CIA: Weekly Review, Office of Current Intelligence.

From the Central Intelligence Agency, this is a declassified record titled "Weekly Review, Office of Current Intelligence." Dated August eighth, nineteen fifty-one, it details the Chinese Communist threat to Burma, mobilization attempts in Vietnam, and economic plans in Eastern Europe. This document is archived at vault.fbi.gov. This record, bearing the copy number fifty-three, was approved for release in two thousand four, on October eighth, under declassification authority C-I-A-R-D-P seventy-nine-S-zero-one-zero-six-zero-A-zero-zero-zero-one-zero-zero-zero-seven-zero-zero-zero-one-seven. It represents a typical example of intelligence summaries from the period. The document opens with a summary of contents. The first section is titled "The Chinese Communist Threat to Burma." It states: "Two recent developments which have pointed up the Chinese Communist threat to Burma have been the reported movement of Chinese Communist troops to strategic sectors along the China-Burma border and the incursions into Yunnan, from Burma, of Chinese Nationalist military forces. The Nationalists' use of Burma as their base provides the Peiping regime with a ready-made pretext for invasion." The next section, "Mobilization Attempted in Vietnam," reports: "A decree signed by Emperor Bao Dai on fifteen June was the most recent in a series of measures designed to augment the will and capability of the Vietnamese people to counter the Communist threat posed by the Viet Minh and its Chinese allies. Efforts in this direction, however, are seriously handicapped by unresolved problems in the field of French-Vietnamese relations." Following this, "Satellites Admit Some Shortcomings in Current Economic Plans": "The Eastern European Satellites, Rumania excepted, have admitted to some 'shortcomings' in the fulfillment of their economic plans during the past quarter. Generally, however, production quotas were met. Shortcomings can be attributed to shortages of or delay in the delivery of raw materials, inefficient industrial operation and planning, and labor unrest." The document continues under the heading "Communists Mobilize to Break Down East-West Trade Controls": "Communist parties and Communist-dominated 'peace' organizations are currently being mobilized by the U-S-S-R to bring strong pressure against tightening Western economic restrictions on trade with the Soviet Orbit." Further down, "September Action on Greek-Turkish Admission to N-A-T-O in Doubt": "Continued objections to the proposed admission of Greece and Turkey to N-A-T-O may delay the final approval desired by the U-S beyond the mid-September meeting of the North Atlantic Council. Approval at the annual Council meeting in Rome in October is probable, but with the most reluctant consent of several N-A-T-O members." The document describes "West Berlin in Tight Situation as Youth Festival Reaches Climax": "As the Communist World Youth Festival opens in East Berlin, West Berlin finds itself in the worst economic position since the blockade of nineteen forty-eight-nineteen forty-nine. The U-S-S-R's three-month blockade of West Berlin's vital exports has forced the West to initiate an airlift to fly out accumulated goods." Finally, "Western European Communists Plan to Exploit Labor Discontent in Fall": "Recent meetings of Communist political and labor leaders of Western Europe point to continued efforts to exploit labor's grievances in order to disrupt Western rearmament." The main body of the document elaborates on the "Chinese Communist Threat to Burma." It reads: "Reports are again current that the Chinese Communists intend to invade Burma in the near future, possibly at the end of the monsoon season in mid-September. These reports emphasize that the recent movement into Yunnan of Chinese Nationalist forces based in Burma offers the Peiping regime a plausible excuse for a penetration of Burmese territory. Communist China's pressure upon Burma is exerted in various ways. Although the Peiping regime has diplomatic relations with Burma and refrains from propaganda attacks, Peiping is actively assisting the insurgent Burmese Communists, attempting aggressively to gain control of Chinese residents of Burma, and--perhaps most ominously--in recent months has reportedly moved troops into strategic sectors along the China-Burma border." The record states that "The Burmese Communist Party, the Stalinist group in Burma, has clearly indicated an orientation toward Peiping, and its forces have been moving from central Burma to the China-Burma border during the past several months, apparently to be in a better position to receive Chinese Communist aid. There is evidence that some such aid has already been provided--in the form of training, supplies, and possibly technicians--and its scope is expected to increase during nineteen fifty-one. A well-known and very able Chinese Communist guerrilla leader, familiar with the rugged terrain of northern Burma, is reported to have been appointed to supervise the aid program and to direct guerrilla operations." It further details: "Chinese Communist diplomats and agents are active among the two-hundred-fifty-thousand to three-hundred-thousand Chinese residents of Burma. Despite indications of growing anti-Communist sentiment among the Burma Chinese, the Peiping regime has succeeded in inducing a passive orientation of these Chinese toward Peiping, and in undermining anti-Communist activities among them. The Burmese authorities, as a result of their professed 'neutral' foreign policy, have refused to recognize the Chinese Communist threat, and have been reluctant to curtail the operations of Peiping's representatives in Burma for fear of giving offense." Regarding territorial claims: "Both Chinese Nationalist and Communist maps have consistently claimed as Chinese territory most of Burma north of twenty-five degrees thirty-five minutes as far as the Assam and Tibet borders. The Chinese Communists have reportedly collected taxes in some of the disputed areas, but as yet have made no attempt to occupy them." The document concludes this section: "The two developments which have most intensified the danger of Chinese Communist aggression against Burma have been the reported movement of Chinese Communist troops to strategic sectors of the China-Burma border and the resurgence of Chinese Nationalist Forces which retreated into Burma in early nineteen fifty. Chinese Communist strength in the area is estimated at twenty-thousand to thirty-thousand troops. [four lines redacted under exemption B1] The Peiping regime is in a position to launch a substantial striking force into Burmese territory on short notice, while Burmese forces are incapable of offering effective opposition. Peiping has repeatedly denounced the presence and operations of several thousand Chinese Nationalist troops who in recent months have been strengthened and resupplied and who have invaded Yunnan. There have been reports of Chinese Communist violations of Burmese territory during the pursuit of isolated groups of these Nationalist forces. The presence of Nationalist forces in Burma provides the Peiping regime with an excuse for invasion which could obscure the issue of aggression in the eyes of many nations, including the Burmese themselves." This is what the public record looks like at its most ordinary. storyflo.com. The full document is available at archive.org/download/us-china-intel-CI00791/CI00791_djvu.txt.