What did the declassified documents reveal?

Declassified. Today we examine a declassified government record on United States intelligence concerning Chinese Nationalist actions against the Communist mainland from offshore islands. This two-page Top Secret memorandum, dated September eleventh, nineteen-fifty-eight, from the Department of State's Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, sheds light on cross-strait military and subversive activities during a tense period. You can find this document on documents2.theblackvault.com. This document was released under the Freedom of Information Act and is accessible to the public on The Black Vault's archive. Its declassification helps to illuminate the historical intelligence landscape of the Cold War. This document consists of two pages. To the Secretary, through F E, from F E, Mr. Robertson. Subject: G R C Actions Against Communist Mainland. Concerning your request of September eighth that F E determine and report to you on the extent to which the G R C has in recent months used the offshore islands as bases for military and subversive operations against the mainland, the following additional information has been received from Embassy Taipei: One. Small commando-type raids from the offshore islands have made intermittent and extremely shallow penetrations of mainland areas. The largest raid known to us was one by twenty-eight men launched in October, nineteen-fifty-seven, which was quickly driven off by artillery and machine-gun fire. Two. Agent operations have been extensively staged from Matsu, and to a lesser extent from Kinmen, also known as Quemoy. In July, nineteen-fifty-eight, fifty agents are reported to have penetrated the mainland from Matsu. In general, agent infiltrations have not been very successful, and most agents are compromised. Three. No over-flights of the mainland have ever been staged from the offshore islands, although small planes from Kinmen have flown near the coast. Leaflet dissemination of over one million leaflets in the past year was carried out from the offshore islands by means of artillery, balloons, waterborne devices, and distribution by fishermen. Four. Loudspeaker propaganda has been continuously broadcast by both sides. Due to adverse winds, which seriously interfere with activities, loudspeakers on Kinmen are used only about three or four hours daily for one or two days per week. Five. Artillery on Kinmen could interfere with foreign shipping entering Amoy but has not done so since June, nineteen-fifty-seven. Guns on the Matsus do not command the entrance to Foochow. However, early in nineteen-fifty-eight three British ships were stopped near Foochow and permitted to proceed after brief interrogation. Six. Artillery fire prior to August twenty-third was comparatively small-scale. Between January nineteen-fifty-eight and August twenty-third, two thousand ninety-nine rounds of high explosive and one thousand seventy-five rounds of propaganda were fired from the Kinmen complex against the Amoy area; six hundred five…

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.

Government Record On United States Intelligence Concerning Chinese Nationalist

◆ BLUF — The short version

Declassified. Today we examine a declassified government record on United States intelligence concerning Chinese Nationalist actions against the Communist mainland from offshore islands. This two-page Top Secret memorandum, dated September eleventh, nineteen-fifty-eight, from the Department of State's Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, sheds light on cross-strait military and subversive activities during a tense period.

Date: SEP 21 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was Government Record On United States Intelligence Concerning Chinese Nationalist about?: Declassified. Today we examine a declassified government record on United States intelligence concerning Chinese Nationalist actions against the Communist mainland from offshore islands. This two-page Top Secret memorandum, dated September eleventh, nineteen-fifty-eight, from the Department of State's Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, sheds light on cross-strait military and subversive activities during a tense period.
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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