CONDITIONS IN TIENTSIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R015000180003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 3, 2006
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: November 24, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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SECURITY INFORMATION
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT
CD NO.
COUNTRY China
SUBJECT Conditions in Tientsin
25X1
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 793
AND 794, OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
Recruiting of Communist Party Members
DATE DISTR. 24 November 1952
NO. OF PAGES6
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Tn June 1952 .the Communist Party in Tientsin was recruiting its members from
active party sympathizers, the majority of whom were young men and laborers.
After individuals joined. the party they were instructed to leave their occu-
patiohs and attend a political training school. Many youths were recruited
after the termination of the three and five antis movements.
C om aunist Prop apda Organs
2. In June the following Chinese Communist publications were circulating in
Tientsin.
a. Tientsin Dail .News9, owned by the Chinese Communist Party and managed
by EJALNG Surag-ling (7806/26 -6/7881)
b. Party Life, 0hicb formerly had a limited distribution but which in June
was being purchased by the general public.
c. Chin Pu ,Jih Patio (6651/2975/248o/1032).
d. Wan Pao (2450/2519/1032), which was known as the Hsin Sheng, Wan
24503932/2519/1032) before June 19520
eo g Jen Jih Pao (1562/W86/2480/1032).
3. In June there were three broadcasting stations in Tientsin. the Chung Hsing
.(0022/5887), Jen Min (0086/30+6)9 and Chih Kung (512Q/1562) stations. The
majority of Tientsin residents used three or four-tube radios which had been
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distribute-d by~the Japanese. However, Soviet-manufactured long and short-wave. radio
-sets were being sold in Tientsin department stores, and many people were buying long
and short-wave radio sets which sold for about J14P 1,800,000 and which were manufac-
tured in the local electrical factory..
In the summer of 1951 tae Public Security Bureau in Tientsin was in the former
Nationalist police headquarters. Under the Public Security Bureau there were public
security branches, which were in charge of districts. There was one public security
branch in. charge of T'angku (117-40, 39-01) and one. in charge of Taku:(l17-11,,38-59.)o
Under these branches were district branch police offices. The chiefs of.the Public
Security Bureau in Tientsin were HSU Chien-kuo (6079/1696/0948) and WAN Hsiao-t'ang
(5502/1420/1048). HSU, however, was later moved to Shanghai as chief of. the. East.
China Public Security Administration and his successor had not been named.l
5. Sections of the Public Security Bureau and the branches were known as Special
Services Sections. The security bureaus used the Communications Police. Corps for
their communications. These communications police were former Nationalist commun-
icatiorns.police kept in service by'the Communists.
6. In Tientsin in June 1952 the'ChinQse Communist chain of command from top to bottom
for a security organization in a district was as follows. District Public Security
Bureau to the district branch police, then through a district representative to a
residential representative who was responsible for a residential unite. In some cases
the residential unit was broken down into street units. A representative of a street
unit was responsible to the residential tepresentative.
`The function of the district branch police office was to see that the subordinate
representatives and units carried out orders which were issued to the district
branch police from the Public Security: Bureau in Tientsin. The branch offices
were also responsible for forming comzt}ittees which functioned as public security
sub-bureaus. These committees checked on movements of people within a designated
district and were responsible for spreading propaganda and aiding in the political
indoctrination of the people.. Their propaganda and political indoctrination activi
tid"s Vere particularly concentrated of the women within the jurisdiction of the
branch police office? The members of these committees organized by the district
branch police office were nominated by the district office and elected by the
people, usually in the autumn. The committees maintained the security of their
areas by assigning groups to patrol the areas. On Communist holidays these patrols
were especially in evidence because they were. searching for Nationalist spies in,
the crowds.
8. Each district branch police of?ice had a chief and an.assistant chief who were
usuZlly.appointed by the .central Public Security Bureau. The staff also included
one clerk and approximately ten policemen. Between ten and fifteen people were
normally employed in the district branch office.
9. The function of the police was to control families.. Each policeman controlled
ab?ut. 100familieso In addition to-controlling families, the policemen alternated
at patrolling the streets in the districtb These patrols consisted of two men armed
with rifles. Each district branch station was equipped with several rifles.
10. ,The chief, assistant chief, and the clerk of the distil-ict branch. office wore Chinese
Communist civil service uniforms with a round red badge. The policemen wore the
same type of uniform with a collar patch which read "People's Police, House No.--."
The salaries of the chief, assistant chief, and clerk were more than 100 catties
of millet plus a cash subsidy per month. Members of the police force received up
to 300 catties of millet or its equivalent in cash as a monthly wage.
1:1.a Although some of the polic-emenhad worked under the Nationalist regime and had
since-been trained in Communist. security schools, the majority of the police in
the Tientsin area were young men who received all of-their training in the Communist
security schools. .
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12. The Chinese Communist security school in Tientsin was on the corner. of Ti.Hua (6611/
0553) and Shantung Road, opposite the gate of the 20 Army Group headquarters-Each
class had an enrollment of 1,000 men, and.,most.oft the students recruited..f.or. train-
ing were pupils in other schools or me 'without wvrk. Formerly ~he minimum qualif-
ication required for admittance to this.school"was a ,junior middle school.. education,,.
but in June 1952 an elementary school education was sufficient for admittance.. The
students normally received six months of training, but if a student was not-al-ready
indoctrinated or had a low mental ca?acity,'he was often required to train an
additional one or two months.
13. The class in training fin; Jur}e. 195,, tiewas recruited from rural villages.
because the students of +0he three previous ola;sses. recruited. in Tientsin were
difficult to reform. The peasant stu.detts pare very backward` a.nd slow in their.
training. Beinguna.cqustomed to Q.ity life thOy were cdiifused and had to be led from
one place to another. They were st3;.l in school after nine months of training.
14. In the security school to was a. dG;t~st of stude .t officers whose. purpose was
to train security cadxea:. 'Where wtre,over .b pe ?soris i each cadre class, .andmost
of them were between 27 and 4+0 years of age ie students were party . members. originally
from rural villages who had, been sV b , school to be re-educated . in .C.ommiinist
doctrine because of the lee ief that tr''tial concepts :had been poisoned by
tine iu :ury of uroan lire;.,
i5 P1
Political Scienco School
In Juxie_ 1.952 the Political Sciexioe,; School iri:Tientsin was betwee~R Kuan K' ou (+619/
0656_.) Street and Hopeh Road in the? nth Di tjrict. The studexit body consisted
of workers, shop employees, and Communist 66e6- After completion of a two-month
course students were often sprit; to other argas bf China.
Armed Forces
16. In June 1952 the 20 Army Group, Gorr sanded by 'SANG Ch' eag-wu 0799/2052/2976 ),2 had
its headquarters in the odd ),eadquarters of.t e'inspection a0ainvestigation board.
The old gates of the establish ntwege wall' up and a new gate had' been opened
on the corner of ti 'ua Street and 3yarztung RQed? 'j'iere were two signs on the gate
which read 19Tier}tsin Garrison eat u rt and 10, Army Group'' The guards at the
17. There were not mpny troops in Tientsin bee use many`ofthem bad been sent to
gates ,.were armed with sub -tr~ac, .iirleix~
Korea. There were many wouu?ded soi .iors in ..ientsin milit$.l?y, hhospitals. The
majority of thp.F
e pats htp were pr .eged meti Known as fighting heroes. Their
heroic deeds ua ified them for coriva sscence iii Tientsin.
On weekends in -dune Chinese.Comuunis,t air force personnel canie into Tientsin for
recreation. test of thqbe rgen were betty ei 0 and 6 years of age. They were mem-
bers of at a ii force grout` se vitae rant in immediate area of Tientsin.
19. During the si mere of 19 1 jet plan s,. flew, tav ri; the city in formations of nine or
eleven every Maya but ' d tngo ih6 jets'
ter of ,were s i.dbm seen over the city.
In' the early summeru of l 1 th0 h riese Cw ~MT $,?s re' u.isitizin many construction
long enough to permit the opgratidit 6f j t piat11es. 'there ws,s an airfield at
Changkueichpa g 117,-20, ,39 07 ~ for the use o small. tr apsPdr t Manes a Many of the
city of Tierisr
0. Nos t of the nave personnel iri'itsin rive l9' were from T'angku. In May
193? the haxbQr of '"an 1~u and its facilities were being repaired and the area was
he lti y guartlO.
Thera. were trey women ip t 1e' ' culturs.i wcr ors of the Ckiiii se Communist navy. In
curie 1952 those 'i irs n were betw0~ the ages of iO and 6 years. Their activities
were directed by Soviet adv3s,ers, many of whoi.,were women.
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TransportO,:.iori
22.. In June the Jurisdiction of the Tientsin Railway Board extended from Shs haikuan
(119-44, 40-00) to Shihchiachuang (144 28, j8-02). Like all other railway. boards
in'China, its branches were controlled by Communist Party members.
23, In June the personnel and.the equipment of a model passenger train in the Tientsin
area were. as follows,
ao On every train there was a coat ?o.l unit responsible for the entire train. All
facets of the train's maintenance", the treatment and conduct of the passengers,
and security were the responsibility of this units
b.o On each train there were security officers armed with sub-machine guns. The
chief of such.a unit was a Communist Party member.
c. The locomotive crew was under the control. of the mechanical affairs sections
This section arranged schedules'ai,d awarded citations for punctuality. It
was also responsible for the condition of the train's equipments
do Propaganda was beamed to the passengers by radio. Frbdically 'the .radio
operator on the train, usually afomale,sang songs, told humorous stories,
and reported current , events Female pperatprs were trained to speak Mandarin
and the Shanghai and Canton dia:o,ots
e. Each train was equipped with a c4r rsr ed for children under four years-of.
age., Seats in this ca.r were l qe e d'si ft and smoking was not permitted.
Pa skr ers w1o held second-class tieke~s;and who had children were permitted
to sta `in.-this car with theme do'tor responsible for the care. of the
children was also in this carp
24, In May 1.952 the main piers for the handling of vessels in Tientsin were the Jardine,
Matheson and the Butterfield and Swire piers`. The Dairen pier was no longer of
-major importance for loading and unloading ships. The piers were heavily guarded by
security troops and surrounded by barbed wire. Although there were formerly many
visitors to 'the piers at the Hai River, this was no longer true in May 1952; casual
visitors were kept out of. the area after working hours.
25, Ifne work of loading and unloading vesgels was well organized. Cargoes were handled
rapidly and ships were not compelled to spend unnecessary time in port It gener-
ally took about one day to discharge the 'cargo of a ship from Hong Kongo The wages
of longshoremen were fixed and there was n9 corruption of foremen with gifts and
bribes as existed under the old regime'.
26. In May 19"52 ships came to Tientsin from Hong Kong, Japan, eastern Europe, U the Soviet
niony England, and Dairen. The greater part of the imports was from Hong Kong and
consisted of steel plates and large hardware` items'. Most of the imports from Japan
and eastern Europe were chemicals, hardwmedical supplies, and fabrics. The
main exports were soybeans,, eggs, and,peanuts. Fountain pens bearing the trademark
"Gold Star tle and 'cigarette packed in tins marked "Red Man" were among the exports
being.shipp.ed to.eastern Europe.
27. In, June l952 all public 1~usses in Tientsin, iiith the exception of the T-234 busses,,
used charcoal for fuel. 'The Tz234 1u,sses used gasoline.' The following bus routes
were in use in the city of Tientsin.,
a. From Hsiaoliuchuang (1420/Q49l/5445) to North Station..
From T'un.glou (2639/2869) to Hsiaoshulin (1420/2885/2651).
From Hotel. Kuo Ming to Water Fro t.G4.rdeno
bo From Ch'ientechuang (61694795/5445) tp Hsiaowangchuang (1420f3769/5445).
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28. In June tram cars had been newly painted and their routes had not been changed
recently. There was., however, a new tram route from North-Station thnough.._Power
Station to New Market,- All person's who rode the tram cars. paid. fares. There were
no special privileges or free fares for military men and policemen.
29. In June Tientsin had electric bus trolleys which had been imported from the USSR.
These new vehicles ran from Liberation. Bridge to Chengchuangtzu (6774/544.5/1311).
There was a depot for these vehicles in front of Hsiaosunchuang (1420/1327/5445).
30. All segments of the public transit system were controlled by the Communist Party.
Workers were charged with maintaining the cleanliness of the public vehicles, econom-
izing on fuel, preventing accidents, and adhering closely to schedules. Schedules
were arranged so that trams and busses ran closely together and passengers did not
have -16ng waits for transportation.
Construction
In the period between the summer of 1951 and the. summer of 1952 the construction
field was one of the busiest in Tientsin. Many unemployed clerks and educated people
had become masons because there were not sufficient experienced workers to satisfy
the demand created by the construction boom. In every district in Tientsin there
were new buildings being erected. Because of the demand for building materials, brick
factories were doing a-thriving business. Construction projects helped also to
relieve the unemployment situation in Tientsin.
32.. Between the summer of 195:1 and the summer of 1.952 the Communists were planning to
Cons
WA, 50,000 houses for workers over a ten-year period. Workers? dormitories.
'were under construction in the Tung Lou Pi. Kuo Yao (2639/2869/3024/0948/4523) and
Cheng Chuang Tzu (6774/5445/131:1.) areas on the Tientsin-Taku road. The areas were
to be villages, for workers,
33, The Communist propagandp, accompanying the construction of these village,s was, effective
7151u, people were told that they were building houses for their comrades and that in
the past they had _abored to build homes for capitalists. Urged on by. such propa-
ganda as this the members of the workers, families, even women and children,,. willingly
participated in the construction, often to the point of exhaustion.
34 In-the . wor .ers' village at Cheng Chuang Tzu there were bicycle, metallurgy.,. textile,
and paper factories and workers' dormitories divided into sections. The plans. for
this village called for. the construction of a children?s nursery, post office,
school., peoples bank, .and other public 1utilities o For entertainment, movie theaters,
a. stadium, and. a garden were to be built,,
35. The materials for this project were purchased from various concerns at the same-price.
This action supported the propaganda theme that all the people were treated. equally;
no individual. it group of individuals was privileged; and government funds for public
buildings were distributed to the people, not to one monopoly.
36; In the summer of 1951 the Communists began the construction of a, floating garden in
the Pa 'Li Tai (0360/6849/O6a69) near the Tientsin border. The garden was to cover a
large 8i;1r?ea and was to take five years to complete a The workers on thy? s project,
principally unemployed citizens of Tientsin, were recruited by the labor office.
.LabQ t,
In the period from the summer of 1951 to the summer of 1952 laborers in Tientsin could
not apply.for work on their own initiative but they were obliged to go through the
Tientsin, labor office,ir order to secure Pmploymento If a worker did not adhere to
this system he.was ses9ere .y punished. Although a worker was dissatisfied with the job
he recce ved9 he was still forced to work at the job until the establishment which
employed him closed. If a worker had a non-union job he could not use the labor office
facilities to obtain empioyient without first getting a certificate from a labor union.
38.
When an organization wished to employ laborers, it had to go through the same labor
office. Notices were,put in the newspapers and applicants took examinations i.n order
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to qualify for the jobs offered. Applicants who already had a job or-were students
were automatically disqualified. The applicant first went to a branch-polic.e office
to get approval before he.took the qualifying examination. If the applicant, passed
the examination for the particular job, he started to work. The Cooperative Store
and the Peoples Bank of Tientsin employed many of the people who passed these
examinations,
39.. It was difficult to obtain membership in a labor unions A security check. was made of
individuals seeking membership in a union. An applicant was also questioned orally
as to his political views, past occupations, and past relations with other-labor unions.
If the individual could pass these preliminary questions and the security check., he
then could obtain a labor union membership.
4+0,- Wages for unskilled laborers were usually from 200 to 400 catties of millet. per month.
:`.the nationally owned textile factories y ' such as the Pei Yang (0554/3.1,52.). and- the. .
Heng-Yuan Tung (1854/3293/0681), had a pay scale higher than the privately-owned
industries. The.nationally owned factories paid from 300 to 700 or 800 catties of
millet a month. Because of these differences in the pay scales, the workers of.
privately owned factories some times registered with the labor office as.b.eing unem-
ployed in order to obtain higher paying jobs. The laborers who made a.change..of-this
type started out in the nationally owned factories as apprentices and gradually
become laborers in their own right.
41, The Chinese Communist authorities claimed that they had raised the living standards
of the laborersa3
Chinese Communist Club in. \Tientsin;
42, In early 1952 there was a.Chi.nese Communist club in Tientsin which had been formerly
called the English' Bil1ia ?d ,ROomo If, was on Race Course Street and catered to. a
select few. _ To gain entrance, an individual had to show a membership card which was
difficult to obtain,, A member was allowed to take only one guest with him and there
was an additional fee of J1 2,000.
43, Billiard tables, ping pong tables, a swimming pool, and a barber shop were.among.the
facilities cif the club. Dancing was held regularly at the club, and if important
people arrived in Tientsin there was usually a dancing party in their honor.
44, The following important.individ als frequented the club? CHOU Shu-t?go,4 CH'U Chi-sheng
(2612/49+9/5110)7, HUANG Ching, WANG ffuo-ch?ing,7 and LI Chu-c'h?eno
25X1 1a Comment. According to information available to this office HSU was head
of the East China Public Security Administration in December 1951.
26X1 2, ~ommentj
arr. son in March 1,952,
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YANG commanded the Tientsin Army
Comment.. This claim was true when applied to national. factory workers
only. The common laborers in private industries did not share this higher
living standard. . .
40 IIComthento CHOU is a member of the Tientsin. Municipal Committee.
Comment... According to available information CH'(U was manager of the
z-6.
aen L. pinning Co., Tientsin in 19450
Comment.: IJANG Ching is the manor of Tientsin..
omeiitb HUANG Huo.-ch?ing is the chairman of the Tientsin municipal general
labor union.
8_a Cozr~n=ent LI is manager of the Chiu Ta Salt Company.
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