing satisfaction with the

development of bilateral relations, A/S Hill

congratulated the DPM on Vietnam's economic

achievements. The DPM concurred with A/S Hill's

assessment that relations are going well, but pointed

out that there is more to do. Remarking that Vietnam

will host APEC in 2006, he said that he was pleased

that President Bush would come to Vietnam. Prime

Minister Phan Van Khai's visit to Washington last year

had been a great success and a high mark in bilateral

relations. It is therefore important to maintain this

momentum in the run-up to the President's visit to

ensure that relations will move to a higher level.

¶3. (SBU) Since the focus of the 2006 relationship would

be preparations for President Bush's visit, Vu Khoan

enumerated a roadmap of five concrete steps.

Vietnam's top priority is concluding the bilateral WTO

negotiations. Pleased that the U.S. team will come to

Vietnam next week, DPM Khoan noted that these

negotiations are not only important to Vietnam, but are

in the best interest of promoting bilateral relations.

For this reason Vietnam's team had been instructed to

do its utmost to conclude the negotiations early. The

two negotiating teams will hopefully bear in mind that

Vietnam is ready to go further within the framework of

current WTO rules, especially with respect to its level

of development, but Vietnam hopes that the U.S. team

will not seek to impose conditions from Free Trade

Agreements or the unconcluded Doha Round. The DPM

clarified that he does not intend to shirk any existing

WTO rules, but to avoid future possible rules, he

stressed. Completing the bilateral negotiations in the

first quarter of this year would be very good.

¶4. (SBU) To prepare for the President's visit, the

Deputy Prime Minister issued another call for the

bilateral political consultations that the Prime

Minister had proposed in June in Washington. Such

consultations could take place in Hanoi or Washington

at a level subject to agreement by both sides. The two

countries would need to review which agreements could

be concluded during the President's visit, such as the

bilateral maritime agreement reached in principle in

December 2005. On humanitarian issues, the DPM

expressed satisfaction with bilateral cooperation on

POW/MIA accounting and HIV-AIDS. Vietnam welcomes U.S.

support on avian influenza and hopes for even more

cooperation in this area. It is important to clear up

any outstanding issues prior to the President's visit,

such as Vietnam's designation as a Country of

Particular Concern. Vietnam is prepared to discuss

this matter in order to find a solution. While there

are other issues, these are the ones needing attention

HANOI 00000243 002.2 OF 003

before November, the DPM emphasized. Exchanges between

legislators is another way to boost relations. People-

to-people ties are also important. DPM Khoan expressed

his desire to work closely with the Assistant Secretary

and the Ambassador to prepare for President Bush's trip

to Vietnam. Cooperation with the United States is

necessary for the APEC Summit to be successful, he

concluded.

¶5. (SBU) Observing that 2005 had been a very busy year,

A/S Hill said that there is potential for a rich

harvest in 2006, but there is much work to do. On WTO

accession, the U.S. side would also be giving some

clear instructions to the U.S. negotiating team.

Success in the coming week is important and critical in

the next few weeks because this is a Congressional

election year. The bilateral WTO agreement will be of

great importance to U.S. firms as well as to Vietnamese

firms. Trade has risen dramatically since the

Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) took effect and

investment is also rising. A/S Hill called on the DPM

to help make the negotiations for the bilateral

agreement move forward. He voiced support for the

DPM's proposal for a systematic review of bilateral

relations and suggested that MFA Vice Minister Le Van

Bang head the GVN delegation. The review would need to

cover bilateral issues, APEC issues and regional

concerns. A/S Hill also praised Vietnam's rapid

economic growth rate and its efforts on AI.

Regional Issues

---------------

¶6. (SBU) DPM Khoan said that regional issues are of

great importance. Some regional developments had not

been seen in the previous century, such as the rise of

China. Vietnam and its neighbors pay a lot of

attention to their relations with China. New forums

such as the East Asia Summit are emerging. Relations

between China and Japan were also important. While

both are Vietnam's friends, sometimes it is torn

between them on issues such as UN Security Council

enlargement. New developments in the region require

new attitudes. Given such important changes, the U.S.

role is key. More attention from the United States is

important; otherwise, other players will fill the

vacuum.

¶7. (SBU) A/S Hill pledged to pay greater attention to

ASEAN and said that Secretary Rice will attend the next

ASEAN Regional Forum in the Philippines. The United

States wants to work with China and Japan, but not to

compete with them. Relations with China are good, but

the rising trade surplus is unsustainable. Laid-off

U.S. workers tend to blame China for their job losses,

even those resulting from exports from other countries.

On the East Asia Summit, A/S Hill expressed the desire

for the EAS to be open and transparent so that no one

concludes it is meant to exclude other countries. He

expressed concern about Burma, which he termed "in

another world." On Cambodia, the United States is

concerned about Hun Sen's recent decisions to arrest

government critics. The many tough issues before us

will require much hard work in 2006.

Human Right and Religious Freedom, CPC

--------------------------------------

¶8. (SBU) A/S Hill pressed for the DPM to work to make

the upcoming visit of DRL A/S Lowenkron successful

following the model of the successful visit by

Congressman Chris Smith. More progress on human rights

and religious freedom is necessary. The United States

wants to resolve these issues so as not to burden the

bilateral relationship.

¶9. (SBU) The DPM noted that it had not been easy to

allow (elderly dissident) Hoang Minh Chinh to go to the

United States for medical treatment and expressed

HANOI 00000243 003.2 OF 003

concern about Chinh's public criticism of Vietnam.

This cannot be allowed, he said. He expressed

willingness to have a dialogue about these issues,

noting that Vietnam does not want them to become an

obstacle to the larger relationship. A/S Hill

responded that openness made Vietnam look stronger and

more confident.

¶10. (SBU) A/S Hill said that he would be back in the

spring to work on the preparations for the President's

trip. The American people's impression of Vietnam is

very positive, and this is good for investment as

American firms take note of their customers' views.

Vietnam's economy is a rising star, one in which U.S.

firms want to participate. Concluding, the DPM said he

is pleased that the United States will have a new

embassy in Hanoi.

¶11. (U) Participants:

United States

-------------

Assistant Secretary Christopher R. Hill

Ambassador Michael W. Marine

EAP Special Assistant Kamala Lakhdhir

Pol/C Marc Knapper

Econ/C Sam Watson (notetaker)

Vietnam

-------

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan

Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Duc Hung

Americas Department Deputy Director Nguyen Anh Dzung

U.S. Desk Officer Lai Thai Binh

¶12. (U) A/S Hill has cleared this message.

BOARDMAN