What did the declassified documents reveal?

Cold Open: This is a declassified CIA record from June 10, 1976, detailing US Intelligence on China's Ocean Surveillance Activities in the Pacific. The document is an Action Memorandum from the National Security Council, written by Richard H. Solomon, addressed to Brent Scowcroft. It was released through The Black Vault. Provenance: The document was declassified and released through The Black Vault, a non-profit organization dedicated to declassifying government records. The original document is stored at the Gerald R. Ford Library. The Document: Memorandum for Brent Scowcroft from Richard H. Solomon, Subject: Contacting Defense on the Matter of Ocean Surveillance Activities in the Pacific, June 10, 1976. You will recall that the PRC Liaison Office protested to us twice, on May 3 and May 17, about our surveillance of several of their ships operating in the South Pacific. There was also a recent protest in North Korean broadcast propaganda about similar US surveillance overflights of a North Korean merchant ship in the Sea of Japan in early May. The State Department has sent you a memorandum, Tab B, expressing concern that the people at CINCPACFLT who run such surveillance flights are insensitive to the political ramifications of their activities. State indicates that they have no desire to hamstring legitimate intelligence activities, but that they would like to see some enhanced political judgment injected into surveillance missions. State recommends that the NSC direct the Department of Defense to devise a procedure which would sensitize the relevant military command to exercise particular discretion in the surveillance of PRC vessels. State has in mind DOD developing adequate internal clearances and reporting procedures, but also hopes that arrangements can be made so that the State Department will be promptly informed of situations in which PRC vessels will be subjected to intensive or repeated surveillance coverage. State, and we at NSC, also are concerned about the North Korean protest, not because we wish to show any sensitivity to it, but because we believe, in the tradition of the Pueblo and EC 121 incidents, that if we are not careful Pyongyang might take some military action against our surveillance aircraft to justify their continuing charges that the US is threatening their security. In the wake of last month's PRC protests, Phil Habib had ISA report to him on exactly what had happened in the surveillance of the Chinese ships. Defense emphasized in their post-mortem analysis that their aircraft had acted strictly according to rules of procedure. They denied that they had in any way "harassed" the PRC vessels, and assert that they are proceeding on ground rules which are acceptable according to international law. State is reasonably confident that Defense is not whitewashing their surveillance activities, but one is never fully certain in such cases. We believe, along with State, that it would be useful to sensitize Defense to the…

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 Record From June 10, 1976, Detailing Us Intelligence On China's Ocean

◆ BLUF — The short version

Cold Open: This is a declassified CIA record from June 10, 1976, detailing US Intelligence on China's Ocean Surveillance Activities in the Pacific. The document is an Action Memorandum from the National Security Council, written by Richard H. Solomon, addressed to Brent Scowcroft.

Date: AUG 5 · 2026
Release: Declassified · U.S. public record (FOIA)
Source document: View the primary source document

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What was CIA Record From June 10, 1976, Detailing Us Intelligence On China's Ocean about?: Cold Open: This is a declassified CIA record from June 10, 1976, detailing US Intelligence on China's Ocean Surveillance Activities in the Pacific. The document is an Action Memorandum from the National Security Council, written by Richard H. Solomon, addressed to Brent Scowcroft.
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 Record From June 10, 1976, Detailing Us Intelligence On China's Ocean

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