What did the declassified documents reveal?

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum titled “The Current Phase in China,” dated seventeen February, nineteen sixty‑seven. It is notable because it offers the agency’s internal assessment of the Cultural Revolution as it appeared to be moving into a more moderate stage. The memorandum was approved for release on twenty‑fifth September, two thousand six, under the agency’s declassification authority. It was made public through a Freedom of Information Act request and is now hosted on The Black Vault website at the URL archive.org/download/us‑china‑intel‑CI01794/CI01794djvu.txt. The document reads as follows. “Central Intelligence Agency Office of National Estimates Memorandum for the Board Subject: The Current Phase in China 1. There is no doubt that the Cultural Revolution entered a new, more moderate phase around the first of February. Throughout the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution the directives and advice from Peking have contained a contradictory mix of calls for radical, destructive, and punitive action and calls for restraint, order, and patience. Within the past two weeks the latter emphasis appears to dominate while Chairman Mao’s authority continues to be invoked. Zhou En‑lai, a consistent advocate of less radical policies, has emerged as the leading spokesman for the regime. The general thrust of recent developments is toward a reassertion of the authority of established organs of power—the army and the party—and a clamping down on Red Guard and Red Rebel revolutionary activities. 2. Late January emphasis on the Shanghai Commune as a model for “seizing power” and constructing new forms of authority dropped off suddenly in favor of the experience in Heilungkiang. It is stressed that the Red Rebels genuinely embodied Mao’s thought by uniting with senior leading members of the provincial party committee and local People’s Liberation Army cadres. People’s Daily, in its commentary on this affair, stresses the importance of the “three‑way” combination—Red Rebels, party cadre, and the PLA—to successful revolution and makes much of the superior political maturity and ability of the loyal party cadre. 3. The abrupt shift toward a more lenient attitude toward past officials has been accompanied by official criticisms of young revolutionaries. Peking broadcasts charge they are often hard to discipline, ultra‑leftist, and unwilling to cooperate with party officials. In Peking itself the activities of the Red Rebels and Red Guards appear to have been curtailed by the takeover of the Public Security Bureau by the army. 4. These manifestations are coincident with speeches and directives, some attributable to Zhou, calling for students and teachers to end “revolutionary interchanges” and for a halt to the movement of military personnel to engage in cultural‑revolutionary activities. With the scheduled reopening of elementary schools on thirteen February and high schools on one March, a substantial proportion of the Red…

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 The Current Phase In China

◆ BLUF — The short version

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum titled “The Current Phase in China,” dated seventeen February, nineteen sixty‑seven. It is notable because it offers the agency’s internal assessment of the Cultural Revolution as it appeared to be moving into a more moderate stage.

Date: AUG 16 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was CIA The Current Phase In China about?: This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum titled “The Current Phase in China,” dated seventeen February, nineteen sixty‑seven. It is notable because it offers the agency’s internal assessment of the Cultural Revolution as it appeared to be moving into a more moderate stage.
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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