THE ASIAN SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE (ASC)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-00915R000700140019-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 45
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 19, 1997
• Sequence Number: 19
• Content Type: SUMMARY

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THE ASIAN SOLIDARITY C- WITTEE (ASC )
Su=ary,
1. The Asian Solid-~rity Cmmmittee (ASC) is a new, major Communist
front organization, conceived and created by the Iorld Peace Council (.JPC).
It is he first front to be organized on a regional basis, -rather
than Abasid #JR a profession, class, group or issue. In a sense it
might be termed a front for a front, since it s,-emed originally destined
ta- p a the WFO in Asia an Africa. At it developed, however,
a regional ?asis.
,control is ensured by the presence of Party members and fellow-travellers
in key positions.
~- members of. legislative
11
bodies of Asian government has been sought and in some cases achieved
may indicate plans to in for the ASC a quasi-official status in these
countries, to exert the influence of the ASC upon the formulation of
e po iciesJan even o appear o speak_Tor such governments.
3. The purposes of the ASC are to provide an environment in cihich
Communist s can win acceptance by non-Communist nationalist forces,
to exploit the issues of independence, neutralism and anticolonialism in
-t- 5ai to the e imin ion
nationalist inte llectualg,and -.corkers who may 1-e vulnerable to the
a,~peals of an ostensibly non-Communist organization based on traditional
themes of racial pride and unity, neutralism and hostility to the :Jest.
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THE ASIAN SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE
I. ORIGIN
The Asian Solidarity Committee (ASC) originated in April 1955 in New
Delhi, India, at a conference which originally was calleddhe Asian Conference
for Relaxation of International Tension, a title later changed. to- the Conference
of Asian Countries, in order to dissociate it from its actual sponsor, the
Communist World Peace Council (WPC). The first suggestion of such an
Asian meeting, to be convened by the Asian delegates to the earlier meeting,
was made at the World Conference for the Relaxation of International Tension,
held in Stockholm in June 1954. An Asian meeting was discussed again at a
WPC meeting in November of that year in the same city.
A. Historical Background
The historical bacjground of the
in turn, created the A/ian Solidarjy Committee, Yis best covered in d
Y6 A events, the W ld Conference f the Relaxation
criptions of two pr ceding W
of International/Tens!on /i. Stockholm in June 1954 and a pl nary session of the
World Pea.c Counci in November of the sathe jar. T /these will be added
an accouit of tl Conference of Asian Counti*.4es in.April 1955.
(1) World Conference for the Relaxation of International Tension
The relaxation of international tension was a prominent .subject at a
WPC meeting in Budapest in June 1953 and has. continued to be featured in WPC
propaganda.
R-e1a tton?'C e na iona ensto
yV g r'O is R].:prY.#A1
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1 59 evenly fulfilled- ffi~r e" r `rows propagan 'a" eves.
04- the- Corrnr .untat--policy "fti t- thI e
die a ''- t"aria coricea " e' `spt n IITfr,--I' v%h
=ttaken to-hmn
co Y oT* The meeting was reportedly first
proposed by WPC Vice President Pietro Nenni at a WPC session in Vienna
in November 1953, but the first organizational steps for the gathering were
taken at a meeting of representatives of various French political parties in
uf~
orces in man. cou to A In itees we a promtsed nothing wou d GjTi~bff fished M_
concerning the meeting except by unanimous consent of the delegates. Head-
quarters, set up in Stockholm prior to the meeting, issued no statements.
Mr. ?1 Duncan Jones, former secretary of the British peace committee but
at the time of the meeting a full-time WPC employee 4 serving in the
!E/ii temporary Stockho`~m office, answered no A ne calls, received no
414,
visitors, and made none of the usual strident Communist propaganda statements.
Speeches at the conference were much more restrained than at pre-
vious "peace" meetings.. Although nothing was said in any way critical of the
Soviet Union, an attempt was made to appear .impartial and to avoid blatant
abuse of the Westtexcept in a few cases. Actually, the proceedings seemed
to be the first reflection of a warning Pierre Cot, editor of the WPC publication
5
Horizo had given concerning the near-failure
Of the twenty individuals chosen to act
event, five were from'C.p~ muiist- otro
Appmviddr5or l l aS9 k0
ect was~thentaken rup byrepresentatives of pacifist
s the off f co ttee fo ttl~ae
led- un ries, sev' more
cGW-xR R ,,Q0915R000700140019-9
" 2
s- S J.
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of the Vienna Peo le for Peace Congress in December 1952 --
that the organization would have to adopt new methods and speak
a new language if it .we be successful in attracting new
audiences. The general resolutions of the Relaxation Conference
repeated the main Communist themes; peaceful coexistence, admis-
sion of Communist China to the UN, a ban on tests and use of atomic
weapons, limitation and control of armaments, expansion of East-
West trade, cultural exchange, "free" elections for Korea, and
resumption of negotiations on Germany. In addition, appeals were
addressed to the UN on Guatemala (much in the headlines at the
time), and to the Summit Conference demanding a cease-fire in
Indochina.
World Conference for the Relaxation of International
Tension marked a high point in Communist efforts to enlist non-
Communist support for a program whose hidden purpose is to further
Soviet international designs. It succeeded to a greater extent than
such meetings had for several years, although, surrounded with
secrecy as it was, it is difficult to determine the fall extent of
non-Communist participation. Among the 200 delegates claimed by
the Communists (150 is probably nearer the truth) were many promi-
nent persons not generally associated with the WPC or the Com-
munist movement. For instance, there were,44 Diet members in the
Japanese delegation ofpersons. Nevertheless, the attendance
was a disappointment to the organizers as is revealed in one of
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the resolutions which stated "the participants of this Meeting
regret that the invitation sent out by the organizers has not been
more widely followed in certain circles of certain countries. They
agree to make known in their respective countries the conclusions
to which they have been led and they decide to instigate at the
beginning of the year 1955 a new Meeting which should be still
larger than this one. The Meeting charges its Bureau and
A YV
Secretariat to make all useful arrangements."
Instead of focusing attention on the _ of mass
propaganda after the usual pattern of peace meetings, this con-
ference was both experimental and organizational in nature--
trying out a new form of camouflage, and laying down a different
approach to future activities, particularly in Asia. Asians and
their,problems were prominently featured both in person and dis-
11
Although it was not an official by the
4 ' ',~ ~~,/~~l`,v~'- G=vn2 G4h r'?~ t si,sL ;~,...c-?r/ a"2~fr;;~-'sit` V
conferees_ Tass reported, as early after the conference
f.vef.ce_.
Dr. Choitlram Gidwani (India) - President of the All-India Refugee Association;
former president of the Sind Congre s Part ~jj // ~~//
Committee; Prt, S,3C14/ '/ 'ty 's,"4A.Vvr sd, ~"a,[law.s.I.
Guxmukh Singh Mussafir (India)- Congress Party representative from Amritsar
in the House of the People. ,Social worker
and journalist. J 5
Dr. Anup Singh (India) . Member of Indian National Congress; former
professor at the Catholic and American
Universities in Washington, D.C.; former
Public Relations Officer of the Indian
Embassy there) fa+N*ev c o,tv'w,,w of Aa OiY
1
1(
0eNeq.+ sy
Ramesh Chandra (India)
Pandit Sunderlal (India)
luvLaVG1 V1 U11C UVILUlt11 VV11ALLlUUGC Vl Ui1C dam; A
editor of Crossroads; member of the WPC BUre_.u.
- Editor of pro-Communist Naya Hind; led Goodwill
Mission to China in 1951; WPC Bureau member.
Syed Nausher Ali (India) - Former president ~~ the Indian Seamen's Union;
former memb%'IrVc west Bengal Legislative As-
sembly, J'arw.er 1 41Pr of, 1c4 w.&. ge.,^146 &&rrka+e11x
Caw re5C Air }y 'wie ev s4 rat rI14*+a ct.
Guzmukh Nikal Singh (India) - Principal of Sri Ram College of Commerce;
speaker Delhi State Igisla Assembly.
Violet Alva (India) - Member of Parliament, Congress Party; Vice
President of the International Women Lawyers
Association; former editor of Begum.
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H. C. Mathur (India)
Mr. Youren (New Zealand)
Thakin Lay Maung (Burma)
Theja Gunewardene (Ceylon)
LEE Mong- ee (North Korea)
k)e PAK Chong-ae -
(North Korea)
Dr. Mustafa Amin (Syria)
HAN Sol-ya (North Korea)
}airman, l orea Nat ional peace Committee.
Koi,1 f .:,
A later report named LIU Ning-i of China and Mrs. 'FsKea,
Ibmia, and JTMIM Mate 9 of Japan as also serving on the
"presiding" committee. Other prominent presiding chairmen were KUO Mo-jo
(later selected as chairman of the Chinese-.Asian Solidarity Commitite5k
CV/
K. S. Kalelkar (member of the Indian National Congress), and Marouf el-
Dawalibi (former Prime Minister of Syria). The actual composition of the
which
Preparatory Committee (4749ji presumably became the Asian Solidarity Com-
mittee) was further confused by the arrival in New Delhi of the Chinese and
Soviets after the close of the meeting. They remained there to work for the
w
conference. These included CHEN Shen (Chinese writer), Colonel Nikolai
Semenovich Tikhonov (chairman of the Soviet Preparatory Committee, member
of the Union of Soviet Writers and of the WPC Bureau), .~A A. V. Sofronov
(former editor of Ogonek), and Oleg Skalkin (Pravda representative in New
Delhi). There was a reliable report that the WPC had asked its branches to
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- Democratic Party leader in the Upper House
of Indian Parliament; former minister in
Jodhpur State.
- Farmer; designated as an "observer".
- Secretary General of Burmese Peace
Committee; visited WPC Headquarters
and USSR.
- Chief organizer and Vice President of the
Association of Women's Institutes; visited
the US.on a T -ado ic:g*W" 5&6 A:.MaAA
i r el . mean
n ii_ _,or o Yl :~a~i6Y? ~v
Bhadrmin of Korean Denocrat.i c League of Women,
-(W-IDF affiliate ); `,Tic F zreau; Stalin _P-Dace - rize
~-iircr.
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see that their representatives were in New Delhi for the Preparatory meeting
and that they remain to assist in the'work of the Conference. The branches
agreed on condition that the Preparatory Committee hear the expense of the
delegates' prolonged stay. Their names were not published; they probably
served on the various "staffs".
The Secretariat $ for the Conference, as announced from New Delhi,
consisted of representatives from s.ix countries: India, Burma, China, Japan,
Pakistan, and the USSR. /Note: The Stockholm "suggestion" for this body
had listed Indonesia instead of Burma, which was probably changed due to the
absence of Indonesia from the Preparatory meeting. However, Indonesia was
added to the list of the Permanent Asian Secretariat. / Later, it was announced
that an Arab representative would be "co-opted" into the Secretariat. Sc ar,
the known Secretariat members are A. V. Sofronov, USSR, Rameshwari Nehru,
India, MAC
Japan, and CHEN Shen-yu, China. This leaves
Burma, Pakistan, and Indonesia to be accounted for. According to the
resolution establishing this Secretariat, the names of the Indian Secretariat
"entrusted" with the liaison work with the parent body should be added to the
above list. They are: President, Mrs. Rameshwari Nehru; General Secretary,
Syed Nausher Ali; Secretaries, Dr. Anup Singh, Dr. Choithram Gidwani, and
Mrs. Violet Alva; and Treasurer, H. C. Mathur.
19
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B. National Committees
0)
Ntional preparatory committees for the Conference of Asian Countries
n
were established generally throughout the area. The Conference resolved
that the original preparatory committees, should be responsible for setting up
the national Asian Solidarity Committed It is probable that the preparatory
committees themselves will form at least the nucleus of the national UYVE3t t/
Solidarity Committees, as 15 happened in the cases of the seven such Committees
officially formed so far: Japan, China, India,
-4a%4-North &a a' v /3 ?.--
USSR, North V4-e z, ,
1. Japan
The Asian Solidarity Committee of Japan (ASCJ) was established on
31 Ocober 1955 in accordance with the resolution passed at the Conference
of Asian Countries. Preparations to organize a solidarity committee in Japan
0
started in July 1955,yrfa meeting of 114 representatives from various circles,
but the matter was deferred because of the World Rally for Banning Atomic
and Hydrogen Bombs, held in August 1955 in Hiroshima, Japan, on the
anniversary of the dropping of the bomb. The Rally, a__ .~t "suggested" by
the Asian Conference, has become an annual event. However, with the
assistance of Anup Singh (India), Gidwani (India), LIU Ning-i and HSIEH
Ping-hsin (China), and Eugene Zhukov (USSR), all of whom attended the
aforesaid Rally, the ASCJ was finally formed on 31 October 1955 at a meeing
held at the Josui Kaikan in Kanda, Tokyo. In line with the aims outlined in
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the resolution made in New Delhi, the ASCJ proposed (a) to promote friendship,
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good will and normalization of diplomatic relations with nations of Asia and
Africa; and (b) to help solve mutual problems of Asian and African nations,
particularly their liberation from American and British colonialism.
Co-Chairmen:
Business Bureau Chief:
CI.9,1y4f) .
Chief of International Committee of
Dai Nippon Marine Industry Association
(Dai Nippon Suisan Kai).
DAN Tokusaburo - member, Japan Peace Protection
Committee; WPC member.
KUHARA Fusanosuke - Chairman, People's Council for Re-
storation of Diplomatic Relations with
China and the USSR (Nitchu Nisso Kokko
Kaifuku Kokumin Kaigi).
KATAYAMA Tetsu - Supreme adviser of Japan Socialist Party
(JSP); WPC member,,-At,,-,. e
MATSUNAGA Yasuzaemon - Chairman of the Board of Tokyo Electric
Power Company (Tokyo Denryoku K. K.).
HOSOKAWA Karoku Japan Communist Party (JCP) member.
Committee Representatives:
KITAMURA Tokutaro
NARAHASHI Wataru
MATSUMOTO Jiichiro
KAZAMI Akira
YAMAGUCHI Kikuichiro
- Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) member.
- JSP member) WPC member 1Vz-
MP
J ,$P member- WPGbnember,pet t-
rd3:
-Commonweal Party NPR A-em Madras.
In pe5cent , Test B
oaf by Acs at Uni*e si
`'d h
ace
ence,
. s soci-
.r Attended
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C
non-Communist countries to set up committees before the organization
This committee was set up in May 1956--a delay possibly to allow
became too openly associated with the Sino-Soviet bloc.
headquarters is in Moscow, although ito is staffed principally by individuals
from Soviet Asia.
Chairman s Mirza Tursun-Zader-writer of the Tadzhik SSR .
Secretary;- A. Sofronov, chief editor of the newspaper Ogonek .
P. . Azimov,- rector of the University of the Turkmen SSR.
M.
4. The Soviet Union.
Ruezov--writer of the Kazakh SSR.
Babakhanov,~J-
Moslems of Kazakhstan,
T. Berdeyev,-president of the Turkmen Academy of Science.
B. Bultrikova,-Minister of Social Insurance of the Kazakh SSR
A. Luber.,- director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the
USSR Academy of Science.
K. Konduchalov,-Kirgiz SSR.
M. Nesterovchairman of the presidium of the All-Union
Chamber of Commerce.
K. Satpayev.,.- pre s ident of the Academy of Sciences of the
Kazakh SSR.
S. Sevuntsr- writer of the Armenian SSR
N. T ikhonov,-writer -
M. U. Topchibashev,evice~reaident of the Academy of Sciences
of the Azerbaijan SSR.
D. Hodzhayyev,..chairman of the Trade Union Council of the
Uzbek SSR-
A. U. Khorava,- People's Artist of the USSR, Georgian SSR .
K. Yulvashev,...architect, member of the Academy of Sciences
of the Tadzhik SSR B. / Yunysalyev,._rector of the University of the Kirgiz SSR
S. Yunusov,-vice president of the Academy of Sciences of the
a
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Y t n
5. North Korea
Formed in May 1956, this Committee is comprised of thirty-five
members, "including cadres of various political parties, social organizations,
and workers of science, culture and art. "
HAS
,~.. Chairman:- Sol-ya3-a+W Chairman of the Korean National Peace
Vice e pgCK v%4
Cha irmin?-- Na-fir-President of the Academy of Sciences of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
__ KUN
Tong- enr-Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the
Korean Red Cross Society-
General c -j N
Secretary- Cog So it-Vice Chairman of the Korean Democratic
Youth League .
6. North Vietnam
Founded in October 1956, this Committee has forty-nine members.,
with the following officers:
Chairman Ton, Quang Phiet,-Vice Chairman of the National Assembly
Standing Committeeo
Vice
Chairmen: Dr. Nguyen Van Huongs--Head of the Vietnamese delegatinn to
~_ - the Conference of Asian Countries in New Delhi ?
Dr. Nguyen Viem Hai
Xuan Thuyr-.ember of the Politburo of the Lao Dong (Communist)
Party -
Mme. Nguyen Thi Thuc Vien
7. Burma
An "organizational committee" for this group was reported in the
newspaper Burman in March 1957. The only officer named was:
U Hla Djo,ttorney, Secretary General of the Organizational
Committee
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'z`?tC1tirA1T1A1
Blume, a Belgian national and active member of the WPC, urged the
8. During a visit to Indonesia in September 1956, Isabelle
formation of an Indonesia Committee for Asian Solidarity.
9. An Asian Solidarity Committee of Ceylon is also reported
to exist.
Relations With Other Communist Fronts and With National
Communist Parties
The Asian Solidarity Committee aspires to be considered non-
political and makes claims of being representative 4 of all walks of life
and of all shades of opinion. It especially seeks non-Communists (prominent
nnrv..a?.$ L
ones) to exploit as members. However, it is thoroughly i the control
4
of active Communists and fellow travelers connected with the Communist
C4, 6~ _~
frot prganizaonsy.~;Iee s to. the major~~Communist fronts (WPCu
.0 P
~a0 t"t t\ t\~ a
IUS, WFDY, WIDF, IADL, 10J, CP1T WFSW, and the if "friendship"
v. S a? w o a ? 5 i *:A e a e
cieties) can be found on the lists of the various Asian Committees. The
ASC relationship with the WPC has been pointed out in the histt orical
account of the origin of ASC. Asian members of the WPC are on the
A
Solidarity Committeesaiss ta-a-wwu. To the dozen Asian Solidarity
Committee members already serving on the WPC Bureau, the WPC meeting
in Colombo in 1957 added five more. Three of these joined the two ?ady
serving as members of the WPC -gecretariat. Additional ASC members
are active in t4ational peace committees. News of the Solidarity
Committees is reported regularly in the
To illustrate the inter `relationship of the Asian Committees and
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other Communist fronts, the following specific examples are cited:
--miu Ning-i, Vice President of j the WFTU &"4 member of both
the WPC and g5PIT Bureaus, Secretary General of the WPC Liaison
Bureau for Asia and the Pacific Regions, is concurrently General
Secretary of the Asian Solidarity Committee for China. Further involvment
h
with the WFTU 444 was evident when S. A. Dange, an Indian Vice
President of the WFTU, entertained labor delegates to the Asian con-
ference in the name of the New Delhi Trade Union Council.
Persons with dual membership in other fronts include:
~- Nguyen Cong Hoa (North Vietnam) - member of Vietnamese Labor
Confederation?
$rC D
(retired Indian Army doctor); Chairman,
International Student Relief Committee ofc US'WPCjBureau IM'-4u&.1
LtU
-L-iu Chang-sheng (China) - member of the All-China Federation
sl~f' S uJ Lvt ci`l~pGn~c-tt R
1
of Trade Unions and a Secretary of the WFTU-
A
, Dr. Gyan Chand - India-China Friendship Association .
Sahib Singh Sokhey - Stalin Peace Prize winner, 1953; member,
Ngueyn Thi Thuc Vien (North Vietnam) - C'frai=,n-o tie ~4soci~tre.
Vice President of the Union of Vietnamese Women (WIDF affiliate).
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Nguyen Xran Thuy (North Vietnam) - Chairman of the Association of
Vietnamese Journalists (IOJ); in Vietnam-China and
~c,a~~it-dim
VLetnam-91 Soviet Friendship $-$ -3. -ieties; member of WPC -
Hoang Minh Chinh (North Vietnam) - Executive Committee of WFDY .
Kha Van Can (South Vietnam) -tf ctive in Chinese and Soviet Friendship
KoJ?/q Tom;
I TQa, s.-,xr....~a a : Japan) Vice President of the All-Japan Women's
r, Y
Federation (WIDF).
Diwan Chaman Lal (India) - IADL member.
KR OR V
Yasui (Japan) - IADL and WPC member.
~1 s i 1b. ' 1'Y I-
NAGANC
.Nagano Kunisuki - IADL member
Toz6wr9
Tetst h T-e