CHINESE CHANGCHUN RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION AT HARBIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R005100080009-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 30, 2003
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: June 22, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Approver( Fordl~eCs2~~~A00457R0~9~
CQUUTRY' China
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DATE DISTR. 2
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3UNN 50
SUBJECT Chinese Changchun Ra,i1wa;r Administration NO OF PAGES 4
at Harbin
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF
INFO.,
IYFY1I kTI '+AO'
rKamm&
M W' mar
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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0
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:ia During the period ' f Soviet occupation of Manchuria, the Soviet axe operated
all rail transpoi ,..tion, although in theory the Chinese Nationalists were al-
lowed to n rttciz ~ s;e in railway affairs. With the departure of the Soviets
In April 1946, V., railroads came under joint Sino-Soviet operation, and maze
of the Soviet arr'tr railwn r operating =personnel rerai zed to work for the Chinese
Changchun iai lw:a: Soviet directorate. . Tae section operating in the north and
east and was ref rred to generally as the Northeast :rZ...i lway. From 1946 to the
spring; of 1948, Al traffic from the USSR or Harbin to Dairen went via Mutau-
chiang (1-'x)-37, 35) to Twnen (129-50. 42-55) on, the Korean border, then
the North Korrer, Dort of Chinnampo (125-24, 38J4-4), and thence by ship to
Dairen.
2. Under Soviet ~ i c-ection, a third rail was constructed paralleling the tracks
from the USSR ' ~arder at Maytchonii. (1,17-21,7, 49.36) and Sutfenho (131-09. 44-23)
through EErbi'i down to Dairen;* Japaripse POW labor was used. This third rail.,
which per?mit'r i the Soviets to operate both Soviet and Manchurian equipment
on the line, -as removed by the Chinese Conrn ni sts after the withdrawal, of the
Soviet ar ?, Rail traffic under the arnW was uredoninantly military and without
reegila.r m% ,s ager or freight schedules. The initially Soviet crews were gradu-
ally replaeei with Chi.nesp, except in supervisory oositions.
3.
As Comnunis offensives opened the southern sector in, ppring nn summer 1948,
Soviet tectt ricir.ns began arriving in Harbin, and by V y 1943 the raiiw to
the South As well advanced in reconstruction. Itvicks were laid quickly and
efgicien'1i, throw the use of special trains made up of flatcars equipped
with Sov:. a ,r1 r derricks and loaded with rail*,, plus some box cars for
accesnor:v equipment and peresonnel. Collections of ties were concentrated at
tnterva Aar Along the lines and workers were stationed at designated points to
meet the train as it moved south. Bridges which had been &maged were
peer: en1y reconstructed before the tr^tn arrived. In addtion to the track-
laying 9.,ain, a sanitary train staffed with Soviet medical 1,3eersonnel was
provid a, by the Soviets to combat epidemics.
RETURN TI ARCINS & RIUUS COM
IMMEAIATE[Y AFTER USE
Jj!~~2-"3~CCZZ__NX_ .
I
C_LAS sIFICATION ' tea ei'.
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STATE _4. 1`MVY r Re
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LAF_
AIR n3i
This document is hereby regraded to
CONFIDENT IAL in accordance with the
letter of 16 October 1278 from the
Director of Central Into;';s~ ;e 4o the
Archivist of the United Staies.
Next Review Date: 2008
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
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(.AL 17"BLUGME AGENCY
/a. When normal ser-iice; was restored to Dairen, the former Chinese Eastern
ki&ilway was placed under joint Soviet-Chinese direction as the Chinese
Gha.ngchuxi Eaiiwaya, All, other Manchurian railways, krnowwn as the Northeast
Railways, are controlled directly by the Chinese
5,, In the Chinese Changchun .il.way, a small. group of Chinese executives in
Harbin works with the Soviet directorate, which actually controls and orates
the line. The Soviet directorate occupies the forcer Chinese R,astern Rail-
way Administration Building in Harbin, The director is Aleksel Fedorovich
Zhuravlev, with the title Director-Gensral of the Third Ranks ( nera1-Djrekctor
Treter;o Ran;-a) o Up to January 1949, his signature alone appeared on all order ,s
per?taininr to opeeration of the railroad, but since that date, the signature
of the head of the Northeast Government Transportation Department is also
required. Liaison between the Soviets and Chinese is maintained through
this official, whose office is in tukden. In the railroad administration
there appears to be a tendency to place Chinese as heads of section; but in
every case, the Chinese is accompanied by a Soviet as either his official.
assistant or a s an adviser.
6,, The entire Chinese Changehun i .illway system is divided into operating sectors
(rainy eksploatatsia. puti)? The Third Sector controls the area around
Harbin and has under its supervision the Harbin railway station, the Harbin
locomotive and railway car repair shops, and Harbin railway warehouses.
Headquarters of the sector are on Prospekt Krasnoi Aim1i (formerly Vokzar) 9
r:cx'oss from the British Consulates,
Several administrative sections under the directorate have the . 'oi1owring
functions:
a., The Person el Section (Otdel Xaadrov) is charged with personnel matters
affecting only Chinese and local Soviet ampicyeess, It employs approx-
imately ten persons,, mostly Chinese and local Soviets, under Vasili
Vasiliyevy ach KURII~~1V, who was appointed pore onnel chief in February
1949.. All p orsonnel sections in all sections and departments of the
directorate are under the control of this main Personnel Section.
b,, The Automobile Transport Section (Auto Ghaast) operates all automobile
transport belonging to the railway, including passenger cars assigned
to individual officials and trucks. It also operates several regular
bus routes in Harbin and occasionally supplies special t -ansoortation
needed by the railway administration. Its staff is for the most part
made up of local Soviet citizens.
The Coal Industry S.acti.on (Otdel Ugolnoi Promyshleauaosti) operates two
mines for the railway., at uuleng (130-15, 44-)2) and Chalainor (Chaa-ia-
no-erh) (117,-. s, 49-?26) , and handles procurement of coal fr?aem other
sources and coal distribution to official railway agencies and. employees,
The section `,dminis:rr;tivve office is in the Railway :Directorate building.
It em-Ploys br-th local Soviet: and Chinese,, under, the direction of
Mgineer Major Pozdneyev, T'nu, who also acts as director of the rail way
in Zdhcu,rfa,',,rlev 1 s absences.
The lumber Industry Section (Otdel I snoi. Pro shlennost!) is soonsible
for supplying lumber to the raii1ave y and its employee. Its administra-
tive office in a building on Bolshoi Prospekt employ,; approximately
a hundred persons.. The section operates two satmilis in Harbin on the
left bank of the Saari River,
q9 WIDI a'TIna
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e. The Culture and '.ducat.- on Section (OtdeL Kultur xo--Pro vetiteinoi iaboty,
abbreviated to Otdel Kultorosvet r aboty) is headed by Anatoli
Alikhailovieh Aiosov,. It is responsible for political agitation among
workers and officials of the railway and supervises all. cultural
activities such as amateur theatricals, lector-res, newspapers, and.
U.braries, as well as controlling all Houses of Culture (Doma Kultury)
in the railway's subordinate orranizations and stations The political.
a itatiori section, headed by . v ena. Aloksandrovi.ch Sokolov, is staffed
with several Soviet citizens from the US?, who supervise the so-called
"five urinate gatherings`' (pyatiminutniye slety) held twice weekly in all
shops and offices of the railroad to discuss L arxism. k',nplo Tees who do
not attend these gatherings are subject to dismissal-, All lectures, plays,
and other program of a cultural nature must be 3 ubmitted to the section
for checking of political content before they can be given.
f,, The Public Health S action (Otdel Zdravok.ehraneniy~a) is responsible for
operation of firsL aid points (medpunkty) in iailroad shops avid offices,,
It also maintains the Harbin Central fiaril-way Hospital with its attached
out-patient, clinic (Polykli.n3 kc) , which gives preference to railway
employees but is open to all residents of f .r Oin< ledicai personnel
.
include USSR Soviets, local Soviets,, Chinese, and Japanese
fhe i ailway Coope;7i eabiv?t Society, 'tie ith headquarters in the main. admin.`
tion building of the directorate, operates two cooperative stores in
Harbin, workers s dinin rooms in all shops and offices of the ral.luay
a d1ritill ry and a soft-drink bottling factor?y. Since there is no skier ,,,.
age W; food in Harbin and railway employees can purchase food freely at
private stores and at establishments operated by Chinese ,,,over nment or
So iet agencies, the primary function of the cooperatives and dinning rooms
is to provide ,r:orkers with better quality, food at lower prices,
k.a.. The : ailwaay Directorate operates the UcLrbin `ol,i technic Institute, the
only Institution of higher learning in Harbin, to train engineers and
technical personnel for the railway. Students are limited to local
Soviets and Pus sian-s peaking Chinese, since all instruction Is riven in
uss:ian,, Courses include structural er, ganecring, elect ro-riechanical
en,P,ineer ing, transportation, economics,., and chemistry. The director of
the Institute is a Chinese, FEN( Ck uang-lrUn (?,%y 4kj); the desk Katy
director is a soviet, Rte, ;P, l ba'`:ntsvt-~ yos't of he: facalrc;y k~.e oef
avers from the Manchukuo regime, and, although there has been no attempt
to replace. them ith Soviets from, the USSR, they are under constant,
surveillance and political indoctrination to m a .nta.in the purely Soviet
tone of the school.
Positions on the railway are broken down into thirty-three categories With I
as highest and 33 as lowest, with an arrpradraate difr'eanece of four points
between sate .c riesm Salary for each category is calculated on a parity point
system, w th new point values assigned each month by the gove_onraent in terms
of four basic comrnod.iti.es, One third of the sale ry is pand on the tenth
or twelfth of the uic nth and the remainder o an the f: U"th of the lm d-, mop ah,,,
Deduct} on for taxes arid union dues are made automatical_.- yo Yost local Soviets
have category ,ratings from 20 to 16; the v ar";; hij.;hest rated are no more than
9 or 8.
Soviet citi.sens from the USSR employed by % e rai.iroaad do not clear throe. fh
the Personnel Section but submit their tra-rel order,-, (komandlrovkci) dii,ectly
, based on those re-
to the office of the director g enema! ~, Their salaries
ceived in the USSR and pegged to the local currency, generally average at
least five times those of local Soviets performing the same work, and
addition they receive a special. living allowance (korrandirovochnaye).
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;E,4.
Local Soviets employed by the railroad are all holders of Soviet Residence
Permits (Sovietekiye Zagrauichniye Vidy na 7hite? stva) p* stateless persons
are hired only in extreme emergencies. A prospective employee submits an
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o @ ence or the cons me on ASS.
Aso Uchetu fu.da?ev), four photographs, and a statement of qualifications for
a specific position, thraugh the personane.l section to the chief of the
section where employment is desired. With the chief of section's endorse-
m.enat, the application is forwarded to the central personnel section which,
if it approves, issues orders appointing the person to the position
requested at a specific salary category. Several persons are often included
in the same cap; gr., It is customary z or persons wishing employment to submit
y. Fw ap'licatiar the^ough . acquaintance who w it try to secure the section
enief n s favorable sndors ament
_1.,, Railway guards are recruited mostly from local Soviets and are hired by
each individual shop or section on the basis of its security needs for
protection. against theft and sabotage or operation of entrance gates., Some
guards wear Soviet railway unionns, others civilian clothes with
identifying arrxband; they are tinned with Japanese sidearms and carbi.neso
No regular Soviet i ailywaj police were in Harbin in January 1950, nor were
ask., regular or irregular Scariet army units stationed in the city-.
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su sequen removal of the third rail r?parted here.
licationp including a standard persolaal history questionnaire 'Listok
aionalist occupation of the greater -part of the raflroaci, in question,
the Soviet Army did not use Russian railroad equipment on
the railroads in llanc'iu.rias lit would have been
impossible for the Connnrinists to remove such a line in the period before
'
25X1 ** OCnmmertt. these two mines
were formerly opera e by the Manchuria Goal Mining Company and the
Chalai Coal Mining Cormany respectively. The Muleng mine produces coking-
bituminous coal, the Chalainor et Jalay Nuur nine, lignite.
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