CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1955/04/14

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03179877
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: September 20, 2019
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2019
• Publication Date: April 14, 1955

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14 April 1955
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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO. 7
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
El DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE' .et9 �,/
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE: 16�61_ REVIEWER:
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
/7/107
3.3(h)(2)
3.5(c)
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SUMMARY
FAR EAST
1. Madame Rhee seen gaining importance as President Rhee's health
fails (page 4).
2. Chinese Communists in plane crash reported warned of possible
mechanical difficulties (page 4).
SOUTHEAST ASIA
3. Binh Xuyen reportedly in contact with Viet Minh (page 5).
4. France abandons effort to maintain installations in North Viet-
nam (page 6).
5. Viet Minh reported willing to negotiate question of Vietnamese
refugees in Thailand (page 6).
SOUTH ASIA
6. Comment on alleged Soviet offer of military support to Afghan-
istan (page 7).
7. Comment on possible Afghan efforts to oust royal family (page 7).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
8. Iraq fears imminent coup in Syria (page 8).
9. Libya may raise question of "French occupation" at Afro-Asian
conference (page 9).
EASTERN EUROPE
10. East German government threatens restrictive measures against
West Berlin (page 10).
WESTERN EUROPE
11. Soviet Union makes significant concessions to Austrians on treaty
terms (page 10).
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THE FORMOSA STRAITS
(page 12)
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FAR EAST
1. Madame Rhee seen gaining importance as President Rhee's
health fails:
Ambassador Briggs, following farewell
talks with South Korean cabinet ministers,
reports that President Rhee's health is
slowly but definitely failing. He states that
Madame Rhee now controls the papers the president sees and, to a
considerable extent, whom he sees.
Comment:
members of Rhee's secretariat have assumed greater authority in
dealing with Korean officials on the ministerial level since Rhee
underwent surgery in January.
In the event of Rhee's increasing incapac-
itation, it may be expected that Madame Rhee and the secretariat,
in isolating the president, will strive to obscure the extent of his in-
capacity and to maintain the position of the present governing group.
2. Chinese Communists in plane crash reported warned of possible
mechanical difficulties:
Members of the Chinese Communist dele-
gation to Bandung lost in the crash of an
Indian airliner on 12 April insisted that the
plane leave on schedule, even though in-
fficials of mechanical difficulties with the air-
plane,
Comment: This report is plausible, as an
Italian businessman who left the airplane at Hong Kong stated that the
flight had been delayed 4-1/2 hours in Bombay while the pilot argued
that the plane was not airworthy and at first refused to fly it.
Meanwhile, British authorities in Hong
Kong announced that, having been warned beforehand of Peiping's
suspicions, they had taken special precautions to guard the plane.
They insisted that nobody had the opportunity to tamper with it during
its short stop at Hong Kong.
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SOUTHEAST ASIA
3. Binh Xuyen reportedly in contact with Viet Minh:
Comment: The Binh Xuyen was allied
with the Viet Minh after World War II. It later rallied to the Ba,o
Dai government, from which it received economic concessions.
General Ely recently expressed concern that the Binh Xuyen might
again sell out to the Viet Minh.
The Viet Minh on 8 April broadcast from
Hanoi an appeal by an alleged ex-Binh Xuyen commander to his com-
rades in the south, urging them to overthrow the Diem government.
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4, France abandons effort to maintain installations in North Vietnam:
France now considers its efforts to main- �
tain installations in North Vietnam "a
closed book," according to a Foreign Min-
istry official. He told the American em-
bassy in Paris on 12 April that the Charbonnages du Tonkin had com-
pleted arrangements to sell its plant and equipment to the Viet Minh,
and he expected all other French enterprises in North Vietnam to
follow suit.
The Foreign Ministry official agreed that,
in terms of trade control, North Vietnam should be considered in the
same category as Communist China.
Comment: The present French attitude,
while largely determined by practical economics, should do much
to lessen South Vietnam's fear that French economic aid would
strengthen the Viet Minh economy and eliminate the south's current
economic advantage over the north.
At the same time, however, France may
step up its efforts to ensure its cultural influence in Viet Minh terri-
tory, particularly if rightists attack the Faure government for its
failure to offer sufficient guarantees to French business in the area.
5. Viet Minh reported willing to negotiate question of Vietnamese
refugees in Thailand:
Ho Chi Minh has suggested to Jean
Sainteny, the French representative in
Hanoi, that Thailand send a committee
to the Viet Minh capital to discuss the
resettlement of Vietnamese refugees in northeast Thailand, accord-
ing to French ambassador Offroy in Bangkok. Sainteny is expected
to pass through Bangkok on 14 April en route to France.
Off roy believes the Viet Minh would make
the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bangkok and Hanoi
a precondition to the actual transfer of people to North Vietnam.
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SOUTH ASIA
6. Co.mment on alleged Soviet offer of military support to Afghanistan:
It is unlikely that the Soviet ambassador
in Kabul has offered full military support
to Afghanistan, as was reported in the New
York Times on 13 April. The USSR probably
will continue to refrain from any such action, which would appear as
interference in the eyes of India and other South Asian countries.
Encouragement of India's attempts to foster neutralism has become an
overriding Soviet foreign policy objective in the area.
Prime Minister Daud reportedly has had
several conversations with the Soviet ambassador, perhaps to dis-
cuss offers of moral support or economic assistance to strengthen
Daud in his struggle to retain power against the growing opposition
in the royal family. The Afghan foreign minister told the American
ambassador on10 April, however, that his government had no arms
deal of any kind with the USSR.
Moscow will attempt in private diplomatic
statements, in its propaganda, and through rumors of military sup-
port to sustain the hostility between Kabul and Karachi because this
serves its other main objective in the area of forestalling development
of an effective "northern tier" anti-Communist grouping. The USSR
seems to be counting more on its Indian policy of support for Nehru,
combined with a program for long-term economic and cultural pene-
tration of South Asia, to increase its influence in the area at the
expense of the West.
7. Comment on possible Afghan efforts to oust royal family:
Reports from Kabul and Karachi suggest
that certain highly placed Afghans who
are not members of the present ruling
group are planning, possibly with Paki-
stani support, to remove not only Prime
Minister Daud but the entire royal family
because of the "impossible position" in
which the Afghan government has been put
as a result of the 30 March attack on the
Pakistani embassy in Kabul.
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Najibullah, Afghan ambassador to London,
who was in Kabul en route to the Afro-Asian conference, in a con-
versation with Ambassador Ward on 10 April, condemned the "great
error" committed by the Afghans. He expressed fear that Afghan-
istan might be "destroyed" by the new turn of events and seemed more
interested in the survival of his country than of the present government.
Najibullah is a cousin of ex-king Amanullah,
who was deposed in 1929. Ward comments that Najibullah belongs to
a group which has been supporting the Pushtoonistan issue in the hope
that it would eventually cause the destruction of the present dynasty.
Other alleged members of this group, according to Ward; are Mohammad
Ludin, now Afghan ambassador to the United States, and Abdul Majid
Khan Zabuli, powerful president of the Afghan National Bank, who is
also now in the United States. These two men are among the most
capable in the country. Both have been subjected to highhanded treat-
ment by the royal family. All are friendly to the United States.
These three men would command con-
siderable support from influential individuals in the government, in
business circles, and elsewhere who are connected with Amanullah
or who are bitterly opposed to the present policies of Daudo Majid's
large financial resources would probably also ensure the loyalty of
many Afghan tribes.
in
Karachi, top members of tne pakIstam government have recently
adopted the line that the entire royal family of Afghanistan; not just
Daud, must be dismissed. The timing of Najibullah's approach and
of the Pakistani arguments implies collaboration. The Pakistani
government may have been convinced by a group of Western-minded
Afghans, including members of Amanullah's family, that the present
rulers can be replaced and economic stability restored without creat-
ing major political unrest.
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
8. Iraq fears imminent coup in Syria:
4 Apr 55
President Atasi of Syria has been given
an ultimatum by the chief of staff, prime
minister and foreign minister that unless
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the proposed Egyptian-Syrian-Saudi Arabian pact is signed imme-
diately a coup will be attempted, according to a report from the
Iraqi minister in Damascus to Baghdad on 13 April.
Iraqi foreign minister Shahbandar told
Ambassador Gallman that Atasi has requested and Iraq is ready to
extend military aid in case a coup is attempted. Shahbalidar asked
that the United States use its influence on both Turkey and Israel
to keep hands off the situation.
Comment: There is no intimation from
any other source that a coup is imminent in Syria, although the
country's unstable political situation makes one possible at any time.
The latest information from Cairo and
Saudi Arabia indicates that further action on the Egyptian-Syrian-
Saudi pact is unlikely until after the Afro-Asian conference, which
opens 18 April.
9., Libya may raise question of "French occupation" at Afro-Asian
conference:
Comment: Ben Halim had previously in-
dicated that if France would offer evidence of progress toward a
settlement, he would not raise the question of French troops in the
Fezzan, the southern province of Libya which has been under French
occupation since World War IL
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40.0,
EASTERN EUROPE
10. East German government threatens restrictive measures against
West Berlin:
The East German government's announce-
ment of 12 April that 521 Western spies
had been arrested and its charge that West
Berlin is the main spy center of the Allied powers suggest that it is
preparing to seal off West Berlin from the eastern sector of the city
and from East Germany, but not from the West. The announcement
says that espionage organizations in West Berlin pose a threat to East
Germany "which must lead to retaliation" and "cause special diffi-
culties for the inhabitants of West Berlin,"
The sealing off of West Berlin is one of the
"hard" measures the USSR is most likely to adopt in response to rati-
fication of the Paris agreements. It would be designed to demonstrate
the vulnerability of the city to Communist pressures and to impress
West Europeans, particularly West Germans, with the dangers implicit
in rearming West Germany under NATO.
WESTERN EUROPE
11. Soviet Union makes significant concessions to Austrians on treaty
terms:
The Austrian delegation in Moscow has in-
formed the American, British and French
ambassadors that the USSR made several
concessions in the terms for a treaty at
he opening meeting on 12 April, and that Molotov stated the Soviet
Union was prepared to sign a treaty as soon as possible.
The Soviet officials said that the USSR
would be prepared to return the oil properties and the shipping
company assets which the current draft treaty permits Moscow to
keep, in return for oil deliveries to the USSR for six years. The
Soviet Union would propose a date in a "very short time" for the
withdrawal of foreign troops from Austria. They added that while
the Austrian declaration barring military alliances and foreign mili-
tary bases on Austrian soil must be "nationally binding," it need not
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be part of the treaty. The Soviet representatives, without pro-
posing a specific form, suggested a four-power guarantee of
Austrian independence outside the treaty.
The Soviet delegation indicated that it
expected Austrian help in arranging a big-power conference solely
on the Austrian issue, and implied that it should be at the foreign
ministers' level.
The Austrian delegation is elated at the
present Soviet attitude and believes that treaty prospects are bright
if Moscow backs up these proposals in concrete form.
Comment: These concessions represent
a significant shift from the Soviet position maintained since the
Berlin conference in February 1954. Moscow appears to be making
its terms so favorable that it will be difficult for both Austria and
the Western powers to object to the provisions for Austrian neu-
trality in the proposals. Moscow may remain vague on the exact
nature of the four-power guarantee it wants until the four-power
conference is held.
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THE FORMOSA STRAITS
Report of the IAC Current Intelligence Group
for the Formosa Straits ProbleM
This report is based on infOrmation received in Washington
up to 1100 hours 13 April 1955.
1. No significant developments occurred.
2. A summary of Formosa Straits Reports for week ending
.13 April is attached.
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WEEKLY SUMMARY
FORMOSA STRAITS REPORT
(13 April 1955)
1. No significant combat operations occurred during the
week.
2. Chinese Communist air striking power in the area was
increased by:
(a) Movement into the Shanghai area of an undetermined
number of jet light bombers from Manchuria. This is the first
appearance of this type aircraft in an area from which they can
directly attack the offshore islands and Formosa.
(b) Deployment of what is considered a complete jet
fighter division at Chuhsien, and
(c) Occupation of Luchiao airfield by a combat-operational
MIG-15 unit, probably of division size.
4. Chinese Communist propaganda on Formosa and the
offshore islands has increased only slightly in volume and has not
changed in substance.
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C INA -FORMOSA SITUATION
Nautical miles
Statute miles 0
50 100
510 ICH) lo
150
Selected road
1 1 1 1 1 1 Railroad
-+++++-I- Proposed railroad
(2-
R-
R-
� A OPERATIONAL
� A SERVICEABLE
� A UNKNOAN
� A OTHER
COMMUNIST AIRFIELD LEGEND
U SEABILITY DESIGNATIONS
PRIMARY: considered most important in area, with
MIG-15, MIG-17, TU-4, 1L-26 generally 5000 feet or longer.
TU-2, IL-10, LA-P/II, LI-2, etc.
unknown
Fields not considered capable of
suPPorting sustained operations
at present.
NATIONALIST AIRFIELD
prepared runway
SECONDARY: auxiliary or emergency bases, or fields of lesser
importance-runways generally less than 5000 feet..
OPERATIONAL: consistently used by military & civilian aircraft.
SERVICEABLE: capable of use by aircr.aft.
UNKNOM: current status undetermined.
OTHER: under construction abandoned, or unserviceable.
HENCYANC.'
CY- � � � ��
,V7Malacy
� (Port.)
114
NA 'CHANG
C HANG TIN
(
TUNG
AN FOU
S WA TOW
Hong Kong
(G.B.)
116
SOU T H
18
SHANGJA 0
KAOC.4.
A � Y
120 122
KIANGS
-
HANGCH OW
NINGP
CHINHUA
IANG
LUC HIA
WENCH OW
I .
CHIENOU ,)
'" EAST C II I A' A
32-
IAO
.TAPHENS
CHINA SEA
118
MAT SUS
, �
UEMOY
120
SEA
28-
26-
22
122
-.1.�kaWsr-421'7
PRESENTATIONS DIVISION
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