DEFECTIONS BY CHINESE RED OFFICIALS ARE A RARITY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP71B00364R000100020004-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 30, 2001
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: February 8, 1969
• Content Type: NSPR

NE y, XQ4 :~IAgS,
Approved For Release 20 3,/1/1 ~9C Q-RDP71 B00364R000100020004-1
0
Defections by Chinese Red Officials- A ie a Rarity
By TILLMAN DURDIN I pehing's, Indoctrination and
Spcelni to The New York Times . ,
IIONG KONG, Feb. 7 - The
defection to the United States
of J,iao H chargd cl' af-
lfaires n the Chinese Commu-
~nist Embassy in the Nether-
Tight Curbs Have Limited
Number to 4 Since.'62.
er going out in public except
in pairs.
In' any case, members of
Chinese missions abroad follow
a strict regimen of aloofness.
They rarely leave the confines
of their work areas and living
quarters, and-thus seldom be-i
come familiar enough with the!
life 'outside to he attracted to
defection. The fact that their)
wives and children remain host-
(lands, is'a'rcininder of how few intrigues and power plays of
,in number are the Chinese Corp. that upheaval.
monist officials who have -Until the recent, jolting. er-
turned their backs on the pericnces of the. Cultural Rev-
ing re ;imc 'and sought'asylum olution Chinese officials, ac-
abroad, cording to all available evid-
Mr r move also em- ence. have felt an intense sense
another
a
ages back in Ch
e
u
in the Hague without a trip system followed-abroad ot.nev-{
hmmo mpnn'hn did not oxneri-
a great help. home. Most'have gone through
But none has turned up. Mr. foreign service'training that in-!
Liao, whose four years of duty
des familiarization with the
l
high-level defector, it would be reserve ong
doctrination before they .leave
t
I!,
in China; have often said that Province almost impossi i e.
if there might be even one Chinese officials posted abroad
1 and intense in.
analysts here,: trying to guar pos s
rtain what was happening land escape from Ifwangtung
ce
s
l
e
? All three are' younger than ] .
,the 46-year-old Mr. Liao and The short 'land border 'ac-
were of considerably lower of- tween Hong Kong and China
ficial ere stature. has formidable barbed wire and
In, the last' two arid a half other barriers and closaly spaced
d t that make cvnr-
h
1964; and Miao Chen-pa i, ea
of the -commercial section of China, has never seemed a safe
the embassy in. Syria, in 1966. or hospitable haven, nor have
d--f- Asian countries.
th
ficer and interpreter at the A~:Is +i..
decided to
"seek free- Liao
dom.",
The protest to the United
States, delivered by the Chi-
rese embassy in Warsaw to
U.S. Ambassador Walter Stoes-
sel Jr., was couched in vigor-
cus prose. It accused the Cen-r
tral Intelligence .,Agency of i
Laving cai?i?ze~i"off""the defec-
tor to the United. States, and
described this as "a grave
anti-China incident deliberately
engineered by the United, States
government."
IT ADDED that . the affair
was "another towering crime"
committed by the. Americans
in their "scheme to~:.incite,"
personnel' of Chinese ;foreign
missions to betray their coun-
try.
Another defector, Chan.
Chien-yu, a member of the
Chinese consulate in Bombay,
was said to have been "kid- !
naped." in 1959.
In a statement released in
Peking Friday, the Foreign",
Ministry spokesman said the
two' governments, American
and Dutch, "must be held re-
sponsible for all the grave. con-.
sequences" if they do not sur-
render Liao to Peking.
(6)Chicaoo pa1IV Nowc.TarontaStar
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U.~.~ Is silent on R~dChines~ Defection
state Department officials are
_k1eeping silent on the mystery
surrounding the defection of
high-ranking Chinese Commu-
nist diplomat Liao Ho-chu.
Robert J. McCloskey, epart-
how the defection came about,
when the U..S. government eii-
tered tile,picture,on what agen-
cy was involved.
Liao, who was 'in charge of the
the Nethc glands 11 days' ago,
came to the United Statefyes
terday.
Speculation was the defection
of _the 46-year=ofd diplomat
"eulturat revolut~pn" which has;
shaken . Communist China for
yews. ` ~~, - i,, - -`
1t was reported , but not affix
dally coiafiwed that Liao has a
T
or in Iiont; ong
By the Associated Stress j meet spokesman, refused to say Chinese Communist embassy at It was presumed in Hong Kong
ist Chinese wanted
mu
C
th
?A report from a Hong Kong
newspaper said the Chinese
Communist government h a d
sent two investigators to Cairo
cnd Euro
zaaa pean. points to check on
's.~ .. efection. 'T'here was..no,~
_ .
n
om
e
to determine if the U.S Centraa
Intelligence Agency, the Chinese
Nationalists `pr, the Russians as-
sisted Liao or encouraged him to
defect. `'
Liao had been in The Hague
almost six y-earl.
McCloskey .would' not describe.
Liao's professional specialty in
the diplomatic service, and de-
clined to .say, whether U.S.
agents had contacted him at
The Hague.
Neither would he specify what ,
agency was in charge of Liao's
custody, saying only "various
agencies of the government are
looking after his interests."
McCloskey said it probably
could be stated Liao was;"under
protective custody."
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 WASHAWFt '' j FBQIR@ease 200 099:: R1 ?c1B00364R000100020004-1 PAGE
ao's wife into Hong Kong
On the night of January
Defecting
~Q ttu
? ne himself in a
h.tnese Spy Dutch police station, say
only,
"I no longer w4At
work for my government."
He was taken to a set
place in the
-
_ E ` - -- is
= .~ SCue and smuggled
t a
ing
# .dip ?t!- Interior also questioned
lomat described as onel
mainland China's ranking American officials infinl.
x es in Europe was_broughtf land were notified of .t
Government had connived 'in
c.ose_d by the State?De,part 1 r;-1..r?o,u,
11 1
.111g s charge d au Tres ip? ll_a r g e protested to th
a
KT
arrival of Liaotor-Shg, Last week, the new Chinese
m tJie Hague ory interrogated by CIA
agents there.
hQ department spid_ that,
o, 46, had asked for asylum;
der.consideratipn," ire, was
See SPY, A8, C91,8
China.
At this point, it rC ~57 d, , ,.
m ri agents in Chxj came
iaed from Pe .good reason to decide he no
faced with Ffowanted "to work for
lemma. He was fl ' tIIy g vet nment."
Liao and. lie was, finally mitted tc leave.
off from, sensitive mate-. If defector Liao Was-to be
i his superiors in Peking. body snatchers were penned
own Emhas_sy subordi-. j n the.compund for nearly six
ingence information. for Chin; from Switzerland__.
ao, as the_former nus- jive material In the-port
Toz
chief, is a storehouse of Amsterdam, packages destined
e network in Europe and erect . 116 packages of radioae-
_ L.
y said that the Hague is that" his connection came t
center of China's espio- light when the Dutch discov-
Crxider "protective custody" ever, a Yugoslav newspaper,
a Q Department his
death. The New China
kesman, Robert; 1VIC News Agency was later to-- say
skey, declined to say wjiere that the man had killed l m-
o'arrived and wh, thnr hP
?? LLVJy1LaL w.itu uL'u'ug'ui rum TO
unan Pron who ame Peking's compound. The next
}neHague in April, 1963. day, the embassy announced
"h S
tt
24,
There is speculation in Eu.
rope that Liao was going to be
made the scapegoat for an-
other mysterious incident two
years ago in the Hague. In
Jul
f 1966
f
y o
,
our Chinese
crtibed only, as the,highest';
king_Chinese ever to defect technicians snatched an in-
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The diplomat, LiaoHashu,
iced States arrived un- gan in late 1966 as partof the
t security to4a from .,ulturl Re?Olu1ton, directed
stherlands a esChinese so-
__ po itical asylum, e - - -
asked to go to the United
States.
Robert J. McCloskey, the
State Department spokesman,
said Mr.Liao was being held in
"protective custody" pending a
decision on his request for asy-
lum.
Mr. McCloskey refused to say
if United States agents had
been in, contact with Mr. Liao
before his defection, how he was
flown to the United States, or
where he was being held.
United States officials said
that little was known about the
46-year-old diplomat, who had
been attached to the Chinese
Embassy in The Hague since
April, 1963.
There was lively interest
among diplomatic and intelli-
1'Jiao `~ `?'however, about what Mr. Liao
-fi 'al- e S" ig cp nmatic rank, it was
a tq'riveVew ~4Tk Times ' 'thought likely that Mr. Liao had
GTON Feb 4-The an'Intelligence background.
t., china s
ecialists noted that
p
-ranking `Chinese Com- Mr. Liao survived the p irge of
defected Jan. 24 in ie ague
from his post as charge d'af-
faires, or acting head of the
Chinese Embassy in the Neth-
,erlapds. He turned himself
over to the. Dutch police and
Continued on Page 2, Column 4
ciety considered susceptible, to
"counterrevolutionary" Western'
influences.
The last defection of a Chi-
nese Communist diplomat to
the United States was that of
Miao Chen-Pai, a third secre-
tary at the Chinese Embassy in
Damascus, Syria, in 1966.
His interrogation is reported
to have provided little of "hard"
intelligence value, but gave a
picture of quiet disaffection
among many younger, educated
Chinese with the rigidities of
the Communist system even be-
fore the height of the Cultural
Revolution.
. The interrogation of Mr. Liao
was expected, in accordance
with past practice, to be con-
ducted by the Central Intel1i-
gence Agency.
The motives for his defec-
tion have not been established,
although there was speculation
among officials here that 'Mr.
Liao may have been recalled
to China Find saw little future
for himself there.
The State Department spokes-
man said he could not confirm
press reports either that Mr.
Liao's family was still in China
or that it had fled to Hone
Kong.
The defection was a source
not only of intelligence inter-
est but also of potential dip-'
lomatip embarrassment, in view
of the scheduled resumption of
contacts between United States
and Chinese Communits repre..
sentatives in Warsaw on Feb.
jAG-
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 Approved-f-arRefease 2T1~ 1/'i 0 CIA-RDP71 B00364R000100020004-1
CHICAGO, ILL.
TRIBUNE
hi - 805, 531
S - 1,124,946
FEB 5 1969
Liao.
CChicann Tribune 'reas 5erviteh
Washington, Feb. 4-Liao Ho-
shu, described by t h e state
department as t h e highest ,
ranking Red Chinese defector
in history, arrived in t h e
United States today.
Liao, 46, was its charge of
the Red Chinese embassy in
the Netherlands in the ab-
sence of the regular aznbas.3a-
dor. He defected 11 clays ago,
telling D u t c h officials he
wanted asylum in the United
States. .
Robert J. McCloskey, state
department spokesman, said
the request is under '.consider-' Liao Ho-.shu
ation but refused to ,discuss
.details of Liao's case, includ- press reports that Liao has a
ing his reasons for defecting. family, either. on the Chinese
Usually Handled B;C:CA,? mainland.ox_in Hong Kpng.
The c e n t r a 1 intelligence
agency usually _ handles such
matters. The CIA has a num-
ber of hideouts around the
country w h e r e, it was as-
sumed, Liao would be ques-
tioned at length.
McCloskey said Liao was
.under protective custody and
that "various agencies" were
:.interested in the case. He re-
'fused to say whether Ameri-
can officials questioned Liao
while he was given temporary
refuge by the Dutch, but it
seems likely such contact was
made before Liao's trip to the
United States could be ap-
proved.
If Liao is handled as earlier
high-ranking defectors h a v e
la4eah, nothing ever will be
heard of him. He would as-
sume a new identity some- West Germany denied this.
ld
where in the west and wou
`.be guarded by the CIA, possi-
bly for years.
Reports of Family
There were unconfirmed
- McCloskey also refused to
discuss Liao's specialty-
whether iritell.igence, econom-
ics, or politics--except to-note
that he was..a' veteran diplo-
mat., Liao had been at The
Hague for six years..
Chinese embassies in the
west, while ostensibly devoted
primarily to trade matters, in-
clude a' heavy complement of
intelligence specialists direct-
ing spy networks.
There were reports from the
Netherlands, Sunday that Liao
Thad left curing the week-end
end had gone to the head=
quarters o;` the CIA ~in Bonn to
he - interrogated bii'', Chinese
spying activities 'in'; Western
Europe. American officials in
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SK! ASYLUM- ..
By;the Assxiated Press
high-ranking Chinese
communist diploraat, triochu, who defected in t ie4
therlands 10. dad s ago ar-
ved in the United S&a es
sday, the State Departmentm
TTtr~V U:S.
request is under consider
bon,"" a spokesman said
He has requested asylum
cCloskey` refused to -p
due. The Central Ii
e A?encv ord`uiaril
-Wen matters, however and,_v
Ru it that some,ga.1tacc
nrted ;;tags. ~N
EE- . 46 ear-old dip i t
gh-a of the
ese embassy in_ _
ii e.__
Ana in tf-e apSens e
PAGE
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Peking Envoy-Defector
1eIieved to Be in U.S,
ch -ef ials, aln Lta :
HAGUE Netherlands
:) - The Red Chinese envoy
v by defected in The Netherlands
believed to be in the United
aj- Bonn ast ee i'Ay in_
X an cull e wer sate- spy networks. They said Liao's
of ~h~nag He told the d e f e c t i o n would forge-..the
ted - de ct~aa,sgon as terminal in one of the Chinese
se spyin activities, in
e' of hjs, xu,e, vsitso high government officials say
d c Aprelgn Muustry sev- the Chinese legation in the
tom . e f t okrefuge, LIAO H9-'S
HU
the first Red Chinese
tahatory m e a s u r e s matic immunity. There has been
a nis '. .aidt4e,gov-July 16, 1966. Liao participated
4usc nF he had been thrown out a win-
aals to v _t9ld the dew,
ntary committee,, for Chinese agents abducted him
fon _ been hit by arcar another that
7*ats.. because they congress. He was found inured
contacts in Peking. outside the Chinese Embassy
sal, a rocket expert visiting, the
caapproached Ro- Netherlands for an industrial
t ,saia tot y sold a se- deal;h Peking reportedly wanted
r y e . , gas formula to U.S. Liao to explain was Hsu Tsut-
1o t-14rjb -p
f d tb in j European espionage setup.
t s t the a c xplanation why Peking wait-
~affa s in Peltr
than two years before
Members of ann 1 s Liao home to report.
PAGE 3_r
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 NL:V YO:rt%
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s FEB 1969
`VLLJL~~.I d~ 1
The I-Iague, Feb. 2 (AP)-The
first top diplomat of Red China
to defect to the West is going tc
the United States, Dutch govern-
ntcnt officials said today.
He is Liao IIo-shu, former
charge d-affaires here, who quit
the Chinese legation and wor,
asylum in. the Netherlands Jan.
.24.
The informants laid Liao has
moved from The Hague to the
headquarters of the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency in Bonn to
be interrogated about Chines.
spying in Western Europe.
They added that the Romanian
Embassy here played a part in
Liao's defection, which came
after he got confirmation that
his wife and two children has
fled from Red China tb Hong
Kong.
Justice Minister C. H. F. Polak
indicated to the Parliamentary
Committee or Justice and I orr
sign Affairs last Thursday that
Liao was about to leave ilia pro-
tection of Dutch security offi- ? .
dais.
The Dutch radio had reported
Liao quit after being ordered'
home - to account for the dea;;h
here in 1066 of a Chinese scien-
tist Hsu Tsu-tsai, said to have
sold a secret nerve gas formula
to U.S.. agents... _..:__.
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The Dutch say officially than day
por
Aath `eb ] A d 'affairs in the Chinese Lega-
~ne iplomat wTio riled tion at The Hague, has been
government for pot- "asked to go to a location
1e
{
um nine nays ago is
htolie one of the
e t digest international
s in several years.
o _"M A described
sys,ein is reporfed'
X
mted Siates
o
-:i; K l~h u P ~rnm
anon at `The Hague
iders to kidnap him.
a massive protest against
where he will be safe from re- Liao's flight, saying they had
prisals." This is an oblique ref-
erence to a sensational inci-
dent at The Hague in 1966
when a visiting Chinese engi-
neer was snatched from a hos-
pital x-ray table, where he had
b take" after receiving
it was an "anti-Chinese action
deliberately planned and car-
ried out by The Netherlands
government after long prepa-
ration."
It is understood that the im-
een
myserious- I diate reason for. Liao's
group of C7liesey 4nay have been a recent
been tailing tie Mftese" WfITO
be
have been trying desperately
to discover Liao's where-,
abouts. At the same time, di-I
plomat observers have discov-
ered that all the staff of the
Chinese Legation have left
their families in China-pre-
sumably to discourage defec-
tion. Liao has a wife and two
children in China.
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 LOS ANGELES TIMES
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'butch Report Defection
of Peking's Top. Envoy
THE HAGUE, Nether- .;role .in the affair or of his'
lands (A7-The top Chinese, 'reported recall order.
diplomat in The Hague The death of Hsu, a
has defected and won tern ,,rocket expert visiting the
'.porary asylum in the Neth- Netherlands for a congress
erlands, the Dutch Jus-. on welding techniques,
Aice Ministry said Friday."touched off art internation-
The Dutch radio said in al barrage of spy charges
la broadcast report that he', and countercharges.
I 'quit the Peking regime In 1966, a book by three
after being ordered home " Dutch newsmen said Hsu.to account for. the, death had given an agent of the
here of a Chinese scientist. U.S. Central Intelligence
said to have sold a secret Agency a microfilmed for- ff,
nerve gas f o r mru 1 a to mula for a fatal nerve gas
.,:.developed b a Polish
American agents. by Liao Ho Shu
scientist and spirited to ua wirepnolo
'
'
h e Justice Ministry
i
the Netherlands by a Chi-
said Liao Ho Shu, temper- ;; ,nese double agent. ; to the legation. The Dutch
the charge d'affaires to The book, "The Chinese . called that a violation of
the Netherlands, asked Affair" said The Hamie
-A
of
,the country. There was no
Europe. .Li, the charge d'affaires.
word on when Liao defect- Red China retaliated by
ed, but the ministry said Fall Caused Injuries .
he had left The Hague for. ' Hsu was found sprawled; .,,-.declaring Li's Dutch coun-
-an unannounced destina- on a sidewalk outside the `, terpart in Peking unwel-.
Lion. , Peking legation on July'. come. It charged the
Replaced Expelled Aide 16, 1966. He was taken to a Dutch were acting under,
Liao was second secreta-' hospital with a skull frac- U.S. orders and that "the
ture and spinal injuries.
rv hera for three venr.v. _ .1 , ,. _ _, . death of T-Tcn Tsu-tsai has
ts
ome
. ?
--__ ___ _____
before taking over for
Charge d'Affaires Li En been run down by a czar been caused by the activi
chin in Jul 1966. The and others that he had ties of secret U.S. agents'
Y, .b
who'
n thrown out a win-
lic
ee
and t cc mp
es
_ _
_
h
'
inese r __ _ __.
a
pe11.ed Li alter the C.
An official Dutch inves- Peking s New C h i n a
abducted the scientist
,
Hsu Tsu-tsai, from a hos- tigator said the injuries ' News Agency said Hsu,
ital where he lay critical- were suffered in "incited by U.S. agents to`,
ly injured and took him to'.,,premeditated or not." ? 'desert. and d betray hi a
their legation where he A a H a u w a s b e i.a g country," bid been In-;
fd .a wheeled into an' operating jured by jumping from the'.
room
d
t
, ~. , ..~ ,r ..
cast
c 11 b roa
1110 JJ u
gave -no detall~ .,on ;Liao!e ,;;.geared and, took I1im.bF~ck;;;.;iun awa -. , . ;N, ,.._ .. ti
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