VIEWS OF MAINLAND CHINESE ON THE COMMUNIST REGIME IN SHANGHAI AND ON CHINA S RELATIONS WITH THE USSR AND JAPAN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A003200060003-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 1, 2001
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: December 28, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2001/11/21 : CIA-RDP80-0081OA003200060003-7
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
China
Views of Mainland Chinese on the
Communist Regime in Shanghai and on
China's Relat?ons with the USSR and
Japan
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 704, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person Is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form Is prohibited.
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR. 28 December 1953
NO. OF PAGES o9-
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
SOUR E:
F
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
1. No city under Chinese Communist control has been as complicated for the Com-
munists to govern as has Shanghai. The city in May 1953 was still affected
by,'Its many years of foreign influence. Until the Communists took it over,
it was one of the leading cities of the world. While numerous industries
still existed in May 1953, the Communists were having an extremely arduous time
trying to change the thinking of-.Shanghai residents,. including capitalists,
who in the past had the greater part of China's wealth; those bureaucrats who
were looking for a chance for quick wealth; and even the extremely destitute
factory workers who, although they could not enjoy luxuries, harbored an
adoration for the city which bound them to it. The Chinese who had settled in
Shanghai saw the backrardness of their own country and had felt and enjoyed
the benefits of Western civilization. The Communists, however, were essentially S
country people who had been long in rural surroundings and lacked an under-
standing of freedom, the central interest of urban residents.
25X1A
CONFIDENTIA]
 Approved For Release 2001/11/21 : CIA-RDP80-0081 OA003200060003-7
CONFIDENTIAL
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2. When the Communists took over Shanghai they instituted several economic
control measures only to find that the measures failed. They failed be-
cause the people had long been submissive to the colonialism of other
powers. Generally speaking, it proved that the more ignorant the people,
the harder it is to control them. For instance the rise in prices, following
the Communist occupation of various areas, was more due to the uncooperative
attitude of the people than to the capitalists. The progress of land reform
was similarly slowed by popular opposition.
3.
Soon after the Communists came into power, the Shanghai government instj.-
tuted a policy of increasing wages for the factory workers, since the
authorities had pinned their hopes on this group for support. Management
warned the authorities that the rise was unreasonable, but it took a drop
in production to prove they were right.
Communist China in May 1953 was taking a different course from the USSR;
the progress of the revolution and surrounding conditions were different,
and China would develop its own principles accordingly.
5. Japan must eventually enter into friendly relations with Communist China.
Approved For Release 2001/11/21 : CIA-RDP80-0081 OA003200060003-7