What did the declassified documents reveal?

From the Declassified archives, this is a record concerning the possible utilization of seventy-five million dollars for the general area of China. It was published as a Top Secret memorandum by the Plans and Operations Division of the United States Army on November sixteenth, nineteen forty-nine. This document was released by the F-B-I and is available to the public at vault.fbi.gov, through The Black Vault archives at documents2.theblackvault.com, and storyflo.com. No F-O-I-A case number or declassification authority is cited in the public record for this declassified item. The document begins: Possible Utilization of seventy-five million dollars for the "General Area" of China. Sixteenth November nineteen forty-nine. Summary. One. In accordance with your request, P and O Division forwards the attached study which proposes a possible plan for the utilization of the seventy-five million dollars authorized to the President by Section Three Hundred and Three, Title Three, Mutual Defense Assistance Act of nineteen forty-nine, as an Emergency Fund for use in the "general area" of China. Two. The main conclusions of the study are that the seventy-five million dollars can and should be used, primarily, to strengthen opposition to Communism in Southeast Asia so as to permit the economic linking of that area with Japan and the Philippines, thereby reducing the cost to the U.S. of maintaining its position in the strategic off-shore island chain. This would further contribute to the security interests of the U.S. by denying the strategic materials of Southeast Asia to Russian control. While it is considered that covert operations should be undertaken in China, it is concluded that overt assistance to non-Communist Chinese would not prevent the ultimate control of China by the Communists but might be considered as a means to buy time in favor of the programs anticipated in Southeast Asia. Three. Lacking adequate long-range political guidance, many points of broad governmental policy involved in this study were necessarily assumed in its formulation. Moreover, since the governmental policies pertinent to this problem have not as yet been resolved within the Department of State, coordination outside the Army was not sought as it did not appear prudent to do so. However, the intelligence data appearing in the paper were obtained from I-D and C-I-A sources. An added complication is the domestic political differences on the general subject of "Aid to China". Four. It is believed that the national and international political factors involved may well be the dominant consideration in the ultimate disposition of the seventy-five million dollars. Recommendation. That Conclusions of this study be used primarily as background material to facilitate consideration, when required, on studies now in preparation in the Joint [four lines redacted under exemption B-One]. The document continues with detailed recommendations for allocation of the seventy-five million dollars…

Why was this case declassified?

This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. The originating source document is linked on this page so the citation chain is auditable.

Case File · ARCHIVE-002Declassified

Filed NOV 13 · 2026Runtime 1 min

FBI From The Declassified Archives, This Is A Record Concerning The Possible

U.S. public record · FOIAUpdated November 13, 2026

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◆ BLUF — The short version

From the Declassified archives, this is a record concerning the possible utilization of seventy-five million dollars for the general area of China. It was published as a Top Secret memorandum by the Plans and Operations Division of the United States Army on November sixteenth, nineteen forty-nine.

Date: NOV 13 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was FBI From The Declassified Archives, This Is A Record Concerning The Possible about?: From the Declassified archives, this is a record concerning the possible utilization of seventy-five million dollars for the general area of China. It was published as a Top Secret memorandum by the Plans and Operations Division of the United States Army on November sixteenth, nineteen forty-nine.
Why was this case declassified?: This material entered the public record through the U.S. declassification and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. Storyflo narrates it directly from the public release.

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FBI From The Declassified Archives, This Is A Record Concerning The Possible

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