CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1951/05/06

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02733124
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: March 18, 2019
• Document Release Date: March 28, 2019
• Publication Date: May 6, 1951

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6 May 1951
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CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
I DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: IS 3 9�,,L,.
NEXT REVIEW DAIS:
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE .31 REVIEWER:
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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SUMMARY
GENERAL
1. Soviet representative suggests US-USSR bilateral settlement of
Korean war (page 3).
2. Soviet reply to Western agenda hits points of possible Western
divergence (page 3).
3. French asked to make military aid to Yugoslavia outright grant (page 4.
4. Norway and the Netherlands collaborate on atomic energy (page 4).
FAR EAST
5. USSR reportedly delivers "heavy bombers" to Chinese Communists
(page 5).
6. Burmese Foreign Minister reports on Chinese Nationalist troops
(page 6).
NEAR EAST
7. India refuses to re-sell war surplus C-47 Aircraft to US (page 6).
8. Iranian Ambassador denies reported Soviet approaches (page 7).
9. Israel and Syria continue military action (page 7).
EASTERN EUROPE
10. Unrest flares again in Stettin (page 8).
11, US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia believes Clementis� treason trial
imminent (page 9).
FAR EAST
13. Burmese set three-day deadline before appeal to UN (page 10).
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GENERAL
1. Soviet representative suggests US-USSR bilateral settlement of Korean
war:
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During an exchange of views with US repre-
3.3(h)(2)
sentatives at the United Nations, Jacob Malik,
Soviet delegate to the UN, declared on 2 May
that the US does not want a peaceful settlement
of the Korean War, but stated that if a settle-
ment were really desired, it might be accomplished through the Paris
conference. When asked if this was a proposal to add settlement of the
Korean War to the agenda of the Foreign Ministers' meeting, he replied
that he was making no proposal but was merely thinking that the Korean
dispute, as well as other outstanding matters, could and should be settled
by discussion between the US and Soviet Governments. He added that
the Soviet position on such bilateral discussions is well known, and stated
twice that any settlement must contain honorable terms for all interested
parties. Malik also brought up the subject of Formosa, implying the US
action in this regard was the principal reason for Chinese Communist
intervention in Korea.
Comment: Possibly significant in view of
Malik's remarks on Soviet-US bilateral negotiations for a Korean settle-
ment is a 30 April Moscow broadcast beamed to the Far East discussing
Korean unity, in which the subject of the former Russian-American Joint
Commission in Korea was revived. However, opportunities to discuss
a settlement of the Korean War at the Paris conference have not been
utilized. This appears to be the first time that any responsible Soviet
official has intimated that the USSR could settle the Korean War without
at least the direct participation of Communist China and possibly North
Korea.
2. Soviet reply to Western agenda hits points of possible Western divergence:
Soviet delegate Gromyko on 4 May agreed to 3.3(h)(2)
accept the first of the three Western drafts of an
agenda for a Foreign Ministers' Conference
submitted on 2 May, but made his acceptance
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conditional upon substitution of the Soviet
phraseology on the armaments item. A -
British spokesman told reporters Gromykot s
proposal was "a barefaced piece of impudence, it
and the Western delegates have rejected the Soviet offer.
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Earlier on 4 May, at a discussion among the
Western delegates of possible procedure in case the Western proposals
were not accepted, the UK delegate shied away from any discussion of a
direct approach to the Soviet Government in Moscow as suggested by the
US. US delegate Jessup has expressed his anxiety that in a further pro-
longing of the Paris talks the Western position might not be maintained,
particularly in light of the British attitude. He cites in support of this
view previous UK proposals on the armaments item that in the US view
constituted "virtual acceptance of the Soviet position. "
3. French asked to make military aid to Yugoslavia outright grant:
The State Department has instructed Embassy3.3(h)(2)
Paris to ask the French Foreign Office for an
expression of the terms on which the French
believe the Western countries should provide
military aid to Yugoslavia. The Department points out that the US and
the UK are agreed that such aid should be on a grant basis because of
the precarious state of the Yugoslav econom3;. The material in question
is non-standard, including equipment of German origin, or in excess of
the NATO's needs, and would thereby reinforce Western security with-
out affecting the defense budget of the donor nation. The message adds
the Department's views that turning over such supplies to the Yugoslays
should not be delayed until the proposed agreement is reached.
Norwa and the Netherlands collaborate on atomic energy
� The contract for the joint Norway-Netherlands
uranium pile project was officially signed on
12 April 1951. The three Dutch representa-
tives on the Joint Commission that will supervise the research were in
Oslo the week of 12 April to discuss operations with their Norwegian
counterparts.
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Heavy water for the moderator was furnished
by Norsk Hydro in March 1950; reflector graphite was delivered by the
French (in exchange for Norwegian heavy water); uranium metal, ex-
changed by the British (with American concurrence) for Dutch oxide,
should be received soon at Kjeller.
Comment: The major significance of this
project is that it is the first "joint" operation that has actually materialized
between any of the smaller Western European countries. The pile is
Intended to be strictly a research tool in the development of power from
Atomic energy. It will, of course, provide for the production of radio-
active isotopes for tracer and medical uses. The pile will have no
military implications, since its plutonium output will be negligible.
FAR EAST
5. USSR reportedly delivers "heavy bombers" to Chinese Communists:
12 four-motored
bombers of Soviet manufacture, piloted by
, Russians, landed on 20 March at Ning An
(in northeastern Manchuria) coming from the USSR. These bombers,
according to the report, are the first delivered to China "under the
Chinese-Russian Treaty.
Comment:
14 "long range heavy Soviet bombers" arrived at Changchun on 24 March,
coming from the USSR via Poli, also in northeastern Manchuria. A�
subsequent report referred to the arrival from Manchuria of 38 Soviet
heavy bombers at Hsuchow, in Central China, on 20-21 April.
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There is no recent information concerning the
air facilities at Ning An, which in 1945 had a 4,000-foot runway, made- 3.3(h)(2)
quate for heavy bombers.
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6. Burmese Foreign Minister reports on Chinese Nationalist troops:
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Ambassador Key in Rangoon reports that the 3.3(h)(2)
Burmese Foreign Minister, revealing the re-
sults of his investigation of the Chinese Nationa,-
list troops in the Kengtung area, stated that:
(1) there has been a great increase in their numbers since last summer,
(2) they have spread out considerably along the China border, (3) they
are well supplied with modern American equipment, and (4) a "consider-
able number" of Chinese Communist troops are on the frontier.
Expressing his government's concern that
the Chinese Communists would lose patience with the situation, the Foreign
Minister cited an unconfirmed report that on 25 April Chinese Communist
forces had crossed the border in hot pursuit of Nationalist guerrillas
and dispersed them on Burmese soil.
While the Burmese Government considers
it essential that the Nationalist troops be withdrawn from Burma as
rapidly as possible and their supply of arms be stopped at once, the
Foreign Minister added that he would give Ambassador Key ample notice
of a decision to take recourse to the UN.
(See also item 13 for later report.)
NEAR EAST
7. India refuses surplus C-47 Aircraft to US:
On 30 April, Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai of the 3.3(1)(2)
Indian Ministry of External Affairs addressed
a letter to the US Embassy, New Delhi, stating
that it would be impossible for India to re-sell
the sixty-one war surplus C-47 aircraft re-
cently requested by the US for the use of its
Air Force. The letter also said that only 39
of these aircraft remained and that they were
urgently needed in India. Admitting defeat in its efforts to repurchase
the planes, the US Department of State has instructed Ambassador
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Henderson, at his discretion, to ask Sir Girja for assurances that none
of the planes or parts will aypntually. reach Communist China.
8. Iranian Ambassador denies re orted Soviet a
II
roaches:
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3.3(h)(2)
Iranian Ambassador Arasteh, in conversation 33(h)(2)
with a US Embassy officer in Moscow, denied
categorically that there had been any approach
by the Soviet Union seeking concessions in Iran.
Arasteh acknowledged that Soviet Foreign Ministry officials have fre-
quently asked him why his government permitted the US to have air bases
in Iran, but stated that the USSR has never asked for bases. He added
that since the assassination of Razmara there has been no approach to�
him by the Soviet Foreign Ministry. He said he had reason to believe,
however, that Soviet Ambassador Sadchikov was "very active" in Tehran.
When asked whether Soviet officials had ever approached him to obtain
assurances of Iranian neutrality in case of war, Arasteh replied that the
matter had never been taken up with him but that Razmara had been so
3.3(h)(2)
approached and had given the assurances desired.
9. Israel and Syria continue military action:
Although reports are conflicting and contra- 3.3(h)(2)
dictory, Israeli and Syrian troops apparently
engaged in fairly heavy fighting in the demili-
tarized zone between Lake Hule and Lake
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Tiberias on 3 and 4 May. Both sides were
said to be using mortars and artillery, but
casualties seemed to be light. UN observers
have been unable to obtain a first-hand pic-
ture of the situation because of heavy gunfire in the area of the conflict.
A meeting of the Mixed Armistice Commission (MAC) held on 4 May
apparently produced no results.
Comment: Each side has accused the other
and has tried to persuade foreign observers and officials to accept its
version of the story. Whatever the facts may be, the present impasse
re-emphasizes the need for adequate UN authority to cope with the
thorny disputes which continue to arise in connection with the Palestine
problem.
EASTERN EUROPE
10. Unrest flares again in Stettin:
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3.3(h)(2)
The US Military Attache in Warsaw reports 3.3(h)(2)
that last week dock workers in Stettin refused
to load sugar for shipment to the USSR because
they had no sugar for themselves. Some of
the soldiers in a Polish Army unit called out
to handle the strike put down their arms, saying they would not shoot
Poles. As a result the Polish Security Police were called out and several
workers were arrested. It is also reported that following further inves-
tigation of the anti-Soviet riot in Stettin on 9 April 1951 several hundred
additional people have been arrested. Rum-or of this riot has now spread
to Bydgoszez in central Poland.
Comment: This is the first report of outright
mutiny in the postwar Polish Army. In October 1950 and February 1951,
strikes by dock workers against shipment to the USSR of foodstuffs and
manufactured products were reported in Stettin. On 9 April 1951 an
anti-Soviet riot of large proportions, set off the killing of five Polish
civilians by a Russian Army officer, resulted in the arrest of some two
thousand persons.
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11. US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia believes Clementis' treason trial
imminent:
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US Ambassador Briggs in Prague reports that
evidence is accumulating that the trial of former
Foreign Minister Clementis is imminent. 3.3(h)(2)
Briggs includes as evidence (a) a statement
by Communist Party leader.Slansky that Clementis has confessed to work-
ing for US intelligence; (b) the recent alleged defection of a radio opera-
tor from the Yugoslav Embassy in Prague; (c) reports that Czechoslovak
diplomats from Switzerland, Turkey and India have arrived in Prague to
testify at the trial. Briggs also notes that Czechoslovak officials in
their May Day speeches ommitted any reference to nationalism in their
remarks about Clementis, but emphasized his alleged espionage acti-
vities. Until the end of April, on the other hand, the accusations leveled
at Clementis had emphasized his nationalist deviation. This shift is
viewed by the Ambassador as an indication that Clementis may be tried
for conspiracy with the West, while the nationalism issue will be soft-
pedaled.
Comment: The shift from accusations limited
to nationalism and rightest deviation to those of treason and espionage 3.3(h)(2)
parallels the preparations in the summer of 1949 preceding the Hungarian
Rajk trial. Since Clementis can not be tried before the state court for z
ideological crime, it is necessary to construct a case against him as
a spy.
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13. Burmese set before appeal to UN:
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On 5 May, after conferring with Prime Minis-
ter Thakin. Nu concerning Chinese Nationalist
troops in Burma, the Burmese Foreign Minis-
ter told Ambassador Key that Burma would 3.3(h)(2)
not defer an appeal to the UN for more than three days unless, in the
meantime, the US could suggest an alternative solution. The Minister
added that the Chinese Communist Ambassador had inquired earlier in
the day regarding reports that large numbers of Chinese Nationalist
troops had recently entered Kengtung from Thailand and asked what action
Burma intended to take in the matter. He was told that the intruders
were Vietnamese refugees and was assured that Burma would take action
to terminate the Nationalist problem in Keng,tung.
Ambassador Key comments that the Burmese
Government is "fearful almost to the point of hysteria that unless it acts
quickly the Chinese Communists may intervene,"
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