TRENDS IN COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA

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CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4
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April 7, 1999
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33
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August 16, 1972
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Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R0~@~1~iai FBIS TRENDS in Communist Propaganda STATSPEC Confidential 16 AUGUST 1972 CVOL. XXIII, N0. '3) 85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/QI~ j~l I~jt.~t~1~85T00875R000300050033-4 This propaQancla analysis report is based exclusively on materinl carried in foroign broadcast and press media. It is published by FBIS without coordination with other U.S. Government components. STATSPEC NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION Unauthorized disclosure subject to criminal sanctions CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONb'ZllEN'1'IAL FBIS TRENDS l6 AUGUST 1972 CONTENTS Topics and Events Given Mayor Attention DOCHINA i IN International War Crimes Team Meets Premier, Concludes Visit 1 Hanoi Calls for Greater Vigilance, Laude Dike Repair Campaign 3 DRV Issues More Protests Over Bombings, Claims Planes Downed 6 PRG Denies Charges o# Atrucities, Accuses U.S. o# "Crimes" 9 Paris Talks: U.S. Views Scored, Rumors on Secret Talks Denied. 1v Peking Mu##les Sensitive Issues While Decrying Bombing l4 Hanoi, Peking Hail Seating o# PRG, RGNU at Nonalined Parley l5 DISARMAMENT Moscow: World Disarmament Conference Will Not Replace SALT l8 SING-SOVIET RELATIONS Moscow Conveys Apprehension Over Peking's European Policy 20 Peking Puts USSR at Bottom o# List o# Soviet Bloc CounL?ries 22 CHINA-JAPAN Peking Extends Formal Invitation to Tanaka to Visit China 23 CHINA-THAILAND Peking Mutes Anniversary ~# Thai Communist Insurgency . 24 CHINA RED FLAG Criticizes Lin's Role in Northeast Campaign 26 CZECHOSLOVAK TRIALS Italian Party Charges "Persecution"; PRAVDA Backs Prague 28 CZECHOSLOVAK LEADERSHIP Prague Media E##usive in Treatment o# Hardlin~r Bilak 33 USSR INTERNAL AFFAIRS Press Airs Divergent Views on Private Enterprise 36 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 FC-~ OFFICIAL USE ONLY FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 TOPICS AND EVENTS GIV1~N MAJ01~ ATTENTION 7 - 13 AUGUST 1972 Moscow (2699 items) Peking (1199 items) Crimea Meeting of Soviet (7%) 13% Domestic Issues (49%) 39% Bloc Party Leaders Indochina (17%) 19% Vietnam (13%) 8% [U.S. Air Strikes ~ (2~) 7%J [U.S. Air Strikes (4%) 3%] [Sihanouk Tours PRC (--) 4%] Soviet-Indian Treaty (--) 7% NonAlined Conference (--) 12% Anniversary China (3%) 5% in Guyana Thai CP Anniversary (--) 3y, Soviet-FRG Treaty (--) 2% Ecuador Independence Day (--) 3% Anniversary Bangladesh UN Seat (--) 3% Middle East (3%) 2% UT? Secretary General (--) 2% Waldheim in PRC :~hese statistics are based on the voicecast commentary output of the Moscow and Peking domestic and international radio services. The term "commentary" is used to denote the lengthy item-radio talk, speech, press article or editorial., govern- ment ~r party statement, or diplomatic note. Items of extens!ve reportage are counted as commentaries. Figures in parentheses indicate volume of comment during the preceding week. Topics and events given mayor attention in terms of volume are not always discussed in the body of the Trends. Some may have been covered in prior issues; in other cases the propaganda content may be routine or of minor significance. FOR OFFICIAL U8E ONLY Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 I NDOCIH I NA Hanoi has continued to release virtually daily statements by the DRV Foreign Ministry spokesman denouncing U.S. air strikes, but there are fewer charges now of attacks on water conservancy projects, and current comment points to good progress in dike repair work. Further use has been made of comments attributed to former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark and members of the International Commission for Inquiring into U.S. War Crimes to buttress claims th+at U.S. air strikes are aimed at civilian. targets. The DRV delegate at the 154th session of the Paris talks devoted moat of his utatement to a protest against U.S. bombing, while the PRG's Mme. Binh attacked the Thieu government and offered an explanatio:: of the communist proposal for the formation of a government of national concord. Hanoi took disparaging note of Administration efforts to capitalize on "publi~.ity about the secret Paris talks and rumors about a new U.S. peace proposal," but it did not report the 14 August Kissinger-Le Duc Tho meeting and has not yet mentioned Le Duc Tho'3 departure for Hanoi on the 16t-i. While avoiding comment on issues affecting Chinese interests, Peking has again added its voice to charges that the United States is bombing DRV dikes. A PEOPLE'S DAILY editorial on the 13th, seconding the 8 August DRV protest, expressed "burning indignation" over the U.S. bombing but made no mention of Chinese support for the war effort. NCNA has publicized statements about bombing oP the dikes by various foreign visitors to the DRV, including Jane Fonda, but has yet to mention Ramsey Clark. Routine Moscow comment has continued to assail the U.S. bombing of the DRV along established lines and to call on the United States to accept a political solution. Moscow has bri.efl~~ reported the international investigating commission's activities in the DRV and during its stopover in the Soviet capital, noting some of the remarks by ~.~elegation members as well as some of the remarks Hanoi has attributed to Ramsey Clark condeoming alleged U.S. strikes at dikes and other ci-~ilian targets. ? INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES TEAM MEETS PREMIER. CONCLUDES VISIT Hanoi has continued to exploit comments attributed to former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark and members of the International Commission for Inquiring Into U.S. War Crimes in 4ietnam as the delegation wound `up its two-week viei.t and left for home on Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS T)tENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 12 August. Highlights of Clark's activities included a two-hour interview on the 10th with l0 U.S. prisoners of war and a two-day visit to Thanh Hoa Province, reps.:: tedly the target of recent severe U.S. bombings, where he listened to personal accounts of the air strikes. The team was also received on 11 August by Premier Pham Van Dong in hie first reported public appearance in three months--an event which received frontpage attention in Ha:~oi papers, complete with "big-sized photos," according to VNA's review of the Hanoi press of 13 and 14 August.* Clark's comments on the POW's, briefly quoted by Hanoi radio on 12 August, stressed that they were in good health, that they were getting regular medical and dental care, and tl?at "there were no prohibitions or restrictions on the prisoners." The broadcast claimed that Clark contrasted the humaneness of the North Vietnamese to the "inhuman and brutal" treatment allegedly meted out to the Vietnamese people through the U.S. bcmbing of the North carried out on President Nixon's orders. Claiming that Clark haul expressed determination to inform the American people of what is actually happening in the war, the report quoted him as declaring that "no matter what the reason or the ob~ectiv~:s of the bombing, it is impossible to justify it before mankind's conscience." Hanoi propagandists have portrayed Clark's 8-9 August visit to Thanh Hoa as a face-finding mission to expose, on film and tape, the "bar'oarous crimes of the bloodthirsty Nixon clique." Hanoi radio on the 13th typically described Clark as astonished when confronted with evidence of American bombing of nonmilitary targets in Thanh Hoa. The same broadcast claimed that Clark was profoundly moved by the determin~.tion of the Vietnamese people to maintain "their beautiful way of life" in the face of the bombing, as well as by their friendly treatment of him, an American. Referring to the President's action in ordering the contimlation of the bombing as a mistake which he has not yet realized, Clark stressed, according to the broadcast, that "several millions of Americans" are calling for an end to the bombing and for withdrawal of all U. S. troops from Vietnam. * The premier also made a public appearance on 14 August when he received departing DPRR Ambassador Kim Pyon-sam and another on the 16th with GDR Ambassador Klaus Willasding. Prior to these appearanceo, the lent Hanoi reference to an appearance by Pham Van Doug was on 10 ::ure, in a report which said he had "recently" chaired a Council of Ministers meeting. See the TRENDS of 2 August 1972, pages 19-20. CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL F'BIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 In an interview with a Hanoi radio reporter, recounted by the radio on the 14th, Clark was reported to have characterized U.S. bombing as not only inhuman but also "a very stupid act" which "cannot subdue the Vietnamese people." Remarks attributed to Clark at the beginning of the interview refuted Senator Goldwater's recent suggestion that some damage to the dikes may have been caused by North Vietnamese SAM's falling back on their own territory. Clark was quoted as asserting that "it is sheer nonsense to say that this damage has been caused by North Vietnam~sse missiles." VNA on 11 August, reporting a press conference held by the team that day, attribute+d tha following summary of the teea~'s findings to former Irish parliamentarian Sean MacBride: 1) the bombings were intentional and deliberate; 2) the targets hit "would significantly affect the hydraulic system" and could cause flooding; 3) the areas being bombed are heavily populated agri:ultural regions; 4) the methods of destruction used "make effective repair difficult and unsatisfactory"; and 5) the damaged dikes observed by the team are not roads or part of a road netvork and are removed from military targets. MacBride reportedly concluded that these points "go far beyond the question of the legality of the bombing of North Vietnam. They involve flagrant violations of the laws of humanity and of The Hague and Geneva conventions." HANOI CALiS FOR GREATER VIGILANCE. LAUDS DIKE REPAIR CAMPAIGN The volume of attention Hanoi has given the dike iosue diminished markedly during the past week. Except for a charge in the foreign ministry spokesman's statement of the 11th that three dike sections had been hit and incidental mentions in a few other articles, the only sa~ar propaganda attention to the subject came in two radio articles broadcast by Hanoi on the 11th--one in the domestic service and one in English to Southeast Asia. Both sounded a note of optimism, pointing with satisfaction to t:.a nearly complete repair of all dikes and dams allegedly damaged by U.S. bombing.* The domestic broadcast cited the Chu and Ma river * Positive evaluations of the campaign to repair water conservancy projects first emerged at the end of last month. A 25 Jul; NHAN DAN editorial, for example, atypically predicted that the coming high water season could be dealt with satisfactorily and claimed that "because of the early work on the embanl~ents, our dikes are now big, high, and solid." For a more detailed discussion see the TRENDS of 26 July 1972, pages 3-5. CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CO;VFZDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 dikes and another dike in Thanh Hoa, as well ae the system of dikes in the Nam Sach area of Nai Hung, ae having been repaired; all of these dikes had been spotlighted in Hanoi propaganda as alleged targets of U.S. bombing raids. The English-language item, focusing on Haiphong and the eoutiiern provinces of the DRV, claimed repair of "almost all" dike sections ae well as the building of a new sea dike in Quang Binh Province and said that Haiphong had completed its semiannual earthwork tasks five to 10 days early, with a fourfold increase over the amount of work done last year. Both items urged cont:.nued vigilance despite these achievements. After stating that the water level halfway through the rainy season showed signs of not rising as high as it did last year, the domestic radio article stressed that the dikes must be ?reinspected and that reb~ue`capability, stockpiling of materiple, and projects to restore production after flooding as well as to prevent it in the first place must be carried out in a fighting spirit. Emphasis on maintaining and improving an adequate dike and dam system was evident i.n two earlier articles that have recently became available. A lengthy article by Mis:lster of Water Conservancy Ha Ke Tan in the July issue of HOC TAP focused on the importance of fighting floods and flash floods, whether caused by natural forces or by the "barbarous acts of the Nixon clique." After touching only briefly on alleged instances of damage caused by U.S. bombing, Tan confidently asserted that such actions will "certainly not intimidate our people [or] force them to agree to a solution be?.iE~ficial" to the Nixon Administration. U.S. air strikes only increase the Vietnamese peo~.~e's hatred and fighting spirit, Tan declared. Tan then focused on more "practical and concrete" measures for dealing with the situatio~~. All dikes and dams should be strengthened and measures should be taken Lo protect them from enemy attacks, he said, and river banks and beds are to be kept clear so as to drain flash flood waters rapidly. Tan urged that greater attention be given to properly organizing, training, and equipping the "dike-protection forces," and he chastised backsliders for tendencies toward complacency which, he cla,:med, had been responsible for the breaking of three dikes during last year's heavy floods.* Tan concluded that if the dikes do break this year, "Nixon must be held responsible for this genocidal crime." * The TRENDS of 19 July 1972, pages 4-5, reviews evidence of DRV concern about the soundness of the vast water conservancy projects stemming from causes other than U.S. strikes. Approved For Release 2000/0?AO~~IfA~RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 Stressing the impos.~tRnce of continuing t~ strengthen and repair the dikes around Hanoi, a H/s10I MOI editorial on 28 July claimed that the capi~te!_ "has succFesfully completed" dike repair tasks and that loca'~ dika., nre "n~~w capable of resisting such a water level as than of last yaar." But~it said efforts should be intensified to maintain adequate communications among local dike-repair forces and to insure their level of training and preparation. Linking injunctions for greater mobilization to the claim that the United States is attempting ro "sabotage our dikes," the editoria.L called for increased vigilance to protect the capital and to defeat the U.S. aggressors. LAWYERS' COhMENT The only other significant attention givan the dike issue in the past week appeared in parts II and III of a five-part recorded discussion on President Ni~Gon's "war crimes" broadcast in Hanoi's domestic service from 9 through 12 August.* Citing statistics reported earlier by the Water Conservancy Ministry and "concrete proofs" provided by numerous visitors to the DRV, the two lawyeLS--allegedly 'specialists in international and criminal law--developed the thesis that President Nixon :ls a "poor lawyer" who ridicules the charges leveled ar~ainst him or else reiuear~ to answer them, t-iereby attempting to evade responsibility fo;; his "crimes." Statements made by the President at his 2? July press conference--that it is not deliberate U.S. p~lic~ to bomb dikes or other civilian targets, that some of the DRV's dikes were :improperly maintained, and that the United Mates has the capability, if it wished, of destroying the dike syecem within. a week--were denounced by both lawyers. Describing the President as "a ruthless executioner of our people who always threatens people and carries out brazen acts but denies his wrongdoings," the lawyEre charged that he "obviously plans to kill as many civilians aQ possible." Characterizing President Nixon as a "new Hitler" by comparing him to a former Nazi governor of the Netherlands who breached the dikes, the broadcast argued that the President is even worse than Hitler because, instead of waging war against an advanced industrial country, he attacks countries "whose agriculture and industry are Lnderdeveloped" and which "have dust regained their independence." 'ihe President was urged to heed the evidence of U.S. strikes~at civilian targets gathered by Ramsey Clark, Joseph Kraft, and other visitors to the DRV. * Part I i~, cliscuased in the TRENDS of 9 August 1972, pages 11-12. CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TR>;!'~1S 16 AUGUST 1972 DRV ISSUES MORE PROTESTS OVER BOMBINGS. CLAIMS PLANES DOWNED The Foreign Ministry spokesman issued five routine statements during the week detailing alleged U.S. bombing actions in the North and condemning these and "other acts encroaching on the DRV's sovereignty and security." ~ The statement of the 10th charged U.S. aircraft with bombing and strafing populated areas in Ha Bac, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Nam Ha, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Quang Binh provinces on the previous day. B-52's were said to have hit a number of localities in Quang Binh, and U.S. warships were charged with striking at Hon Me Island and a number of coastal villages i.n Thanh Hoa Province and the Vinh Linh zone. Civilian casuHlt!es and property damage repor~edly resulted from these attacks, despire "the Nixon Administration's deceptive claim that it does not bomb civilians [in] North Vietnam." 0 ? The statemQnt of the 11th protested "savage raids" on the 10th on Vinh city, the outskirts of Haiphong, the vrovincial capitals ui Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa, and populated areas in Thai Binh, Nam Ha, Ha Tinh, and Quang Binh provinces and the Vinh Linh zone. The statement also reported strikes by I3-52's at localities in the Vinh Linh zone and by warships on coastal areas of Ha Tinh Province and the Vinh Linh zone. Sgecif is targets said to have been hit include a junior middle school in Thai Binh and seve::al d+.kes--the TMa Ly River dike in Thai Thuy district, the Dau sluice in Vu Thu district of Thai Binh Province, and the sea dam and a portion of the dike at Nghi Khanh village in Nghi Loc district of Nghe An Province. It was noted that these attacks occurred while "the Nixon Administration is still stubbornly denying Chat U.S. aircraft are bombing civilian establishments or deliberately striking at dikes and water conservancy works in North Vietnam." + The 12 August statement condemned air strikes of the 11th on populated a~:eae in Thai Binh, Nam Ha, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, end Quang Binh provin~_F:s xnd the Vinh Linh area; B-52 attacks on Quang Binh Province; anti strikes by warships at coastal villages in Ha Tinh and Quang Bir~il provinces and the Vinh Linh area. The statement charged t:?~t "these war acts of the Nixon Administration grossly encroached upon the sovereignty and security of the DRV and on every fundamental principle of international law, and constituted an arrogant challenge to public opinion in the world and in the United States." CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDEN'CIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 197 + U.S. "criminal war acts" of the 12th were portrayed in the spokesman's statement of the 13th as "brazenly violating the pledge made by the U.S. Government in October 1968 to totally and unconditionally end the bombing and shelling of North Vietnam." The stat~+ment charged the United States with attacking popu~ated areas in Quang Ninh, Hoa Binh, Nam Ha, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, and Quang Binh provinces and the Vinh Linh zone. It also claimed that 8~52's bombed a number of localities in the Vinh Linh area and Quang Binh Province and that U.S. warships shelled coastal areas in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces and the Vinh Linh area. The strikes were said to have caused heavy civilian casualties and widespread destruction of economic and cultural establishments. + The statement of the 14th denounced strikes of the previous day on Vinh city, on the capital of Ninh Binh Province, and on populated areas in Thai Binh, Nam Ha, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces and the Vinh Linh zone. B-52's were charged with bombing localities in Quang Binh Province, and U.S. warships were said to have shelled coastal villages in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. The statement said that these attacks, launched "in defiance of strong condemnatio~~ by the world and American public," reveal the Nixon Adminis:ratioa's "utter obstinacy and bellicosity." + "Extermination bombings" on the 14th of Thanh Hoa city, plus bombing of the suburbs of Haiphong and Vinh city, were highlighted in the spokesman's statement of the 15th. Also reported hit were populated areas in Hai Hung, Thai Binh, Nam Ha, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Ha. Tinh, and Quang Binh provinces and the Vinh Linh zone. The srat~ant further charged that B-52's bombed localities in Quang Binh Province and that U.S. warships bombed and shelled coastal areas in Nam Ha--all in "brazen violation" of the U.S. pledge "to totally and unconditionally end the bombing and shelling of North Vietnam." Further comment on the bombing of Thanh Hoa city was carried in NHAN DAN and QUAN DOI NHAN DAN on the 15th, according to the Vin press review for that date. A VNA report of the 14th provided further details on the nature of the targets allegedly hit: suburban hamlets, the cathedral area, and the pharmaceutical workship, bakery, noodle factory, and municipal cemetery. The report claimed that, weapons used in "close to 100 sorties" included dart bombs and 500- and 2,000-pound demclition bombs. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENnS 16 AUGUST 1972 PLANE DOWfYINGS Radio reports from Hanoi claim a total of l4 planes downed in action this week'over the North--tw~~ over Quang ninh. including one helicopter; one each over Ninh Binh. Haiphong and Ha Tay; two each over Hai Hung, Vinh Phu and Hanoi; and three over Thanh Hoa. As of 16 August, Hanoi claimed to have downed a total of 3,825 U.S. aircraft. Hanoi also claimed that five U.S. warships were set on fire since 4 August by the people and armed forces of Ha Tinh, Thai Binh, and Thanh Hoa provinces. The achievements ~f the militia in downing planes with its "low- altitude firenet" were lauded in a KHAN DAN editorial of the 12th. Reminiscent of a similar editorial and a station article of the 7th, it claimed that a "seething emulation movement" was underway to down low-flying enemy aircraft. It praised the effective leadership of party e~helone and regional administrations for heightening the people's enthusiasm for this Cask and fcr implementing the day-to-~9ay chores involved in maintaining and improving the local air .o~'ense system. CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/~~~;t~~~~~P85T0087~5~00t~~~Q$~050033-4 PRG DENIES CWARGES OF ATROCITIES. ACCUSES U,S, OF "CRIMES" A 9 August PRG Foreign Ministry spokesman'? etatemenl denounced President Nixon as "the biggest war criminal of our time" and rebutted allied charges that the communists had fi .sacred government off iciale in erase they controlled in Binh Dinh and had deliberately killed civilians fleeing down Highway 1 from Quang Tri city.* The Vietnamese communists have responded publicly to previous allied charges of atrocities, though not usually at the fore:.gn ministry level. For example, LPA announced on l3 May that it was authorized to deny charges chat the communists had executed two French missionaries. The 9 August statement referred specifically to 4 and 7 August statements on the killings by a spokesman for the State Department and to remarks by President Nixon in hie 27 July press conference, but it gave no indication of the details of the charges beyond an assertion that "the so-called 'massac?ces' dnd 'ki111ngs of civilians "' are "a sheer fabrication.`' The statement asserted that these "odious tricks of the White House" are aimed at misleading pubic opinion, covering up the U.S. policy of prolonging the war, and distorting the policif:a ?f the reeistanc:e; and it recalled the PRG's 10-point policy on GVN soldiers and officials, released on 25 January, as evidence of its humanitar~'sn policy.** More details of the charges were noted in a 10 August LPA commentary which scored President Nixon and "the State Department psywar machine" for "trotting out absurd allegations and slanders and cooking up the so-called 'massacres of civilians,' 'she111ngs of cities and wanton killing of refugees by the communists."' LPA particularly noted that on 5 and 7 August "they invented stories claiming that the communists had intentionally killed from 1,000 to 2,000 people. including women and children who were fleeing from Quang Tri on April 29 and 30, and that 'the communists had executed hundreds of Saigon functionaries and arrested and put in fail thousands of others in Binh Dinh. "' Both the commentary and Mme. Binh in her atPtement at the 10 August Paris session decried the Administration's use of these "slanders" in an attempt to demonstrate that a bloodbath ~ ~~Ld follow a communist takeover. * See the 9 August 1972 T~._:.~~::, pages 14-15, for discussion of initial communist reaction to these charges. ~`'~~ See the TRENDS of 2 February 1972, pages 21-23, and 9 February, page 14, for a discussion of the 10-poini policy. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 20~~,/~~~~IA-RDP85T~(~~7,~~300050033-4 16 AUGUST 1972 The LPA commentkry contrasted the PRG'e l0-point policy with allied policies, noting the "irony" that the "slanders" were made public while "the traitor Nguyen Vsn Thieu had frenziedly ordered cruel agents in the ao-called 'people's self-defense force' to 'wipe out the communist infrastructures,' including those whom he brands ae 'communist' village and hamlet administrative pereonnol, tax collectors, and the like." On 11 August an LPA report cited "sources from Saigon" in charging that Thieu "recently ordered all provincial governors to secretly destroy all the eo-called organizations of the NFL infrastructure Night inside the pup;,et adm?nistrative machine," even "ordering them to eliminate all members of the village and hamlet administration suspected to Ue 'communist agents."' Communist charges that the allies have carried out "criminpl" attacks on "liberated" areas continue, with VNA and LPA on 14 and 15 August carrying accounts of an 11 August statement by the people's revolutionary committee of Binh Dinh Province which charged that "wanton" air and artillery bombardments supporting ARVN counteroffensive operations in the province had caused more Chan 300 civilian casualties and destroyed thousands of homes. The statement cited specific air and naval attacks on populated areas and added that "along with extermination bombardments against villages, the U.S.-puppets also conducted air raids on dams and pumping stations on either aide of the Lai Giang River, denying water to thousands of t~ectaree of paddy-fields.'' A 3 August PRG Foreign Ministry statement on alleged allied "crimes" in North and South Vietnam had claimed that the United States had bombed three dams on the Lai Giang River on 20 July "in an attempt to strike directly at the life of the people" in Hoai An and Hoai Nhon diatricts.* The Binh Dinh revolutionary committee's state- ment also charged that Saigon forces, "directly commanded by U.S. advisers," had compelled civilians to act as a shield for them. PAR'^> TALKS: U.S. VIEWS SCORED. RI~IORS ON SECIRET TALKS DENIED VNA's account of the 154th session of the Paris conference on 10 August omitted the details of Mme. Binh's extensive denunciation of the Thieu regime but included her restatement of the PRG's position toward the Saigon. administration. Thus VNA reported her assertion that "as long as this administration exists, the war will * The 3 August PRG Foreign Ministry statement is discussed in the 9 August 1972 TRENDS, pages 13-14. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONF;>aL~N'1'IAL FBIS TRI~NDS 16 nucusT 1972 go on and the negotiations will remain in a deadlock" and her statement Chat to achieve a solutic- khe United States must, . along ~?ith withdrawing its troops, cease. support for the Saigon "clique," Thieu must resign, and the Saigon adm~l.nistration must change its policy. VNA aJ.so included the main part of her explanation of the PRG proposal for the formation of a national concord government. The explanation was presented as a response to the view that the United States does not have political responsibility and to the statement--contained in Ambassador Porter's remarks at the 3 August session--that the PRG proposal raised psychological and practical obstacles which stagger the imagination. Mme. Binh also rejected t!-.e contention that the proposed national concord government would be imposed undemocraticslly and would result in an arbitrary partition of powers and the installation of a communist government. The PRG's "clarification" of its proposal was endorsed by Nguyen Minh Vy--speaking in place of DRV delegation Tread Xuan Thuy, who was said by the DRV spokesman at the poet-session press briefing to be slightly indisposed. VNA omitted Vy's derailed charges about "deliberate" U.S. attacks on dikes and populated areas in North Vietnam but included his criticism of the United States for violating its 1968 pledge to halt the bombing and his attack on Thieu for advocating more U.S. bombing and the destruction of the North. It also cited his concluding remarks in which he called on the United States to atop a.11 war acts and enter into serious negotiations and declared: "We ?"~s prepared to discuss immediately with the United States the key points which the PRG has pointed out and elaborated to rapidly achieve a solution satisfac"_ory to the parties." VNA's cryptic report of the allied remarks at the session appeared to reflect the discussion during the give-and-take portion of the session when Ambassador Porter recalled the 19 July HANOI MOI picture of an antiaircraft gun on a dike and questioned the North Vietnamese contention that there were no militar~; installations near dikes.* In addition to declaring routinely that the U.S. delegate "kept pleading for the '!...:un Administration's * On 4 August Hanoi's domestic service responded to Voice of America broadcasts referring to the HANOI MOI picture. The Hanei broadcast quoted a statement in the 4 August HANOI MOI by the photographer who took the picture, claiming that it actually showed a soil emplacem.:nt next to a pond, not a dike. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 ~CON'IDRNTIAL gbl8 TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 policy of aggression and neocolonialism," VhA charged that he was "ec:eking new pretexts for the United States to continue its attacks on North Vietnam's dikes." Allied ca1rs ut the Paris conference for a cease-fire were denounced it; a l3 August Hanoi radio "article" which appeared to respond directly to Ambassador Porter's statement at the 3 August session of the talks when it rejected as "hypocritical" the view that the most urgent task is to end the killing and the notion that the communists should pay attention to the Vietnamese people rather Chan to their own political objectives. Pointing out ghat the war is being waged because of the conflicting political ob~QCt~'.ves of the two Bides, the radio declared that "in solving the South Vietnam problem one cannot deal only with the military problem without speaking of the political problem." The article stressed the need to topple Thieu and held that as long as he remains as a "tool" of the United States, "the request for a cease-fire is itself meaningless." The article continued: Such a cease-fire cannot eliminate the cause of the war. Instead, such a cease-fire will pera-anently maintain the factors for wagyng war against any time. No one naively believes that if there is a cease-fire, if the Americans withdraw their troops, and if the captured soldiers are released the Vietnamese people will be able to solve their own political problem, as Nixon boasted. While not announcing the third of the recent private meetings between Kissinger and Le Duc Tho on 14 August, Hanoi responded to rumors about the meeting in a 16 August QUAN DOI NHAN DAN .article deprecating reports from "Western sources" that a new U.S. peace plan was tabled "at the Paris talks" on the 14th and a French newspaper rep~~t quoting Kissinger as saying the war wou13 be over before the end of September.* According to the army paper, "the * Hanoi promptly reported the first in the current series of private talks between Kissinger and the Vietnamese representatives in a brief VNA news item on 19 July, and again referred to it in the VNA account of the formal session of 20 July. DRV media did not report the 1 August private meeting, however. The DRV press spokesman, questioned at the 3 August pos!:-session briefing about the abse:~ce of an announcement, explained that "the form of the meeting with the Americans is not very important, whether it is private or open." Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 fact fie that the United States fie intensifying fiche war and has done nothing to end it." QUAN DOI NHAIV DAN cited an AFP report for the view Chat the Nixon Administration fie using "publicity about the secret Paris talks and rumors about a new U.S. peace proposal to serve its election campaign," and it declared that "the eo-called 'new peace plan' of Nixon fie obviously a mere peywar n-ove ." Hanoi media have been routinely reporting Democratic criticism of the Adminietration'e position on Vietnam, and on l5 August VNA picked up the charge by Vice Presidential candidate Shriven Chat President Nixon lost a chance for peace in 19b9. A 16 August VNA report noted remarks on the issue by former U.S. chief delegate to the Paris conference Harriman. VNA quoted Harriman's criticism of the Administration for supporting Thieu rather than negotiating a settlement, bur it did not note hie view that the communists had signaled their willingness to reach a settlement when they withdrew combat troops from South Vietnam's northern provinces. Hanoi again registered its opposition to the reconvening of a Geneva-type conference on Vietnam in an article which VNA on the 15th said had appeared in "the biggest Hanoi paper." The article scored the British for raising the question of a conference last May, noting that the Indian Government was approached at that tine but "refused to cooperate in this inglorious venture." It criticized Britain's actions in its role as cochairman and complained that "each time the United Staten lands in a new difficulty in Vietnam, the British Government unfailingly flies to its rescue by calling for a reconvening of the 1^54 Geneva conference on Vietnam." Hanoi's motive in recalling the British proposal at this time is unclear; the article may have been prompted by the 25th anniversary of Indian independence, marked in the Hanoi press on the 15th. The call fora Geneva conference had previously been scored in a 17 May DRV Foreign Ministry spokesman's statement which accused the British Government of "lending a hand to the Mixon Administration in its military adventure and perfidious diplomatic moves." Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 PEKING MUFFLES SENSITIVE ISSUES WHILE DECRYING BOMBING Consistent with its cautious approach in recent weeks, Peking has muffled comment on sensitive is3ues affecting its interests in the Vietnam conflict whilE again adding its voice to the chorus of protest against alleged U.S. bombing of North Vietnamese dikes. Chinese leaders' statements on the international situation have all but avoided the eub~ect of Vietnam, as in the exchange of speeches at the 12 kigust banquet welcoming UN Secretary General Waldheim. 'Phuugh Wal.~iheim cited Vietnam as one of the persisting problem areas, Foreign :tinister Chi Peng-fei made no mention of Vietnam while focusing on the struggle against superpower hegemony. Chi did refer to "continuous new vir_t~ries" in Indochina during a speech on the 13 welcoming the Cameroon foreign minister, but Peking's only recent pledge of support for the war effort was contained in a lU August speech by a Shantung provincial leader who welcomed Princr_. Sihanouk to Teinan by declaring that it is the PRC's "bounden internationalist duty" to "support and assist" the Indochinese. Peking's extensive coverage of the nonrlined nations' conference in Guyana included PEOPLE'S DAILY Commentator articles on 13 and 15 August hailing the decision to accept the delegation of Sihanouk's government ae the sole legal representative of Cambodia and the PRG as a full member of the conference. NCNA accounts of the conference have reported a resolution dr Indochina and the Georgetown Declaration expressing support for the PRG's seven points, but Peking has been avoiding the question ~f a Vietnam settlement in its own comment. Following the precedent of the 4 August PEOPLE'S DAILY editorial seconding DRV and PRG Foreign Ministry protests against U.S. military actions, another editorial on the 13th supported the 8 August DRV Foreign Ministry statement denouncing U.S. air strikes and expressed "burning indignation" over alleged U.S. attacks on DRV dikes and "densely populated areas." Unlike the DRV statement, the editorial evoided attacking President Nixon for having denied that it is U.S. policy to bomb such targets; tH.a editorial referred impersonally to the U.S. Government, charging that it is U.S. policy to force the North Vietnamese to cease supporting "their compatriots in the South" and that it is the U.S. intention to cause floods during the rainy season. As in the case of Peking's previous backing for Hanoi's charges concerning the allegf't bombing of dikes, the editorial made no Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/O~oN~~~~P85T00875~4~0,~~~0033-4 16 AUGUST 1972 mention of Chinese support for the war effort or of a political settlement, though it called for an end to "indiecr~,minate" American bombing in Vietnam. As reflected in the editorial's title, "The Iron will of the Vietnamese People Is Unshakable," "raking again Cook the occasion to express confidence that the Vietnamese can cope with the situation. But where tl-e DRV statement asserted that neither bombing nor "perfidious political and diplomatic maneuvers" of the Nixon Administration could shake Hanoi's will, the PEOPL:E'S DAILY editorial referred more vaguely to "outrageous means and intr~:gues" in this context. As part of Peking's replaying of Vietnamese and other foreign reports on bombing of dikes, NCNA on the 11th carried accounts by foreign visitors in the DRV, including a report on Jane Fonda's accusations, but PRC media have yet to refer to the visit of Ramsey Clark. Peking belatedly on 10 August began picking up VNA accounts of late ~uly and early August concerning casualties suffered by Overseas Chinese f roo U.S. air strikes in the Haiphong area. In its own name Peking has limited itself to a two-sentence NCNA dispatch on the 10th reporting that a Chinese embassy official had called on the vice president of an Overseas Chinese association in Vietnam on 4 August to express "indignation" and "deep concern" for the victims and their families. HANOI. PEKING HAIL SEATING OF PRG, RGNU AT NONALINED PARLEY Hanoi and Peking hailed as a significant victory the seating of the delegations of the PRG and of Sihanouk's government (RGNU) as full members at the 8-1Z August conference of foreign ministers of nonalined nations in Guyana.* Moscow, however, consistent with its failure to recognize the RGNU, barely acknowledged the admission of the two delegations at the end of an 11 August TASS report on that day's session of the conference. On the 12th TASS b~tiefly reported a speech by the PRG delegate, but there was no further Soviet mention of the RGNU delegation. * The two delegations were not admitted as full members to the Sep::ember 1970 Lusaka conference of heads of state and government of nonalined countries. The PRG was admitted as an "observer," and the question of which delegation was to represent Cambodia was shelved. The seating issue accordingly received little attention in communist media. CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 -~~ Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRThDS 16 AUGUST 1972 A 12 August NNAN DAN editorial acclaimed the admission of the PRG and RGNU delegations as a "victory of great significance" for the anti-U.S. struggle in Indochina and for the "militant solidarity" of the "oppressed people and progressive mankind" with the Indochinese peoples. The Nixon Administration and "a handful of lackeys" have tried to "slander and divide" the Indochinese people, according to ::MAN DAN, which called the Guyana conference decision "a bitter and ignominious failure for the U.S. imperialists and their lackeys." The editorial cited an AP reporter as speculating that the decision "may further strengthen the posture of the Vietnamese communists at the Paris peace conference because they will have the moral support of 66 nonalined countries." NHAN DAN added that the "deplorable attitude" of the Indonesian, Malaysian, and Lao representatives at the conference--they walked out to protect the admission of the PRG delegation--shows "the seamy aide of the eo-called ASEAN solution to the Vietnam problem which was recently rejected by our government and people."* NHAN DAN also took the occasion to claim that the decision to teat the delegations proves that "the U.S.-Thieu clique can deceive no one with its false accusation that the PRG ie plotting to set up a communist regime in one-half of Vietnam." The conference,'s decisicn, the editorial said, confirms that the PRG's policy of "peace, ind~pend~nc~, neutrality, and national concord" is reasonable. Pegging its comment a notch lower than an editorial, Peking acclaimed the decision to seat the PRG and RGNU delegations in a PEOPLE'S DAILY Commentator article on 13 August. The article was mainly devoted to puffing the cause of Peking's Cambodian client, claiming that the conference's decision is proof of the RGNU's "rising international prestige" and lenouncing the Lon Not * Kuala Lumpur radio on 16 July quoted the Malaysian deputy premier as reporting that at the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Manila a definition of a Southeast Asian "zone of peace, freedom, and neutrality" had been agreed upon and that the conference agreed to contribute all it could toward an Indochina settlement. The deputy premier said that "secret overtures" rather than "open contacts" would be necessary to this end. On 10 August VNA reported that a DRV Foreign Ministry official called in the Indonesian charge d'affaires and rejected "the absurd proposal of the ASEAN regarding the settlement of the Vietnam issue," but VNA did not disclose the content of the proposal. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONY+IDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS l6 AucusT 1972 regime as a "handful of national scums" that destroyed Cambodia's policy of nonalinement. Commentator also Cook the occasion to claim that the nonalined countri~as constitute an important force in the struggle agtinet the superpowers. The seating of the two delegat~lons was singled out as particularly noteworthy in another PEOPLE'S DAILY Commentator article, on the 15th, hailing the results of the conference. The article said the decision provided "vigorous support" to the Indochinese struggle against "U.S. imperialist aggression." Unlike the KHAN DAri editorial, neither Commentator article raised the question of a political s~:tlement in Indochina. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/(~~,~~~~~tDP85T00~~~5~ ENns0050033-4 :.6 AUGUST 1972 vISARMAMENT MOSCOW WORLD DIS~~MNNENT CONFERENCE WILL NOT REPI~4CE SALT Moscow has again stressed the. importance of holding a world disarma- ment conference (~?DC) bur has made abundantly clear that such a gathering cannot r~iplace the negotiations by the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament .(CCD) ir. Geneva ;or the strategic arms limitation talks (SA;.T) with the United States. The Soviet position on these matters.wae outlined in an article in the 28 July issue of the weekly NOVOYE VREMYA (No. 31) by Nikolay Arkadyev, a commentator who has become the unofficial foreign affairs weekly's principal spokemaan on diearma?nent. The article apparently foreshadows the Soviet position on WDC to be forwarded to the UN Secretary General, in response to the UN General Assembly resolution ~f 16 December 1971 advising member states ro forward their suggestions by 31 August. A,:'>adyev wrote that "the preparation for a conference and its convening must not in any degree detract from the significance of those forms and channels for negotiations on disarmament which are being used at the present time," and he went on to specify both the Geneva talks and SALT. Reviewing what he labeled a general trend in international support for the "Soviet initiative" to convene a world conference on disarmament, including "a change in the U.S. position" as reflected in the point Soviet-U.S. communique on President Nixon's visit, Arkadyev cited the Mexican Government's June memorandum on WDC as containing "a number of positive and rational opinions." In particular, the ,article listed the Mexican proposal that there be universal participation, that the conference convene in 1974, that such conferences be held "periodically" thereafter, and that "a special preparatory organ be created" i:~ which "appropriate geographical and political representation would be guaranteed." Underscoring his approval of the Mexican memorandum. Arkadyev again stated that it "included many useful thoughts .znd ideas:" .Prefacing his statement that a WDC "must not" detract from the CCD and SALT, he recalled the Soviet proposal, at last year's General Assembly session that a world disarmament conference should become "a forum operating on a long-term basis and convened periodically" to assign topics "to smaller working organs 'for negotiations." Arkadyev said there was "no need to discuss in detail" the fact that "alI nuclear powers must participate" in any arrangement regarding nuclear disarmamentr he reminded his readers of the 1971 Soviet proposal to convene a conference of the five nuclear powers, CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09G~~~85T00875F~~~~~~5~p033-4 16 AUGUST 1972 a proposal which, he pointed ouC~ only the French GovernmenC "acCively suppor.Ced." Acknowledging indirectly Chat Che PRC had Oaken a negati?~e position on such a five-power gathering, a fact repeaCedly recalled in routine SovieC polemics againsC Che Chinese. he observed ChaC "true, not all Che nuclear powers reacted posiCively" Co the proposal to hold such a conference buC added optimistically that the USSR "does noC believe the final word has been uttered concerning Chis ques.:ion." Arkadyev argued that a five-power conference "could also promote effective work by a WDC~" but ChaC "aC the same time it would be incorrect to make a preliminary meeting of the five nuclear powers a necessary condition for holding a world conference." Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 SINO-SOVIET REL~ITIONS M06Cq~V OOPNEYS APPREFlENS ION OVER PEKI NG ~S EUROPEAN POLICY - With preparations for a European security confeL~nae scheduled for Helsinki in .the fall and against a background of active Chinese interest in Europe, Soviet bloc media ,have intensified a carefully orchestrated campaign to discredit Peking's European policy. Articles in IZVESTIYA, the GDR'e NEUES DEUTSCHLAND, Warsaw's IDEOLOGJA I POLITYKA, and Budapest's NEPSZABADSA~---the latter . two widely broadcast by Radio Moscow--make the case that despite Peking's efforts to normalize relations with some European countries, it is persisting in its hostility toward the Soviet Union while seeking to isolate Moscow from its allies and to counter the Soviet detente campaign in Eurc~e. NEUES DEUTSCHUWD, Concern over the prospect of Peking-Bonn IZVESTIYA ARTICLES ties was reflected in Soviet bloc comment on the recent visit to Peking by the West German "shadow" foreign minister, Gerhard Schroeder. Typically, East Germany's NEUES DEUTSCHLAND, in an article on 26 July viewed the Schroeder trip with alarm, characterizing it as "the beginning of a phase of open cooperation between Lhe Peking leadership and the imperialist forces of the FRG." It went on to interpret the trip as confirmation that the diplomatic acti:vit:ec pursued by Peking are o~,.-iously dictated by 4carcely hidden hostility toward a European security conference and by the attempt~to subvert the vi3lble successes of the policy of peaceful coexistence and thus to frustrate the coming of peace and security to our continent. Taking a slap at the Brandt-Scheel government, NEUES DEUTSCHLAND went on to ask how in the face of Schroeder's obvious motives for visiting Peking "is one to understand the tact that FRG Chancellor Brandt, as stated by hie spokesman Ahlers, received Schroeder officially for full talks, that he euppurtpd Schroeder's plan from the very beginning and gave him necessary references for his tai Wis." In contrast to the GDR party organ's criticism of Brandt, the article in the 12 August issue of IZVESTIYA., by M. Mikhaylov, praised the efforts of the Brandt-Scheel government for "playing Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL EBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 its part in the favorable processes taking place in Europe." The article limited its criticism to "Schroeder and hie eyr~pathizere from the CDU/CSU who are acting in a diametrically opposite direction." Mikhaylov went on to charge Chat Schrueder was invited to Peking precisely because of hie "wachinrltions" against European detente ~;,d his opposition to improved Fite relations with the Soviet bloc countries. In this context, Mikhaylov cited an AP correspondent for the view that by ?,aooing Schroeder, Peking hopes to "bring the opposition back into power in West Germany and to slow down Bonn's implementation of its Oetpolitik." A Grigoryev dispatch from Bonn in PRA'~Ur~ on the 6th had similarly tied Schroeder's Peking trip to the upcaning Bundestag elections, remarking Chat it wap designed to enable the "CDU/CSU bloc to obtain. its own Eastern policy topic fo:r the election campaign." The dispatch added that "the nearer the election approaches and the more acute the election struggle becomes, the more frequently and blatantly the Chinese argument will be advanced in the dis- clssion of Eastern policy." NEPSTABADSAG In keeping with Budapest's role as a leading ARTICLE proxy spokesman for Moscow in the Sino-Soviet dispute, NEPSZABADSAG's 10 August article, entitled "China's European Policy.," charged Chat Peking's wooing of the Bonn "conservative opposition in the person of Gerhard Schroeder" is only part of its European policy, which sees capitalist Europe and NATO as providing a political and military counterbalance to the Soviet bloc. Broaching a eub~er.t generally avoided in Soviet media, the article sought to counter the notion that Moscow would attempt to exploit a European detente by devoting greater attention to the Chinese problem. Thus the article rejected the idea allegedly advanced by the Chinese in theiz negotiations with the West to the effect that Soviet involvement in Europe "represents a relief for China's defense." China, the article concluded, "is not threatened by the Soviet Union, but by imperialism." IZVESTIYA Reflecting Moscow's effort to dissuade other REPRINT communist states from being receptive to Peking's diplomatic overtures, IZVESTIYA on 11 August reprinted an article from the Polish journal IDEOLOGJA I POLITYKA warning that dtespite its more f laxible tactics toward some states Peking still considers the USSR "enemy number one." In passages buttressing the case that the Chinese have not relented in their anti-Soviet intransigence, the Polish article made a passing reference to the Sino-Soviet border talks: "Despite the Soviet Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 CONFIDENTIAL FBIS TRENDS 16 AUGUST 1972 delegation's numerous initiatives, the Peking negotiations, which have lasted nearly three years, have nor been brought to a successful conclusion." (Jest four days earlier, IZVESTIYA had indicated that the progress of the border talks was lase than reas3uring by seizing on the publication of a new Chinese a.tlae to charge Chat the Chinese are continuing to lay claim to Soviet territory.) Maintaining that "anti-Sovietism" :.?ill remains the core of Chinese policy toward Eastern Europe, tl~e article warned that. Peking ~s using "differentiating" tactics toward various ~ountri.es in the hopes of fomenting "nationalistic tendencies" and ultimate "disintegration" of the Soviet bloc. PEKING PUTS USSR AT BOTTOM OF LIST OF SOVIET BLAC COUNTRIES The differentiated line to which Moscow takes exc--ption was in evidence during Peking's commemc;._.`.ion of its Army Day on 1 August. NCNA carried a series of rep ort?~ on Chinese embassy receptions marking the anniversary in various countrieP. Both the order in which the reports were carried and the atmospherics they portrayed were desfgned to provide a carefully calibrated reading of Peking's relations with these countries. Bringing up the rear were the Soviet bloc countries, azld among 'c'.:ese the Soviet Union was at the very tail (the order was Poland, Hungary, the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Mongolia, and the Soviet Union; Romania was of course accorded a high status outside this group). Alone among Chia group of countries, the atmuephere at t:hp Moscow reception was not characterized as friendly. As it has octen done since the 5ino-Soviet border talks begbn in October 1969, Peking used the occasion of an anniversary reception--on 31 July marking Army Day--to take note of the presence of the Soviet negotiators. NCNA reported that chief negotiator. Ilichev and his deputy, Gankovskiy (who has returned after a period during which another person served ae deputy chief of the delegation), were present at the reception. The Soviets also brought up the rear 1n this report, being named at the very end of a list that but all other foreign guests -: the top. Approved For Release 2000/08/09 :CIA-RDP85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000/08/I~F~~TI~P85T0087~~~~~033-4 CWINA-JAPAN PEKING EXTEND6 FO!MML INVITATION TO TANAKA TO VISIT CWINA A month after issuing an informal invitation through intermediaries shortly after th? installation of Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka, Peking on 12 August formally invited Tanaka to visit China. The announcement of Taraka's formal acceptance on l5 August stated thr..~ details of the trip would be disclosed simultaneously by both aides after the timing of the visit is set. Chinese advance publicity for the trip has been carefully designed to imply that the visit will take place at Japanese urging, not as a result of an informal Chinese invitation in July which apparently speeded ur Tanaka's own timetable for establishing relations. Though Peking's treatment of Japan since Tanaka's accession marked a dramatic shift from its previous hostility,* the Chinese have been at pains to avoid giving the impression that they are the supplicant party in arranging the visit. Peking's first reference to the possibility of a Tanaka trip was contained in o 24 July NCNA dispatch reporting Tanaka's speech to the first mee:.ing of the LDP'e council for normalizing PRC-Japanese diplomatic relations. Tanaka was quoted as saying thRt "as to the visit of the foreign minister and me to China, it should be decided" by the council. On 4 August NCNA quoted the LDP council chairman as telling Tanaka that he "should visit Peking personally to have a frank exchange of views with the Chinese leaders." On 9 August NCNA noted that the council had "unanimously adopted a decision in favor of a visit." NCNA reported on the 11th that Japanese Foreign Minister Ohira "told the Chinese aide officially" that Tanaka had decided to visit China to discuss normalization of relations. The formal Chinese invitation was finally released on 12 August in the form of an announcement by Foreign Minister Chi Peng-fei that Chou En-tai "welcomes and invitee" Tanaka. C:ntinuing to portray Japanese eagerness, the announcement noted Ohira's talk with Chinese officials in Tokyo at which he stated that Tanaka "wishes" to visit China. The announcement suggested high hopes for the success of tMe trip, stat~ing that Chou's invitation is for the purpose of "negotiations and settlement" of the question of normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations. On 15 August NCNA carried an account of Tanaka's meeting that day with Chinese officials to formally accept the invitation. Again Japan was presented as the beseecher, with Tanaka quoted ae expressing "heartfelt thanks" for the invitation and the "hope" Chat the talks prove fruitful. See the TRENDS of 26 July 1972, pages 31-32. Approved For Release 2000/08/~~~I~P85T00875R000300050033-4 Approved For Release 2000Rt~CC~la1.RDP85T00'8T