AVAILABILITY OF LUXURY ITEMS/SOVIET INFLUENCE IN INDUSTRY/PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM/TELEPHONE SERVICE/SOVIET REPATRIATION OF RUSSIAN REFUGEES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500570180-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2013
• Sequence Number: 180
• Publication Date: June 14, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/24: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500570180-7
U.S. Officials Only
CONFIDENTIAL
-T CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
Availability of Luxury Items/Soviet Influence
in Industry/Public Health Program/TeJ.ephone
Service/Soviet Repatriation of Russian Refu-
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DATE DISTR. /'$A- Jun 54
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
1. Export controls imposed by the West have made little difference to the an with
money in Shanghai. The Central Arcade still specializes in luxury items sueh'as
razor blades, shaving cream and some of the things left over from old days though
stocks, for the most part, consist of newly-arrived goods. Some of the 1nxurj items
are wiggled in by Polish sailorn. There are quite a number of Polish vessels
coming into Shanghai and the sailors are not searched because they are serving on
Soviet bloc ships.
that is obviously the nearest lace. Perfume, nylons and ladies!underwear were of
the very latest manufacture. Perfume,
advertisement in a smuggled magazine
date. The stretchy kind of nylon socks which will fit any size foot became avail-
Able last year when they appeared in several of the shops (just a few pairs in each
shop) priced about JMP16o,000 a pair; the same socks sold for HK $5 in Hong Kong.
Radios are quite common, but they are mostly small, old-fashioned AM receivers
(there are no TM sta-t ons in Shanghai). There is no tax on purchasing a radio.
However, when buying a new set It is necessary to register it at the time of purchase
with the local police.
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[IsTRIeuTIo I? STATE -X .Rrr_X _.'UYr _X J-.. IAIR -X I FBI I F.
This report is for the use within the USA of the Intelligence components of the Departments or
Agencies indicated nbove. It is not to he transmitted overseas without the concurrence of the
originating office through the Assistant Director of the Office of Collection and Dissemination, CIA.
Declassiifiied in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/24: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500570180-7
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/24: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500570180-7
There is much praise of the Russian nuclear weapon but little information is propo-
gated. The Chinese mau on the street in generally aware of information regarding
the effects of the weapon but there is no effort on the part of the Government to
explain specifics such as fatality rates, ate. There is little general interest;
the only time public interest was aroused was after the bombing of the Shanghai
Power Company. There is no mobilization for defense such as fire-fighting equip-
ment and traininL. There has been little evidence of decentralization or relo-
cation of industries in Shanghai or the building of underground installati-)Us (the
latter is l**mnnsi.ble because if you dig down two feet you're in water`
tional criminal or underground elements as in the past. Smuggling is atilt pos. 50X1-HUM
but not :'ithout difficulty and dan;_;cr. laving money and a desire to e out are not
-..here to in and how to make contact.
Several mines nave been discovered recently in Sinkiang and industrialization has
taken place in the development of the steel industry there.
The Soviet influence in industry is very strong. There are some local Russians
employed full-tii:ie by the different ministries as translators; all they do is trans-
late Russian technical books. all of them are engineers. Recently, there 50X1-HUM
has been movement to teach Russian technical language to future Chinese engineers.
They are trying a new method in which they limit the teaching of Russian to the
student's specir'.ized field of int root. t vas supposed to be a very great course
lasting only two or three months. ~one of the professors who described 50X1-HUM
the whole progra,:r as "complete rubbish because no was convinced the people will be
more muddled after passing the course than they ever were before learning the language.
3. In Shanghai, there was an anti-spitting campaign for general hygiene
purposes. Tuberculosis -.run stressed as the major hazard, probably because there were 50X1-HUM
not sufficient beds to take care of the sick. The same campaign was also directed
against the indiscriminate discard of refuse and boxes were located throughout the
town by the Government and, in some cases, by the utility companies. The transporta-
tion companies had to i._oviris waste bins because the Government contended bus and
tram tickets were a litter problem. The anti-spitting campaign was carried a bit too
far because at one time they had. apitoone at ton-yard intervals along the streets.
The general public health program calls for regular vaccination and innoculations
against small pox, cholerrt and t:;phoi.-l. These shot campaigns are well organized.
The labor unions and :)r,dar.! :rations are notified to reserve days for their employees
so that nurses and ?l.octurs can he cent to the factories to vaccinate or innoculate
all of the workers. Th.re is no blood collection program among the workers.
1 . There was a shortage of telephones and trunk lines in Shanghai 50X1-HUM
probably due to the 'big backlog caused by the large demand for phones in the new
bureaucracy. Today the greatest dream of every Chinese employed in an office in the
capacity of a coolie or charwoman is to possess a desk. That's the first ambition;
the second is to have r. telephone on the dank. All possible means are employed to
get a desk and a phone. A pi'1N'ate apartment phone is ab - 10 000 a month- 50X1-HUM
for 100 calls, the service is much cheaper than before.
Under the oil system, If you wanted to call an out-, outlying s r ,
you had to d5.fll the operator, a& for the number or for the district's exchange, and
then ask another onerr.':or to c2,01 the number within the district. Now it is possible 50X1-HUM
to reach outlying areas by merely dialing the desired suburban number. These numbers
usually consist of five digits.
5. There is no way of fluting a move from or around Shanghai by contact with the tradi-
ible
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/24: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500570180-7
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/24: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500570180-7
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3" X 5", bound in dark red or dark [brown covers. The dark brown passports have cloth
bindings and the red ones are boundIin cardboard. The only leather-covered passports
-
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bearer in both French and Russian.I These documents are referred to as "foreign pass-
ports." The second page shows the date, place and autbnrltv of 1ORMAL 1" the authority will be an edict of the Supr w Soviet.
when ell Russians were allowed to apply for papers, many of my friends got passports
by simply going to the Consulate and filing an application. When the application was 50X1-HUM
received by the Consulate, the applicant was given a receipt. The fee used to be 10%
of the! applicant's monthly income; 'w year or two ago, however, they decided to
standardize the fee. It is not unuuual for an application to pend for several years
and it! is necessary to reapply each year. Now when you reapply, the fee is
JMP 10,000 to 20,000 plus the difference between the former fee (i.e., 10% of your
monthly income). This difference is then paid into the Residents' Association Fund.
Peopletraveing with Soviet passports need only their Resident Certificates to enter
Hong Kong. Those whom regard as undesirables are sometimes given only 50X1-HUM
48 hours to get out of Hong Kong. The International Relief Organization office is
Hong Kong must have exchanged thousands of Soviet "foreign passports" collecte& from
refuge) s in the last several years 1 50X1 -HUM
Latelyithere has been much talk about, the Soviet offer to repatriate Russian refugees.
Some even withdrew their app ca ons or exit visas an r
their only chance to get out of China. A few days later it became known that the only
areas tc which the refugees could move in the USSR were Kayaketan, the Ural Mountains
and places to the west of the Volga 'basin -- mostly undeveloped land. The Soviets
seemed! to be interested in getting ltrained people to colonize these areas. The
emotional appeal of returning to Russia was very strong among many of -the gcpteless,
and there were hundreds of applicants. The program probably had some inspiration with
the Chinese who are anxious to be rid of the refugee problem. After applying for
returnto the USSR, the applicant was obliged to take a physical examination. When
the time for departure from China finally arrived, some of the refugee families were
divided on the basis of the results of the physical exams and in some instances the
father, mother or a child was leftlbehind while the rest of the family moved on. Once
you have applied for return to the USSR there is no refusing to go if you are physi-
cally qualified.
The passports carried by the Soviet officials and technicians were quite different from
those carried by the "second class'"lor refugee Soviet citizen. The local Russians
griped! constantly about being discrl.minated against by the more newly-arrived Soviet
citizens. There was practically nu contact between local residents and the imported
advisers and technicians. This feeling was not too apparent in Shanghai because one
didn't' encounter many Soviets the line is sharply drawn in 50X1-
Harbin Harbin' and the local residents are Made very conscious of their inferior status.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/04/24: CIA-RDP80-00809A000500570180-7