CHINESE RED DEFECTOR GRANTED ASYLUM IN U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP71B00364R000100020001-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 30, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 24, 1969
• Content Type: NSPR

t!k t i i D .
JAL i'S A,I RICAN
Approved For Release 2002/01/10 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000100020001-4
E - 221,733
S - 321,833
APR 2 4 1969
rArcid iU Febrw
hinese e Defector
F' GrantedAsy1uni in U. S.
N By JOHN P. WALLACH IState Department sources who
}, News American Washington
Bureau
WASHINGTON, April 24 -
;The U. S. will grant political
,asylum within the next three
weeks to Liao Ho-th , the
-highest ranking Chinese Com.-
imunist diplomat ever to de'cct
from the Peking government.
i1 1' This was disclosed today by
also reported that the Admin-
istration is considering sending
a formal .note to Communist
protesting the detention of two
Americans whose yacht was
seized more than two months
ago.
State Department officials
were reluctant formally to
grant asylum to Peking's
!charge d'affaires to the Neth-
erlands, who has been under
;U. S. protection since his arri-
{val here in February, because
they feared it could make
f things worse for the Americans
.in Chinese custody.
PEKING USED the allega-;
tion that the Central Intelli-I
gence Agency en e t"?IAaoI
Ho=slSil'S'""fit*fcction in January
as a pretext for backing out of
the ambassadorial-level War-
saw talks with the U. S. on
E'eb. 20.
"We haven't wanted to pro-
test about the Americans before
because we were afraid it
would escalate the dispute to'
the level of a U. S.-China pol-
itical confrontation," a high-
ranking government China ex-
!pert explained.
There is also increasing con
.'tern here, based on reports
from the four Americans
yachtsmen released. by Peking
almost four wecl;r, ago, that the
two remaining captives will be
tried and severely sentenced if
the. U. S. does not make it clear
that such punishment would
worsen relations.
On April 3, the Peking gov-
lernment freed two of the three
yachts seized on Feb. 15 in
Chinese waters of the Pearl
River estuary off the Portugu-
iese Colony of Macao, and 13 of
the 15 passengers, including 6
mericans.
Approved For Release 2002/01/10 : CIA-RDP71B00364R000100020001-4