CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1954/07/10

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03001380
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: August 20, 2019
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2019
• Publication Date: July 10, 1954

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10 July 1954
Copy No.
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO.
NO CHANGE IN CLASS.
I DECLASSIFIED
_CLASS. CHANGED TO: TS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE: _42/1:7
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE :-.71.1490__ REVIEWER:
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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SUMMARY
FAR EAST
1. Chinese Communist sensitivity to air reconnaissance near
Tachen Islands continues (page 3).
SOUTHEAST ASIA
2. French see possible Viet Minh attack in northern Tonkin delta
(page 3).
3. French seen abandoning Diem government to consolidate control
In south (page 4).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
4. Ethiopian troops ordered to Eritrea (page 5).
LATIN AMERICA
5. Nicaragua reported planning attack on Costa Rica (page 5).
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FAR EAST
1. Chinese Communist sensitivity to air reconnaissance near Tachen
Islands continues:
Twenty-eight Chinese Communist MIG-15
jet fighters attacked four Chinese National-
ist conventional fighters on 6 july over
Nantien Bay on the East China coast about
m es n e racnen Islands, according to the Nationalist
Ministry of National Defense. One Nationalist F-47 was shot down and
one other was damaged, while one Communist plane was reported dam-
aged.
Comment: Chinese Communist fighter
strength at Shanghai and Hangchow has apparently been augmented since
May and may now include between 150 and 200 MIG-15's and close to
100 piston-engine types. These fighters have become increasingly ag-
gressive since May in patrols near the Tachens, where Nat
aircraft previously flew reconnaissance in relative safety.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
2. French see possible Viet Minh attack in northern Tonkin delta:
Continuing Viet Minh pressure on the north-
ern part of the Tonkin delta, plus increased
sabotage of routes and bridges there, are
considered by the French as possible pre-
liminaries to the launching of a large-scale
attack in that area.
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The American army attach�n Saigon
comments that Viet Minh successes against French lines of com-
munication indicate an enemy capability, in the event of a large-
scale attack, to limit severely the rapid redeployment of the mobile
groups, which have been the major bulwark of the French defense.
Comment: The Viet Minh 308th and
312th Divisions, north and northwest of the delta, are within a
day's march of French positions. A probing attack on the night of
7-8 July by elements of the 308th Division demonstrated the enemy's
capability to move, under cover of darkness, units of at least regi-
mental size from outside the delta to within striking distance.
According to late press accounts, the
French today urged civilians to evacuate Hanoi. Presumably the
evacuation was ordered in anticipation of an imminent Communist
attack on the city or possibly as a preliminary to the withdrawal of
French forces from Hanoi.
3. French seen abandoning Diem government to consolidate control in
south:
The French on 4 July provided 6,000
rifles to the Binh Xuyen, the gangster
organization in Saigon.
this move and efforts by the French to win the support of
politico-religious sects in the south as proof that they are, in ef-
fect, abandoning the Vietnamese government.
France's policy of bolster-
ing its own position in the south will force the Ngo Dinh Diem govern-
ment to adopt an increasingly anti-French position.
Comment: Increasing concern among
French officials that Ngo Dinh biein will become "another Syngman
Rhee" lends weight to a report that the French are pressing Bao Dai
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to remain in France, where he will be more subject to their control
and possibly may be used to sign an armistice agreement unaccept-
able to Diem and other Vietnamese leaders.
The Binh Xuyen last May acquired control
of the police force from Bao Dal at a price of over $1,000,000 and
has since been the mainstay of his strength in Vietnam.
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
4. Ethiopian troops ordered to Eritrea
5.
Emperor Haile Selassie has ordered his
acting minister of war to send two battal-
ions of troops to Eritrea immediately,
The American army attache believes this
ac no was caused by the emperor's fear of an uprising by the Eritreans,
who resent Ethiopian rule in Eritrea.
Comment Although friction has increased
markedly in Eritrea during the past year, opposition has been limited
to legislative resolution and vocal protests. There have been no re-
ports indicating that the Eritreans plan military action.
The emperor's dispatch of troops suggests
either that he has received exaggerated reports of the tension or that
Ethiopia may be planning to further its known desire to absorb Eritrea
completely in contravention of the UN federation plan.
LATIN AMERICA
Nicaragua reported planning attack on Costa Rica,
Ten Nicaraguan planes are to land troops
at an unknown date near San Jose to seize
the Costa Rican government after a Nica-
raguan mobilization on the frontier lures
Costa Rican troops out of the capital, according to a report from the
Costa Rican ambassador in Nicaragua, who received his information
from a "friendly" ambassador there.
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After informing Ambassador Hill of
this report, President Figueres and Foreign Minister Esquivel
asked that American aircraft protect Costa Rican planes deliver-
ing the arms recently purchased by Costa Rica in the United States.
They feared the planes would be attacked by Venezuelan or Nica-
raguan aircraft. Esquivel sought reassurances of United States
support for Costa Rica in the event of an attack and asked American
advice on whether to bring the threat to the attention of the Organiza-
tion of American States.
Comment: Nicaraguan president Somoza
told the American ambassaaor on 5 July that reports of plans for an
armed movement against Costa Rica from Nicaragua are "lies."
There are strong indications, however, that an attack is in fact being
organized, probably with Somoza's approval, that Venezuela is the
senior sponsor, and that the move may be launched from Panama.
An attempt will probably be made to camouflage it as a Costa Rican
rebellion. Previous reports allege that the attack will be made by
14 July.
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