OFFSHORE ISLAND SITUATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91T01172R000300240003-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 28, 2006
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: January 28, 1955
• Content Type: MF

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COPY NO.
300240003-1
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
28 January 1955
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director (Intelligence)
SUBJECT: Offshore Island Situation
General
An Agency France Press correspondent now in Shanghai
reported on 27 January that Communist China "is faced with
its most serious crisis since the end of the Korean war."
Shanghai papers are reported to be carrying "fearful headlines
with accounts of the strength of American forces in nearby
waters. The correspondent speculates that the silence of the
Communist authorities there may reveal "some uncertainty with
regard to the turn of events and the wish to stop the attacks
on the American attitude until after the withdrawal of
Nationalist forces from the Tachens.'" It is of considerable
interest that the Shanghai authorities are permitting stories
of this type to be sent out, and the content of this dispatch
to some degree supports a belief that the Communists intend to
pursue a cautious policy for the time being.
the war front has been generally
quiet o ow ng the arrival on Formosa of'the US Air Force 18th
Fighter-Bomber Wing. All planes of the 75-plane unit are now
based on Formosa.
Tachens
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Chinese Nationalist bombers hit Communist military targets
on Ichia.na and Tn~,i>ss, i
4.1... -L __ _
n
ea on 28
-
January , I
1 -
A 1,500 ton Communist ship was
reportedly crippled.
Negative.
State Dept. review completed
ieeNment No, --
late:
I!t Change In Class. -----
r] Reclassili!el
Hass. Change To: TS S G
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Prospects for a Cease-Fire
Peiping's first commentary on President Eisenhower's 24
January message to the Congress hints at a possible modifica-
tion of Chou En-lai's earlier emphatic rejection of UN action
to secure a cease-fire in the China area.
Rather than explicitly rejecting the possibility of UN
action as an affront to Chinese sovereignty--which Chou did as
late as 24 January--Peiping on 27 January followed the evasive
line set by Pravda the previous day. The President is charged
with "deceptive alk" and with expressing a "hypocritical
welcome" for UN action.
While this commentary does not provide a firm basis for
believing that Peiping will modify its position, the Chinese
Communists may have come to perceive certain possibilities for
exploiting UN action to gain a seat in the UN, a reduction of
economic pressures, title to the offshore islands, and perhaps
other concessions.
As for Nationalist China, which has publicly opposed the
idea of a cease-fire, the US Department of State stated on 27
January that assurances had been neither sought nor received
from Chiang Kai-shek last October in regard to Nationalist
acceptance of a cease-fire. The statement did not make clear
whether the issue had arisen more recently.
HUNTINGTON D. SHELDON
Assistant Director,
Current Intelligence
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