COMMUNISTS COMMANDEER SHIPS FOR TROOP CONVOYS. DROP EMBARGO ON FOREIGN SHIPPING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600290616-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 616
• Publication Date: March 20, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/20: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600290616-6
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
~~ ~n~
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL ?
CENTPAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY J~~~~E~ REPORT
COUNTRY China
SUBJECT Economic; Military -- Chirping
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE
PUBLISHED Hong Kong; New Yore
DATE
PUBLISHED 21, ?1 Jan 1950
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
OFFICERS, CREWMEN CONSCRIFTED -- Kung-sharig Jlh-pao, 21 Jan 50
Macao, 20 January -- the Communist military authorities of Chung-shan, Chi-
ng-men. San-fou, and ncigh!'o:ing ports are feverishly busy commandeering large
n~r:bers of ocean-gc'ing ,hips and seamen for military transportation purposes and
patrhsng them to= the Le:-:h..u pen:n-:ula. Bus-des, the SS Chin-hai and SS Yin-
in on the Macao--San-fu run, t..?. SS Won-hsing on the Hong Kung--Chiang-men run
Sia been sexed at Chiang-men. 'lire steamers SS T'ai-hsing; Li-hua-sheng, Fu-hsing,
and San-hsing, on the Macao--:n lang-men run, have been taken. Ships other than
ocean-going vessels which can trar.cpcr*. troop:: are having their officers, pilots,
engine-room men and .,her train: crewincn constr - pted. Because these men suspect
the reason for this con crIjt`or., many of them are taking every opportunity to
sneak away and desert the cowls. Thus practically all the ships at Chiang-men
that have been seized are withcu- pilots and hence the authorities are
forcibly taking this type of ::yen from other sh.pc.
In view of the above o _urreace:., on 19 January, the SS Li-te the SS T'ai-
hsing, the SS Li-t'al. the ES Sherg-l.. and the SS Jung-hua, which had already
left Macao for Chia,p-roen and San-fou, were r-called to Macao by their owners,
and the service on these we runs suspended. On 19 January, the SS Li-Chiang, on
the run from Macao tc Ku_ung-chc,.i. after leaving Macao turned back because of the
fear of being commandeered. On 20 January, in order to secure their quota of men
and ships speedily, the Military Control Commission of Chung-shan sent men aboard
a number of gumbo .ts to pa,.rc1 the waters outside the harbor of Macao so as to
seize vessels when they ,':erg-d. This has even resulted in the suspension of serv-
ice between Macao and Shth-ch'i. and travelers are obliged to resort to land trans-
rcrtation.
Although no public announcement has been made as Lo the destinations of the
commandeered ships, everybody suspects that they will be used to convey the Com-
munist troops assembled in the neighborhood of Chiang-men and Hsin-hui to Kuang-
chou or directly co'the Lei-Chou peninsula.
CLASSIFiCATION JONFlDEN IAL
STATE NAVY NSRR T DISTRIBUTION I
ARMY AIR
rsi
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CHINESE SHIPS CHANGE REGISTRY -- Hsin-shen pac, 21 Jan 50
Hong Kong -- Up to 20 January 1950, not ies- than 4b ships of Chinese regis-
try in Hcng Kong have changed '_.eir names and applied for registry in the Panamani-
an ?onsulate in Hong Kong, so that they may fly the Panamanirn flag. Among these
ships are the following-.
Nar.-hai
Su-yuan
Tsai-a_-Lung
Al-la-- u
Ta-liang
T''ng-p' leg
T'ai-hsing
Chu-kuang
Hsin-chung-kuo
T'ai-hsin
Yang-Y. e u
Ao-hai
Chia-hua-ii
Chia-lao-la-tu /Colorado?/
Su-fei-ya /Sophia,/
Mel-t?i-hua
Ta-hc -yang lung Atlantic Dragon/
T'ai-p'ing-yang lung LPacific Dragon,
Tung-nine
Tung-lung g.,,t Dragon,
No-pa
Ya-li
T'len-nu-na
Po-ta
On 20 January, a spokesman for the China Merchants Steamship Company posi-
tively denied the statement by outs_ders that the China Merchants' ships were
atout to change to Panamanian registry.
SEAMEN ON SS MEI-LING REFUSE TO LEAVE HONG KONG -- Hua-ch'iao Jih-pao. 31 Jan 50
urcn arrival there the ship might, be assigned to military duty with the possible re-
reasons the majority of the crew are umwa ling to man this "dead ship" if it should
FOREIGN SHIP TO MAKE RUN -- Hs-n-sheng Wan-pao, 21 Jan 50
Hong Kong -- The SS Yung-ti s:ng of British registry has recently obtained from
the Military control Comm:->;:: :n Kuang-chou a 4-month temporary permit to operate
between Hong Kong and Shan-wei. This scup is scheduled to leave at 1800 hours,
21 Ja'cary 1950, on its first trip to Shan-wei since receiving its permit, and in-
tends hereafter to make regular trips on this run.
Shan-wei is a small market town on the eastern coast of Kwangtung and hereto-
fore has not been an open port. Now a foreign ship has been granted permission not
only to enter, but to make regular calls there. This action is an indication of the
effectiveness of the KMT's naval blockade of the coast and shows that the Communist
government has lifted the long-standing embargo against foreign shipping doing busi-
ness in other than treaty ports.
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A short time ago, the SS Yung-hsing visited Shan-wei and was detained by the
Communist authorities for 3 weeks, mainly on the pretext that Shan-wei was not a
treaty port. Recently, this same steamer called at Shan-t'ou and while there was
attacked and damaged by KMT aircraft. Now, after undergoing repairs in a Hong
Kong dockyard, it is loading for trade with Shan-wei. This latest trade permit
now makes it clear that a convenient door has been opened in the Chinese wall of
exclusion of foreign shipping.
KUANG-CHOU FERRYBOATS TO RUN AT NIGHT -- Kung-:hang Jih-pao, 21 Jan 50
Kueng-chou, 20 January -- Due to the fact that not a few people have been ma-
chine-gunned by KMT planes over the city, the local authorities have ordered ferry-
boats and steamers plying between the city and the suburbs to operate only at
night. Whenever an air-raid alarm is sounded, policemen are to display red flags
at the main intersections so that motorbus drivers may know that an air attack is
imminent. Busses must then stop and remain stationary, or the drivers must bear
the responsibility for any casualties.
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