THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 30 DECEMBER 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993703
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: December 30, 1972

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The President's Daily Brief
30 December 1972
To
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Exempt from general
deciassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category 5Bf 1),(2).0/
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
30 December 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
Hanoi's radio stations are broadcasting poorly
again, but Gia Lam airport apparently is open to
limited traffic. Additional areas of North Vietnam
are being evacuated. (Page 1)
The Viet Cong's Madame Binh was treated to an ex-
traordinary reception in Peking, where government
leaders are still carefully modulating their crit-
icisms of US policy in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Moscow
continues to juggle support for Hanoi and a desire
for detente. (Page 2)
South Vietnam's President Thieu has decreed stiff
criteria for organized political activity in the
hope of consolidating the non-Communist parties.
(Page 3)
In Argentina, the Peronists are frittering away
their chances to beat the government's candidate
for the presidency. (Page 4)
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NORTH VIETNAM
The broadcast stability achieved during the
past few days by Hanoi's radios has sharply deteri-
orated. The main domestic services are again ex-
periencing frequent interruptions of transmissions,
and Hanoi's international service has technical
problems. Press agency communica-
tions continue in disarray.
On Wednesday,
a scheduled Chinese airliner made
a successful landing at Gia Lam airport, apparently
the first airliner to Hanoi since 18 December.
Since then, the International Control Commission's
aircraft has made a round trip to Hanoi, returning
yesterday to Vientiane.
Additional populated areas are being evacuated.
On Christmas Day, according to an intercept, the
executive committee of Bac Thai Province, north
of Hanoi, issued orders for the evacuation of peo-
ple from cities, towns, railroad stations, and
storage areas. Supplies were to be removed from
dumps and dispersed. Only citizens engaged in
combat production or combat services were excluded
from the order.
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CHINA-USSR-VIETNAM
The Viet Cong's Madame Binh has received an
extraordinarily cordial reception in Peking, including
a visit with Chairman Mao, who has been seeing only
heads of state and government during the past year.
The keynote speaker at a rally yesterday in honor
of Madame Binh was Yeh Chien-ying, a member of the
Politburo and a senior military commander. Yeh at-
tacked US policy in Vietnam in language which has
not been heard from Peking in some time. He focused
his criticism on the bombing and US support for
President Thieu, and blamed the impasse in Paris
solely on Washington's "unreasonable demands."
Yeh's remarks edged Peking closer to the
Vietnamese Communists on some key issues;
he termed Hanoi's position at the Paris
talks "a correct stand" and he implied
support for Hanoi's position that a bomb-
ing halt north of the 20th parallel is a
precondition for a resumption of the ne-
gotiations. On the other hand, Yeh ex-
pressed China's support for Vietnam only
in general terms, and said nothing to in-
dicate that a substantial increase in
Chinese aid might be forthcoming.
Yeh made no reference to Sino-US relations.
Chou En-lai, however, used the occasion of a public
reception for Madame Binh to seek out Marilyn Berger
of The Washington Post and to warn that the renewed
bomEiEg could adversely affect Sino-American rela-
tions.
We have not discerned in this any diminu-
tion of China's overriding desire for an
early settlement of the war.
Moscow continues to juggle its need to support
Hanoi with its desire to maintain the momentum of
Soviet-US detente. Following a meeting on 29 De-
cember with North Vietnamese Politburo member Truong
Chinh, Soviet party ideologist Suslov "demanded" an
immediate end to the bombing and the signing of a
peace agreement. He reiterated that the USSR is
giving "and will go on giving all the necessary
aid" until Vietnam's "just cause triumphs."
Suslov's rhetoric was a shade harsher than
that used by Brezhnev in his anniversary
speech last week, but he said nothing that
has not been said many times before and
even since the summit meeting last May.
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SOUTH VIETNAM
Earlier this week President Thieu issued a new
decree that contains stiff new criteria for polit-
ical parties. The decree requires parties to have
chapters comprising at least five percent of regis-
tered voters in at least half of South Vietnam's
provinces and independent municipalities, and to
win 20 percent of the vote cast in future upper
house elections and 20 percent of the seats at stake
in lower house elections.
Thieu apparently hopes he can consolidate
the highly factionalized non-Communist
camp in time to face a political struggle
with the Communists. Some of his critics,
however, will view the new measure as
Thieu's device to increase his personal
power by reducing competition against the
nascent government-sponsored Democratic
Party. Only a few of the country's 26
current legal parties could hope to meet
the terms of the decree. Many small par-
ties will be forced to go underground or
to seek new alliances. Some might well
decide to join the government camp.
South Vietnam's only strong opposition
group, the An Quang Buddhists, will be
unhappy with a provision requiring all
candidates for national office to be
backed by a legal party. The Buddhists
have done well in recent elections for
the Assembly, but they have no formal
party of their own and have shown a re-
luctance to form one. In recent months,
the Buddhists have muted their criticism
of the government, and some have even in-
dicated an interest in cooperating with
Thieu. The Buddhists may protest the
new measure, but they are unlikely to
take a militant antigovernment stand be-
cause they still see the Communists as
the greatest threat to their existence.
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ARGENTINA
Continuing bickering among the Peronists and
their allies is improving the prospects of the
Lanusse government's presidential candidate, retired
air force General Ezequiel Martinez. Conflict
among Peron's followers over the electoral slate
appears to have been behind the attempted assassi-
nation of an important Peronist union official early
this week.
With the approach of the deadline of 2 January
for the formal filing of candidacies, President
Lanusse has backed off from the idea of picking as
Martinez' running mate Jorge Paladino, who has
some following among, moderate Peronists.
Lanusse already is doing everything possible,
including the use of government funds, to make sure
that Martinez wins enough votes on 11 March to have
a voice in the selection of candidates for the run-
off, that is necessary if no man wins a majority.
Even after the filing deadline passes,
uncertainty over the lineup of top candi-
dates will remain until the government-
influenced courts rule on the legality
of the Peronist Front's candidate, Hector
Campora. We expect that Lanusse will
see no major threat in the Campora candi-
dacy and let it run its course.
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NOTES
USSR-Somalia: The Soviets are supplying So-
malia with four IL-28 jet bombers. The bombers,
will be the first such
planes in the Somali Air Force. Their delivery,
following a marked increase in Soviet shipments
of other weapons during the past several months,
is likely to aggravate relations with Ethiopia,
a traditional enemy. The two states have been in-
volved in an uneasy military standoff over a dis-
puted border area for more than a month.
Cyprus: Presidential elections will be held
on 18 February. Archbishop Makarios is virtually
assured of re-election to another five-year term,
but the campaign could well result in renewed
violence from General Grivas and his followers,
who wish for union with Greece rather than con-
tinued independence. The vice-president will come
from the Turkish Cypriot community; Ankara's can-
didate, Rauf Denktash, has a strong lead over in-
cumbent Fazil Kuchuk.
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Top Secret
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