What did the declassified documents reveal?

Declassified presents a March nineteen sixty-two memorandum for the record detailing a meeting with General Chiang Ching-kuo from the Department of State's Director of Intelligence and Research. This declassified record illuminates the Republic of China's proposed counteroffensive against mainland China and the United States' cautious response. This document was released by the Central Intelligence Agency and archived by The Black Vault under the identifying catalog CI01461. It was declassified under Executive Order Twelve thousand three hundred fifty-six, Section three-point-four, by the National Archives and Records Administration, and made available on The Black Vault's archive.org page. The document, titled "Memorandum for the Record: Meeting with General Chiang Ching-kuo," is dated March nineteenth, nineteen sixty-two. It reads: "Memorandum for the Record: Meeting with General Chiang Ching-kuo, which lasted ninety minutes, on March eighth, nineteen sixty-two. General Chiang began by expressing his appreciation for the opportunity to meet and talk about the situation in China. He said he felt there were no basic differences between the two countries' desires in the Far East; he said that they felt that this year was the one that they should counterattack on the mainland; he said that his government's decision was the result of thirteen years of continuous preparation and study of the situation on the mainland; he said that their decision recognized the consequences of this for the United States and that they had considered very carefully the interest of the United States as well as of the G-R-C. He said that the U-S was having much trouble in Viet-Nam, South Korea, Laos, and all of this trouble could be traced to the machinations of the Chinese Communists. He said so long as the Chinese Communists were permitted to continue to exist there would be no peace in the Far East. He felt that Communist China must be eliminated in our interest as well as in the G-R-C interest. Chiang said that indications on the mainland were never more favorable than this year; there were the internal economic and political difficulties and the Republic of China, on the other hand, was stronger than it had ever been before. He said that the twenty-man teams were too small to set the spark that would bring down the Chinese Communist regime. The villagers in China had defense forces (like the self-defense forces in Viet-Nam) of about one thousand people; he thought that regular soldiers could handle five times their number and hence they had decided on teams of two hundred men. They proposed airdropping five teams of two hundred men into each of five separate areas; these could overcome the self-defense forces in these areas and spark resistance. He said that once this happened they were positive there would be large scale defections not only from the population but from the regular army units of the Chinese Communists. He said that the Chinese Government did not…

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.

CIA Declassified Presents A March Nineteen Sixty Two Memorandum For The Record

◆ BLUF — The short version

Declassified presents a March nineteen sixty-two memorandum for the record detailing a meeting with General Chiang Ching-kuo from the Department of State's Director of Intelligence and Research. This declassified record illuminates the Republic of China's proposed counteroffensive against mainland China and the United States' cautious response.

Date: SEP 14 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was CIA Declassified Presents A March Nineteen Sixty Two Memorandum For The Record about?: Declassified presents a March nineteen sixty-two memorandum for the record detailing a meeting with General Chiang Ching-kuo from the Department of State's Director of Intelligence and Research. This declassified record illuminates the Republic of China's proposed counteroffensive against mainland China and the United States' cautious response.
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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CIA Declassified Presents A March Nineteen Sixty Two Memorandum For The Record

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