CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1955/03/06

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03004631
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: September 20, 2019
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2019
• Publication Date: March 6, 1955

fr7 Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631 r
TOP SECRET
0
6 March 1955
Copy No.
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
DOCUMENT NO _4.1_
NO CHANGE IN CLASS gi
0 DECLASSIFIED
CLASS. CHANGED TO: IS S C
NEXT REVIEW DATE: 0
AUTH: HR 70-2
DATE. Nit 10 REVIEWER:
�
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
88
TOP SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
SUMMARY
GENERAL
1. Japan's demands at Soviet-Japanese talks reported (page 3).
2. Communists may use "peace" conference in India as prelude to
Afro-Asian conference (page 3).
SOUTHEAST ASIA
3. Paris reportedly to de-emphasize Sainteny mission in North
Vietnam (page 4).
4. Hoa Hao general asks US support against Diem (page 5).
5. Viet Minh suffering severe rice shortage (page 6).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
6.
7. Comment on threat of new clashes on Egyptian-Israeli frontier
fnagp
8.
* * * *
6 Mar 55 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 2
TOP srrn r T
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
'MP grf'DFT
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
,04�0 *le
GENERAL
Japan's demands at Soviet-Japanese talks reported:
Japan plans to demand the return of the
southern half of the Kuriles and the small
Shikotan and Habomai islands off north-
eastern Hokkaido during its forthcoming
negotiations with the USSR in New York.
The USSR will also be asked to allow
fishing off Kamchatka outside the 12-mile limit stipulated by Soviet
maritime law, instead of the 30-mile limit now observed by Japan.
Comment: Additional demands will re-
portedly include support for Japanese UN membership, repatriation
of Japanese detained by the USSR, cancellation of reparations and
noninterference in Japan's internal affairs, The Japanese press, in
discussing the issues, has urged a three-mile limit for fishing and
nonrecognition of Soviet sovereignty over the other Kuriles and
southern Sakhalin.
In view of Hatoyama's willingness to
normalize relations without discussing these issues, it is doubtful
whether the Japanese can continue to insist on many of these demands.
It is extremely doubtful that the Soviet Union will comply with the
territorial demands.
2. Communists may use "peace" conference in India as prelude to
Afro-Asian conference:
6 Mar 55
The "Asian Conference for Easing Inter-
national Tensions," described as a "privately
organized" gathering, will convene in New
Delhi on 6 April, according to press reports
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 3
TtIr AFrPrr
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 003004631
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
"goire
quoting the fellow-traveling Indian chairman of the preparatory
committee The main item on the agenda is to be the so-called
"five principles" of coexistence, although other topics�such as
colonialism, atomic weapons, and the dangers of military pacts--
are also listed for discussion.
Some 300 delegates, representing several
Asian and Middle Eastern countries as well as the USSR, are ex-
pected to attend. In addition to a large Soviet deputation, the Com-
munists will have a large number of representatives from China,
North Korea and North Vietnam.
Comment: The convocation of such a
Communist-sponsored conference was first suggested by Indian
representatives at the Stockholm "peace conference" last June,
and the USSR has since shown unusual interest in its promotion.
The Afro-Asian conference opening on
18 April can be expected to assume a prominent place in the de-
liberations at Delhi, although there was originally no connection
between the two. The Communists have an excellent opportunity
at Delhi to plan their strategy for the Bandung meeting, to which
the USSR is not invited. Their efforts will be facilitated by the
fact that the topics to be considered at the two meetings are re-
markably similar.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Paris reportedly to de-emphasize Sainteny mission in North
Vietnam:
interests wi
The French government has decided
that the Sainteny mission in North
Vietnam should revert to its original
role of merely protecting French
out attempting to experiment with coexistence,
6 Mar 55
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 4 ,
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
TOP SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
*isie Nair
Comment: In view of the reluctance
of the French government to close any avenue to an East-West
detente, it is unlikely that an early change in Sainteny's status
can be expected.
Hoa Hao general asks US support against Diem:
General Tran Van Soai, one of the
several Hoa Hao chiefs, told the Amer-
ican charg�n Saigon that the time had
come for a new government, which he
hoped the United States would help to establish. Upon receiving
no encouragement, Soai then said he would only continue to sup-
port Diem under certain conditions. The charg�otes, moreover,
that Hoa Hao and Binh Xuyen representatives are reported to have
come to a decision on 2 March to "take action" against the govern-
ment.
Meanwhile, Diem has tripled the defenses
around his headquarters in Saigon, and is said to be relying on the
recently rallied troops of Cao Dal general Trinh Minh The to neu-
tralize the Binh Xuyen,
Comment: The tendency of the sects to
permit their "action" plans to become known, or even to discuss
these plans with American officials, tends to cast doubt on their
intention to take such action, and reflects their weakening posi-
tion in relation to the government. The sects can be expected to
explore every opportunity to check the growth of central govern-
ment authority at the expense of their own, but they are probably
realistic enough not to seek a forcible showdown. There is a pos-
sibility that the government, goaded by constant reports of con-
spiracy, may prematurely strike out against one or more of the
sects.
6 Mar 55
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 5
TOP SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
�T-AP�crgr�R-F-7
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
5. Viet Minh suffering severe rice shortage:
6.
Reports from North Vietnam indicate
that the economic situation has deteri-
orated materially since the Viet Minh
took over Hanoi in October,
Viet Minh currency is now
worth less than half its official value, Chinese and Indian mer-
chants are planning to leave Haiphong, and the total rice supply
may be as low as in the famine year of 1945, when almost a
million people reportedly starved.
the Viet Minh
will not be able to bridge the gap before the next harvest without
substantial outside help. Chinese shipments of rice
to the Viet Minh apparently have not been in substantial quantity
and indicates that the logical source of rice for North Vietnam is
South Vietnam.
Comment:
TE6�rice shortage had reached famine
proportions in some areas of North Vietnam, Rice relief from
China has apparently not been more than 10,000 tons. Current
shipments from Saigon to North Vietnam are apparently going
only to the French-held Haiphong perimeter.
During February various Viet Minh
media called for closer relations between the north and the
south. The South Vietnam authorities have been unresponsive,
but they feel they could not turn down an appeal for rice to re-
lieve the famine in the north�
6 Mar 55
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 6
Tor SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
TOP SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
*4.0 'WO
7. Comment on threat of new clashes on Egyptian-Israeli frontier:
The continued violent reaction of Arab
refugees in the Gaza area (see map, pn 8)
to the 28 February Israeli attack injects
an additional element into the explosive bor-
der situation. The more than 200,000
Palestinian Arab refugees, deeply embit-
tered and frustrated after more than six
years in camps, have demonstrated against
both Egypt and the United Nations because
of failure to provide protection against Israeli attacks. Under pres-
ent conditions Egyptian forces may not be able to prevent refugee
bands from making armed forays into Israeli territory, thus pro-
moting more retaliation.
The Jordanian Arab Legion is reported to
expect Israel to initiate a series of major incidents in an effort to
provoke Arab retaliation which would lead to an outbreak of general
hostilities� This appears to be an overstatement, even though
Israeli army leaders have long uraed a tough approach to frontier
problems.
6 Mar 55
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 7
TOP SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
Nape Noe
32--
31�
30--
35
�
/
LEBA
7.4e/
SYRIA
bAcre
\
MEDITERRANEAN Lake
Haifa, Tiberias
0 Nazareth
I, c
SEA e.,74----,
0 ,
Tel Aviv Z
Jaffa
0 'AM,Ntir�
...,(Ze.
Jerusalem
,
., i g
ISRAEL*
,
RECENT
ISRAELI BORDER
ACTIVITY
28 February 1955
Gaza area admin-
istered by Egypt
since 1949. �
�_�� International boundary
---', Armistice line
o National capital
to 29 30 40
---7 \
....
Beersheba�
e 1
200,000
Palestinian Arab
Neutral /,--- Refugees
Zone �
.
.
/
EGYPT
. r
An ./y
,i,
' �./
.;,;. Ghadyin
% / Some boundaries shown on this map
/
are de facto boundaries (19531, not
1 necessanly recognized as definitive
by the United States Government.
/
Gulf
of ..
......
Aqaba
1SAUDI ARABiA "---......,......
Statute Miles
0 10 20 30 40
Kilometers
* THE FRONTIERS OF ISRAEL SHOWN HERE ARE
THOSE TEMPORARILY ESTABLISHED BY THE
GENERAL ARMISTICE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN
ISRAEL AND THE SEVERAL ARAB STATES. THE
FINAL INTERNATIONAL STATUS OF JERUSA-
LEM HAS NOT YET BEEN DECIDED BY THE
U.N.
35
.iniossonssm.
50305
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631
*vivo valor
6 Mar 55
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 9
-rept-SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/09/17 C03004631