CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1955/04/12

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03179875
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: September 20, 2019
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2019
• Publication Date: April 12, 1955

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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
El DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE:
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE: REVIEWER'
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
3.3(h)(2)
12 April 1955 3.5(c)
4
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SUMMARY
SOUTHEAST ASIA
1. Comment on Bao Dai's maneuvering against Diem (page 3
2. Indian official suggests"neutralization" of Laos (page 3).
WESTERN EUROPE
3, Bonn plans "quiet" pressure on East Germans in truck tax case
(page 4).
4. French seen adopting "chip on shoulder" attitude toward United
States (page 5).
THE FORMOSA STRAITS
(Page 6)
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SOUTHEAST ASIA
1. Comment on Bao Dai's maneuvering against Diem:
Bao Dal's principal adviser and spokes-
man, Nguyen De, delivered to the
American embassy in Paris on 9 April
a long statement critical of Premier
Diem.
Although Nguyen De argued that Diem
had developed megalomaniacal tendencies and that Vietnam could
no longer afford the luxury of his incompetence, there was no sug-
gestion that Bao Dai planned to take the initiative in removing him.
Instead, Nguyen De proposed that France and the United States
create a Vietnamese executive body of which Bao Dai would remain
the supreme arbiter. It is apparent from this statement that Bao
Dai hopes to avoid personal responsibility for removing the pre-
mier.
In following these tactics Bao Dai is using
a technique which over a period of years has preserved his own
authority. Throughout Nguyen De's statement there emerges Bao
Dal's fear that the Binh Xuyen gangsters, the mainstay of his local
support, may be crushed by Diem.
2. Indian official suggests "neutralization" of Laos:
Indian ambassador Parthasarathi, chair-
man of the International Control Com-
mission in Cambodia, considers the only
solution to the situation in Laos to be the
neutralization of that country. Recently returned to Phnom Penh
from a visit to Vientiane, he told the American ambassador there
on 8 April he will probably recommend to Nehru that the oppor-
tunity be taken at Bandung to suggest that the Geneva powers un-
derwrite the permanent neutrality of Laos.
Parthasarathi said the chief Polish
representative in Laos was amenable to this idea, provided the
Pathet Lao is integrated into the national community and that dem-
ocratic elections are guaranteed.
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Comment: Laotian premier Katay is
planning to protest strongly at Bandung the Pathet Lao's refusal
to accept royal authority in the northern provinces. An Indian
proposal of neutralization would largely nullify such a protest
and Katay himself might accept neutralization as an effective
device for ensuring Laos' continued independence.
WESTERN EUROPE
3. Bonn plans "quiet" pressure on East Germans in truck tax case:
Ambassador Conant reports that the Fed-
eral Republic shows no inclination to
meet the new East German tax on Berlin
trucking "head on" for fear of precipitating
a new blockade. Bonn's strategy is to ex-
ert a quiet but steady economic pressure
on the East Germans in interzonal trade
negotiations. Bonn is reluctant to hold up
steel shipments already approved, but has stopped further approvals,
and about 15 April will start charging fees on all shipments to East
Germany. This will yield as much revenue as the truck tax,
The chief of the West German interzonal
trade office believes that countermeasures in the field of inter-
zonal trade will be ineffective, and may result in the cessation of
East German deliveries of brown coal to West Berlin.
He takes the view that the truck tax was
imposed chiefly to gain recognition for the East German govern-
ment. Both he and West Berlin mayor Suhr feel that action by the
Western allies is necessary.
Comment: If Bonn is forced to deal with
this matter by itself, it may 'Riling to enter bilateral discus-
sions on a fairly high level, perhaps even at the ministerial level
which the East Germans are asking, thereby approaching de facto
recognition.
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French seen adopting "chip on shoulder" attitude toward United
Mates:
Ambassador Dillon in Paris reports that
the Faure government is acting as if it
believes the United States will forget
France as soon as the Paris agreements
are deposited.
The secretary general of the French
Foreign Ministry is working on a timetable which, as outlined to
Dillon on 8 April, will propose a date for a meeting of a three-
power working group on East-West talks prior to the depositing of
the Paris treaties. The timetable may include a July or August
date for four-power talks.
Ambassador Dillon believes that Premier
Faure is capable of carrying out his threat to state publicly that
he will not deposit the Paris treaties until after a three-power work-
ing group has met.
Comment: Both the United States and
Britain oppose any three-power meeting on East-West talks until
the Paris treaties have been deposited by all signatories.
Reports suggesting that the French gov-
ernment intends to ask authorization from parliament, which does
not reconvene until 3 May, to deposit the treaties are probably
part of the pressure which the French are applying to get their
way.
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�THE FORMOSA STRAITS
Report of the IAC Current Intelligence Group
for the Formosa Straits Problem
This report is based on information received in Washington
up to 1100 hours 11 April 1955.
1. Photography on 9 April revealed 76 jet fighters on Chuhsien
airfield, 175 NM northwest of the IVIatsus. This is the largest num-
ber of such aircraft yet photographed on any of the East China air-
fields. If this number remains fairly constant, it will indicate de-
ployment of a fullfighter division on the base. Information is as yet
insufficient to determine whether these aircraft represent augmen-
tation of the East China air strength or were transferred from
r one of the fighter bases in the Shanghai-Hangchow area.
2. The Chinese Communists are expected to maneuver at
the Asian-African conference at Bandung to obtain support for res-
olutions, relating to Formosa Straits questions, of the same type
adopted by the Communist-dominated New Delhi conference on
10 April. These included calls for the removal of foreign bases
and troops from Asian territory, the withdrawal of all US forces
from the China area, and the convocation of a 10-nation Formosa
conference excluding Nationalist China.
The Chinese, at the Bandung conference opening 18 April,
will be dealing with national representatives of Asian-African coun-
tries rather than primarily with Communist and Communist-front
delegates as at New Delhi. Nevertheless, the Communists may be
able to get at Bandung some expression of support for certain of
their claims, in which case they will probably feel in a stronger o-
sition for both political and military action.
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UNKNOWN: current status undetermined.
OTHER: under construction, abandoned or unserviceable.
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PRESENTATIONS DIVISION
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