CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1952/02/07

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02623666
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: May 24, 2019
• Document Release Date: May 30, 2019
• Publication Date: February 7, 1952

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SECUB INFORMATION
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7 February 1952
Copy No.
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO
NO CHANGE tN CL SS.
I DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: Isii��
NEXT REVIEW DATE: W
AUTH: HA 7,10-Aut
DAT) Iss a REVIEWER'
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Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
TOP
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SEC INFORMATION
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SUMMARY
GENERAL
1. Italy seeks support for its position on East-West trade (page 3).
USSR
2. Comment on Soviet press treatment of Malik war statement
(page 3).
FAR EAST
3. Chinese rice crop failure reduces exports to East Germany
(page 4).
4. Chinese imports of Soviet oil continue at high level (page 4).
5. French review recent Viet Minh operations (page 5).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
6. American officials report on Sudan question (page 5).
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GENERAL
1. Italy seeks support for its position on East-West trade:
Italy is seeking French support for its con-
tention that the Coordinating Committee in
Paris should make all decisions concerning
East-West trade and that the United States
should not do so unilaterally.
The Italian Foreign Office,
believes that since passage ot tne 'same
Bill, American representatives seem to have received instructions to
intervene directly in Italian shipments to Soviet-bloc countries. The
American action is regarded as "proconsular" and as causing unneces-
sary hardship and legal complications on contracts placed before the
prohibitions were made effective.
Comment: The American Ambassador in
Rome also recently reported Italian objections to unilateral approaches
by US officials on this problem. There is evidence that some Soviet
bloc countries anticipated the Battle Bill's enactment by placing a
number of orders in Italy for restricted items prior to the bill's passage.
USSR
2. Comment on Soviet press treatment of Malik war statement:
Soviet press accounts of Malik's speech
before the United Nations on 2 February omitted his extemporaneous
statement that "World War III has already begun." Pravda used only
a Paris TASS account that the net result of the discussion was the
"conclusive proof" that the United States plans a third world war.
Radio Moscow broadcast this account to foreign but not to internal
audiences.
The careful handling of this statement
indicates that Moscow still does not wish seriously to alarm the
Soviet people.
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FAR EAST
3. Chinese rice crop failure reduces exports to East Germany:
Comment: No figures on the total volume
of Peiping's exports of rice to East Germany are yet available.
based on incomplete figures that Communist China's rice crop in 1951
was slightly less than in 1950 and eight Percent below the average
harvest of the period 1931-37. However, the total production of food
in 1951 reportedly did not differ greatly from that in 1950.
4. Chinese imports of Soviet oil continue at high level:
he All-Union Association for Petroleum
roducts in Moscow requested Peiping in
ecember to extend an existing letter of
credit up to 10 February and increase it by
open another for 20 million.
Comment: Thirty million rubles would
purchase approximately 170,000 tons of oil. During the latter half
of 1951 the USSR shipped an estimated 100,000 tons of oil monthly to
China. The above letters of credit indicate that shipments are con-
tinuing at this high level thus far in 1952; previous intercepts
revealed that four Soviet tankers carrying over 40,000 tons of oil
were en route to China in January.
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5. French review recent Viet Minh operations:
in
a review of Viet Minh operations since 1
December, report that the enemy is main-
taining good morale despite heavy casualties
and a high disease rate. They emphasize the
Improvement in Viet Minh staff work and estimate that a new system
of rotation of front line units will enable the insurgents to maintain
their current pressure on the French defense perimeter in Tonkin
until the end of February. At that time, they believe, the enemy's
frontline ammunition will be exhausted.
Meanwhile, there is continuing heavy in-
filtration of the northern and southern zones of the delta by enemy
units not engaged in the frontal operations.
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
6. American officials report on Sudan question:
Two American diplomatic observers, who
recently returned to Cairo from Khartoum,
state that unification of the Sudan under the
"symbolic crown" of Egypt would be unpopular
in certain areas of the Sudan and would probably cause disturbances in
the `main Sudanese towns. The intensity of any reaction would depend
largely on the attitude taken by the British-controlled government in
Khartoum. They point out that the police and defense forces in the Sudan
are well organized and seem capable, if given the proper orders, of
controlling such outbreaks.
The two observers believe that a symbolic
union under the Egyptian crown would be more palatable to the Sudanese
if a definite date were set for an internationally supervised plebiscite.
The American Ambassador in Cairo states
that, on the basis of the observers' report and the moderate attitude
of the Egyptian Prime Minister, it is "important to push ahead" to a
solution of the Sudan question.
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