CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1954/01/22

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02026933
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: August 20, 2019
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2019
• Publication Date: January 22, 1954

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22 January 1954
Copy No, 84
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
H DECLASSIFIED
CLASS, C,',HANGED TO: TS $ C
NEXT REVIEW DATE. 20 C2 9
AUTH: HR 70-2
' DATE: ... REVIEWER:
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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SUMMARY
GENERAL
. USSR appoints new ambassador to Italy (nape fl
SOVIET UNION
3. Bohlen believes Soviet economic program requires reduced tensions
(page 4).
FAR EAST
4. Sharp rise in Chinese payments to the USSR indicated in 1953 (page 4).
5. North Korean light bomber unit may have moved into Korea (page 5).
SOUTHEAST ASIA
6. British official considers Riirma rice problem serious (page 5).
7. Viet Minh 155mm ammunition (page 6).
EASTERN EUROPE
8. Improvement of Orbit-Yugoslav relations may extend to economic
field (page 7).
WESTERN EUROPE
9. French Foreign Ministry restates position on five-power talks
(page 7).
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GENERAL
1. USSR appoints new ambassador to Italy:
The Soviet Union has asked agrement from
Rome for Alexander Bogomolov, its present
ambassador to Czechoslovakia, according to
the Italian minister in Prague.
The minister expressed concern over the
appointment, pointing out that Bogomolov's "deceptively civilized" and
"reasonable" approach could have an adverse effect on the delicately
balanced political situation in Italy.
Comment: The appointment of a former
deputy foreign minister and ambassador to France may foreshadow
a more intensified campaign, similar to that directed toward France,
to exploit the instability of the Italian government and strengthen re-
sistance to American objectives in Western Europe, particularly
strategic trade controls.
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SOVIET UNION
3. Bohlen believes Soviet economic program requires reduced tensions:
Ambassador Bohlen believes that the Kremlin
is so deeply committed to its new internal
program that any sharp reversal would create
a very serious situation. This program dic-
tates the necessity of avoiding serious international complications and
the ambassador therefore feels that the Soviet regime needs and genu-
inely desires some relaxation in international tension. He points out
that the contradiction between this desire and Moscow's reluctance to
relinquish any territory can be exploited.
Bohlen points out that the adoption of group
rule by Stalin's successors greatly enhances the possibilities of a serious
difference of opinion and makes Soviet leadership more vulnerable to
public opinion both at home and abroad. He concludes that if the Kremlin
can be made to recognize that reduction in tension hinges on major Soviet
concessions, the new leadership can be presented with a choice which
would be almost certain to provoke dissension and even real division.
FAR EAST
4. Sharp rise in Chinese payments to the USSR indicated in 1953:
Known Chinese payments for Soviet mods
in the last half of 1953,
totaled about
$365,000,000, as compared with a known
of $150,000,000 in 1952 and the first half of 1953.
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Comment:
It is possible that actual deliveries of
military goods have been no greater, and that Peiping is now paying
for most or all of its military imports. In the last half of 1953, how-
ever, there was a substantial rise in industrial imports.
5. North Korean light bomber unit may have moved into Korea:
chuling,
the North Korean 4th
Bomber Division had moved from Kung-
Manchuria, to the Yalu River area.
elements of this unit were to make a further move by
vehicle from Uiju to "Kosang airfield," possibly a garble for Kusong,
located just north of Namsi.
Comment: The message may refer to the
Namsi airfield located between Namsi and Kusong, about 50 miles
southeast of Sinuiju in North Korea, which it is believed can sustain
jet-bomber operations.
The 4th Bomber Division is equipped with
40 IL-28 twin-jets and 30 TU-2 light bombers. Its movement into
North Korea would complete the transfer of all known North Korean
air force combat units from Manchuria.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
. British official considers Burma rice problem serious:
According to a member of the British
Foreign Office just back from Burma,
surplus rice stocks there have created
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a serious problem. He believes the peasants may revolt if they are
unable to dispose of current crops, which rice millers are reluctant
to buy because of inadequate storage facilities and their inability to
get credit in the absence of government sales contracts.
The British official believes, however, that
13urma could move much of its surplus by lowering its export prices.
Comment: These views are in contrast to
an earlier and more optimistic British estimate.
Rangoon is .
drafting strong countermeasures against any Communist exploitation
of agrarian unrest. Some government officials are reportedly planning
a publicity campaign charging that the United States is responsible for
Burma's unsold rice because of its wheat sales to Asian countries.
Viet Minh
155mm ammunition:
Comment:
Viet Minh may possess 155mm artillery weapons.
The difficult terrain would severely limit their mobility and would make
their use very difficult. The largest artillery piece previously known to
be in Viet Minh hands is the 105mm howitzer.
There have been no reliable reports that the
Viet Minh has used 37mm or 40mm antiaircraft artillery weapons,
although there have been several suggesting that these may recently
have been supplied them by China.
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EASTERN EUROPE
8. Improvement of Orbit-Yugoslav relations may extend to economic field:
Comment:
the Soviet bloc may eventually offer alternative
markets for a few products, Yugoslavia will probably continue to rely
mainly on trade with the West.
Repayment of debts and the payment of damages
on defatilted contracts will doubtless be made an important demand by
Yugoslavia in any future trade negotiations with the Orbit.
WESTERN EUROPE
French Foreign Ministry restates position on five-power talks:
According to the chief of the Far Eastern
section at the Quai d'Orsay, French public
opinion "would not understand" if Foreign
Minister Bidault were unable to agree to a
five-power conference because of prior commitments to Britain and
the United States. The French official thinks Molotov is likely to in-
sist at Berlin on a more definite answer than the planned tripartite
reply, to which France has reluctantly agreed.
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The French think that the West should
be prepared to agree to a five-power conference on Asian subjects
alone subject to the following conditions no discussion of Asian
questions at Berlin, substantial progress at a prior Korean confer-
ence, priority for the Indochina question, and no advance concessions
to Communist China.
Comment Despite public denials, the
French government can stilt be expected to press at Berlin for five-
power talks. The above statement is the first indication of conditions
which France hopes would be acceptable to the United States and Britain.
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