What did the declassified documents reveal?

Mao’s Red Guard Diplomacy: 1967 is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence report dated June twenty‑first, nineteen sixty‑eight. The document is notable because it offers a contemporaneous analysis of the extraordinary and, by the agency’s own assessment, irrational diplomatic conduct of Communist China during the height of the Cultural Revolution. The report was approved for release in May two thousand seven. It was made publicly available through The Black Vault, which hosts the full text as part of its online archive of declassified U.S. government records. The declassification authority is the Director of Central Intelligence, and the release was issued under the agency’s standard classification review procedures. The document begins: “APPROVED FOR RELEASE DATE: MAY 2007 DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE Intelligence Report MAO’S RED GUARD DIPLOMACY: 1967 (Reference Title: POLO XXXI) SEGRET RSS No. 0029/68 June twenty‑first, nineteen sixty‑eight MAO’S RED GUARD DIPLOMACY: 1967 For several months during 1967 Communist China’s diplomacy was characterized by an extraordinary degree of irrationality. In Peking, foreign embassies were violated and their personnel abused. Abroad, Chinese diplomatic personnel staged provocative demonstrations and went out of their way to insult host governments. The purpose was to bring the benefits and therapeutics of Communist China’s “cultural revolution” to foreign policy and the foreign policy establishment. It was as though the Chinese, in their dealings with foreigners, were seized by a kind of madness; for a time Peking’s usual non‑diplomacy—or at best semi‑diplomacy—gave way to outright anti‑diplomacy. The injection of this aspect of the “spirit of Mao” into the foreign ministry and onto the foreign scene was resisted by Foreign Minister Chen Yi, a man of remarkable courage, outspokenness, and style. No other ranking official has stood so openly and stubbornly against Mao’s “cultural revolution” and survived. Only the support of his long‑time, close colleague Zhou En‑lai seems to have saved him for the time being. Although partially bent to Mao’s will, Chen, with Zhou’s backing, won his struggle, at least for the present, to eliminate the irrationalities of the “cultural revolution” from the mainstream of foreign policy. This Intelligence Report, produced solely by the Special Research Staff, reviews and analyzes these and other extraordinary aspects of Communist China’s conduct of foreign affairs during 1967. Arthur Cohen is the research analyst assigned to the study. John Kerry King, Chief, Directorate of Intelligence, Special Research Staff. Contents I. Foreign Policy Immunized from Mao’s Purge …………………………… 1 II. The Issue of Exporting Mao’s Thought …………………………………… 1 A. The Issue of the Foreign Ministry ……………………………………… 1 B. The Taming of the Foreign Minister: Stage One ………………………… 3 III. Foreign Policy and Mao’s Purge Coalesce …………………………… 5 A. Mao’s “Thought” Exported ………………………………………………… 9 B…

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 Mao’s Red Guard Diplomacy: 1967 Is A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency

◆ BLUF — The short version

Mao’s Red Guard Diplomacy: 1967 is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence report dated June twenty‑first, nineteen sixty‑eight. The document is notable because it offers a contemporaneous analysis of the extraordinary and, by the agency’s own assessment, irrational diplomatic conduct of Communist China during the height of the Cultural Revolution.

Date: AUG 8 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

↯ Dispatch — press play2:54

0:002:54

↯ Share

X in r/

Episode notes

View the primary source document

Questions about this case

What was CIA Mao’s Red Guard Diplomacy: 1967 Is A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency about?: Mao’s Red Guard Diplomacy: 1967 is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence report dated June twenty‑first, nineteen sixty‑eight. The document is notable because it offers a contemporaneous analysis of the extraordinary and, by the agency’s own assessment, irrational diplomatic conduct of Communist China during the height of the Cultural Revolution.
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.

intelligence-vault

Related cases

✉ Dispatches

A short dispatch when a new file is released — narrated, answer-first, and linked straight to the primary source. No spam; unsubscribe anytime.

↯ Subscribe to the feed

RSS feed Browse all cases

CIA Mao’s Red Guard Diplomacy: 1967 Is A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency

Questions about this case

Related cases

Declassified Presents A Central Intelligence Agency Memorandum, Dated February

Army Record Concerning The Continued Operation Of An Army Security Agency

CIA From Declassified, A Storyflo Podcast.

Today, A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency Record, A Top Secret Cable

Today, We Examine A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency Record From August

Questions about this case

Related cases

Declassified Presents A Central Intelligence Agency Memorandum, Dated February

Army Record Concerning The Continued Operation Of An Army Security Agency

CIA From Declassified, A Storyflo Podcast.

Today, A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency Record, A Top Secret Cable

Today, We Examine A Declassified Central Intelligence Agency Record From August

Get the next declassified case in your inbox