CHINA INCORPORATES TIBET

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CIA-RDP78-02771R000300440003-5
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12
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November 11, 2016
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July 30, 1998
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3
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REPORT
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Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 CHINA INCORPORATES TIBET In 1792 Tibet acknowledged the suzerainty of the Manchu Emperors who had invaded the country early in the century. Under this domination the Tibetans attained an autonomous status. The Chinese Empire was able to maintain only a nominal loose control over Tibet and when the Manchus were overthrown in 1911, Tibet expelled the Chinese troops and representatives. Between then and 1950 the Chinese government did not attempt to exercise control over Tibet, although several attempts were made to incorporate it into China as were the eastern sections and border lands in 1928. Thus, even in modern history, the Chinese hold over Tibet has always been a very loose one and Tibet's right to.autonomy over its internal affairs has been recorded.and recognized in a number of international documents. The situation was succinctly stated by Pandit Nehru, speak- ing in Madras on 14 April 1959. He said: "We accepted the Chinese overlordship of Tibet and we stand by it. But the Tibetans are not Chinese and I cannot imagine any feasible or practical or happy solution without the autonomy of the Tibetan people." A degree of autonomy was recognized by China in 1931 when the original constitution of the self-proclaimed Chinese Soviet Republic recognized for national minorities the "right to complete separation from China." Tibet was mentioned as being among those who should "enjoy the full, right to self- determination; i.e. they may either join the Union of Chinese Soviets or secede from it and form their own State as they may prefer." Thus the leaders of Communist China officially pro- claimed that the status of Tibet should be determined by that country itself. But this was swiftly to be changed. In 1950, Chinese Communist troops invaded Tibet who appealed in vain to the United Nations. After unsuccessful resistance against over- whelming force, the Tibetans had no recourse but to send a delegation to Peking to negotiate the terms of its official relationship to the Chinese Communist regime. This resulted in a 17-point Agreement which was signed on 23 May 1951 and acknowledged by the Dalai Lama on 24 October 1951. The main points were as follows; Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: "In accordance with th ities laid down in the Comm People's Political Consulta people have the right of ex under the unified leadershi Government. "The central authoriti ing political system in Tib also will not alter the est and powers of the Dalai Lam shall hold office as usual. "The established statu the Panchen Nguerhtehni sha "The policy of freedom down in the Common Program Consultative Conference sha "The religious beliefs Tibetan people shall be res shall be protected. The ce effect a change in the into CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 0 policy towards national- n Program of the Chinese ive Conference, the Tibetan rcising regional autonomy of the Central People's s will not alter the exist- t. The central authorities blished status, functions . Officials of various ranks functions and powers of 1 be maintained. of religious belief laid f the Chinese People's Political 1 be carried out, customs and habits of the ected, and lama monasteries tral authorities will not the of the monasteries. "In matters related to various reforms in Tibet, there will be no compulsion on the part of the central authorities. The local gov rnment of Tibet should carry out reforms of its own accord.... "The People's Liberation Army entering Tibet shall abide by all the above ment oned policies.... "The Central People's Government shall have the centralized handling of all external affairs of the area of Tibet." Suzerainty, Not Sovereignty The 1951 Sino-Tibetan Agreement clearly reserved authority over internal affairs to the local Tibet government and dele- gated control over external affairs to the Central Government. The relationship was one of suze ainty, but not of sovereignty. The existing political syst m in all its aspects, the religious beliefs, customs and h bits of the Tibetan people and the monasteries and their in ome were all fully guaranteed and compulsory reforms in Tibet ere explicitly rejected. The Agreement stated that the local government should carry 2 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 out its own reforms in accordance with "actual conditions in Tibet." This was reinforced through the signing of the Sino-Indian Agreement on Tibet in April 1954. The famed Panch Shila, or the five principles of international cooperation, formed the preamble of this document. These five principles, which also provided the basis, for the Bandung Principles, proclaimed by the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955 and subscribed to by the Chinese Communist Government, read as follows: 1. Mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty. 2. Mutual non-aggression. 3. Mutual non-interference in internal affairs. 4. Equality and mutual benefit. 5. Peaceful coexistence. Premier Nehru thus recognized Chinese suzerainty, but not sovereignty, over.Tibet. It is clear that the Panch Shila and the Bandung Principles, plus other international documents recognizing the freedom of countries from interference in their internal affairs included Tibet. If any doubt existed as to the legal status of Tibet as proclaimed by the Chinese it was dispelled by their reiteration of Tibet's autonomy. For example, Chou En-lai confirmed the independence of Tibet in its internal affairs when he talked to Nehru in India in 1956. These assurances.were recalled by Nehru in a speech he gave before the Indian Parliament in the late spring of 1959. He declared: "When Premier Chou En-lai came here two or three years ago, he was good enough to discuss Tibet with me at considerable length. He told me that while Tibet had long been a part of the Chinese State, they did not con- sider Tibet as a province of China. "Therefore, they considered Tibet as an autonomous region which would enjoy autonomy. He told me further that it was absurd for anyone to Imagine that China was going to force Communism on Tibet." Approved For,Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 The Constitution of the People's Republic of China, adopted d tin in September 1954 and based on the Common Program adopte 1 4-- September 1949 by the Chinese Pe Conference, is another official continued existence of national tution guarantees that'all natio in compact communities in a giv ople's Political Consu a ve document which guarantees the minority groups. The Consti- nal minorities living together n area may exercise their right to regional autonomy. All are free, it says, to use and foster f their own spoken and written la their own customs and habits. the historical record or in nat documents about Tibet's status entity, or about its right to internal affairs. orm guages and to preserve or re hus, there is no question in onal and international legal s a country and as a, national exercise authority over its Contravention of the Sino- ibeil Agreement of 1951 started almost immediately and continued,, for eight years, culminating in the action dissolving the local government of Tibet. The violation of articles which res structure to the existing local the following examples of'actio 1. It created a Peop the Chamdo area, the weste ricted the internal political government are indicated in s by the Peking regime. e's Liberation Committee of n half of Sikang Province, in 1951. 2. It created a new governmental committee in Shigatse, the Panchen Kanp Lila, in competition with the established government in hasa in March 1954. 3. In April 1956, it created the Preparatory Com- mittee for the Tibetan Autonomous Region (PCART). 4. It established me sentatives of the follow-in government in Lhasa, the P Liberation Committee of th Communist Party. The internal authority of t of Tibet in Lhasa was first con other local government headquar consolidating nominal governmen was ruled in fact by the Commun Work Committee. The Chinese State Council March 1955 leaves no doubt as t It stated that: 4 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: bership of the PCART from repre- four bodies: the Tibet local nchen Kanpo Lija, the People's Chamdo area and the Chinese he recognized local government ravened by the creation of two ers and diminished further by control in the PCART which st Party through its Tibet uthorization of the PCART in the functions of that body. CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 The Preparatory Committee f :r the Tibetan Autonomous Region will have the nature of atate organ, charged with the responsibility of making preparations to establish the Tibet Autonomous Region and will be directly under the State Council. Its major task is to prepare for regional autonomy in Tibet, as provided in the Constitu- tion and the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Libera- tion of Tibet and according to the concrete conditions of Tibet." The actual power of the PCART rested in the hands of the following representatives of the Central Government, although there were many other Chinese officials on the Committee: General Chang Kuo-hua, Commander of, the Communist Tibet Military District; Lieutenant General Tan Kuan-san, deputy secretary of the Party's Tibet Work Committee; Major General Fan Ming, deputy political commissar of the Communist army in Tibet and deputy secretary of the Party's Tibet Work Committee; and Chang Ching-wu, Central Government official representative in Tibet and secretary of the Tibet Work Committee.. It was he who arranged for the establishment of the Preparatory Committee in 1956. When Chang Ching-wu is absent, his functions are assumed by Chang Kuo-hua. While the structure of Tibet's local government was being revised at the highest levels, the Communists were taking over functions that directly affected the daily life of the people. The Liberation Committee of the Chamdo.Area, for example, formed local and regional organs and issued orders affecting Lhasa, voided all debts "incurred as a result of former levees,."" abolished the ""feudal service system" of the former government and established trading companies and schools. It is interesting to note that the Central Government maintains that the Chamdo Area is not in Tibet although the region is inhabited by Tibetans and was once definitely part of Tibet, and despite the fact that the.Central Government itself included representatives from the People's Liberation Committee of the Chamdo Area in the PCART. While the Communists were establishing the additional government units to,usurp some of the legitimate functions of the local government headed by the Dalai Lama in Lhasa, officials of the Tibet government were being dismissed by the Central Government. The two premiers, Lukhang and Lobsang Tashi were dismissed; the Cabinet was forced to dissolve its Foreign Affairs Bureau; and in 1953 the Indian press reported that all non-Chinese advisers to the Dalai Lama had been dismissed. The foregoing presents clear evidence of.the shift in local government authority in terms of the governmental structure. Approved For Release 1999/0824: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 On the question of actual control over the internal affairs of Tibet, testimony is available from the highest authority. The Dalai Lama, after years of ',silence, interspersed only with cautious statements, issued a statement in Tezpur on 18 April 1959, following his escape from the Communist army. In it, he clearly stated that: j "...after the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese armies, the Tibetan Govern ent did not enjoy any measure of autonomy, even in inter al matters, and the Chinese Government exercised full Powers in Tibetan affairs. "In 1956 a preparator committee was set up for Tibet with the Dalai Lama is chairman and the Panchen Lama as vice chairman and General Chang Kuo-hua as the representative of the Chin se Government. "In practice even thi body had little power and decisions in all important matters were taken by the Chinese authorities. The Dalai Lama and h I s Government tried their best to adhere to the 17-point greement, but interference of the Chinese authorities persisted." The frantic efforts of the dence contained in this stateme Dalai Lama was not a free agent the charges corroborated by the puppet of the Central Governmen what the Communists have done i tical articles in the Sino-Tibe allow any misinterpretation. Communists to counter the evi- t included charges that the and an effort was made to have Panchen Lama, who became a in 1950. The contrast between Tibet and the pertinent poli- Agreement is too glaring to Any doubt about the Centra regard to the internal autonomy ante of the traditional charact been dispelled by Mao Tse-tung' Handling of Contradictions Amon ruary 1957. This speech contains a maj reforms" in Tibet in the follow Government's intent with of Tibet and with the mainten- r of the people, should have famous speech, ""0n the Correct the People," given on 27 Feb- r Communist statement about "social ng terms; "Because conditions its Tibet are not ripe, democratic reforms have not yet been tarried out there. According to the 17-point Agreement eached between the Central People's Government and the local Government of Tibet, reform of the social syste must eventually be carried out. But we should not be impat ent; when this will be done can only be decided when the great majority of the people Approved For Release 1999/08f24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 of Tibet and their leading public figures consider it practicable. It has now been decided not to proceed with democratic reform in Tibet during the period of the second Five Year Plan (1958-1962) and we can only decide whether it will be done in the period of the third Five Year Plan in the light of the situation obtaining at that time." Economic and social reforms had been invoked in several areas of Inner Tibet and various preparations for reforms had been made in Tibet proper. Mao's statement to the Tibetans was a clear ultimatum--the Central Government would decide when the reforms would be imposed and it would decide. their nature. He was, however, quite firm on the point that the reforms would have to be carried out sooner or later. Mao made a further clarification in the same speech by saying that "democratic reforms and socialist transformation have, in. general, been completed in most of the national min- orit areas." These minority areas had also been promised that t ere would be no interference with their. traditional pattern of life or with their basic social structure and culture. Mao's "contradictions" speech was not the first indication that all was not going well in Tibet. Chang Kuo-hua had announced in September 1956 that there would be an alteration in the time- table for Tibet. He said that "democratic reforms" would not be effected for "a comparatively long period to come" as they had to await the acceptance of a majority of Tibetans. The intention to put the Communist program into at least partial reverse was given more practical attention by Chang Kuo-hua when he said on 22 April 1957: ""...organs set up in the past by the various locali- ties in preparation for carrying out these democratic reforms must ...be properly reorganized. An appropriate number of the work personnel of Han inese7 nationality who came to help prepare for democra is reforms in Tibet must also be transferred to other areas of the fatherland to. take part in socialist construction."' The degree to which the postponement of the reforms was to be honored was thrown into further doubt by Chang's admoni- tion to Tibetans and Chinese to be ?kconstantly on guard against the subversive activities of imperialist elements and the rebellious activities of separatists against the fatherland." r( Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: The Seeds of Revolt In his Tezpur statement, Tibet, the Dalai Lama revealed ment by the Chinese began in 1 said ""a struggle had started i assumed serious proportions in the Chinese armed forces destr Many lamas were killed and a 1 cials were taken and employed China." According to resistance ld the Chinese started at the town Lhasa. It spread in area, reac Kantzu Tibetan Autonomous Chou in June and July the fighting s All reports corroborate the fac of Litang bore the brunt of the of other towns and monasteries of New Delhi of July 1956 confi said that the fighting was then 150 miles from Lhasa. CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 ssued after his escape from that the struggle against engulf- 55. By the end of the year he the Kham Province and this 1956. In the resultant struggle yed a large number of monasteries. rge number of monks and offi- n the construction of roads in. aders, the 1956 uprising against of Dzachuka, northeast of hing northeast as far as the in Szechwan Province in May and ept westward toward Lhasa itself. t that the town and monastery Chinese attack and that a number were bombed. The Statesman rmed many of the reports and raging around Tinga, only In the intervening three years, fighting against the Chinese appears to have continued in a number of places., led principally by the Khamba tribeIsmert. On 20 March 1959, after days of rumor and apprehension, the Indian External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi confirmed reports that the Chinese Communlists had fired upon the people in Lhasa in an attempt to put down demonstrations which were described by witnesses as ?peac assembled around the Dalai Lama' prevent him from attending a cu ters because they were fearful Despite the demonstrations ment tried to maintain friendly entered into negotiations to re the people's anxiety. While th lobbed several mortar shells in Lama's palace. ful." Some .10,000 people had summer palace in order to tural show at Chinese headquar- hat some harm might befall him. , the Dalai Lama and his Govern- relations with the Chinese and tore peace in Tibet and assuage s was going on, the Chinese the direction of the Dalai The Communist Maneuver The events of March 1959 p tion of Tibetan dissidence with convert Tibet into a Communist of 1950, efforts to place Tibet and to make Tibetans embrace Co su.res on local leaders to the e ovide the most recent manifesta- Communist China's efforts to ociety. Since the occupation directly under Peking's control munism ranged from subtle pres- ployment of direct force. The Approved For Release 1999/08/24: 8 CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 record indicates that'the Communists bombed monasteries, killed monks or impressed them into labor brigades, killed women, indiscriminately shot civilian males and forcibly deported Tibetan adults as conscript labor while shipping Tibetan youths to China for "re-education." These acts display the intention to destroy all Tibetans who oppose the Communist effort. The opposition appears to include the vast majority of the people of Tibet. In view of this, there is no doubt that the Chinese Communists can be adjudged guilty of the international crime of genocide. As the world knows, from the beginning of the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, the Tibetans have fiercely resisted the occu- pation power despite the Sino-Tibetan 17-point Agreement which promised administrative autonomy to the country. Tibetan resistance to Communist China was sparked by the Communists' coordinated political and military policy aimed at the communization of Tibet. A large Communist army, probably of some 100,000 men, established garrisons near. major towns and along the borders. Airfields and strategic roads linking Tibet with China were built by gangs of Tibetans who had been forced into labor. In his interview with the press in India in April 19.59, the Dalai Lama made specific reference to the Tibetan "martyrs" who had died working on these projects. Most of the measures taken t communize the country violated the 1951 Agreement. Despite the failure of the Communists to register any success with their program of transforming Tibet into a Communist society, Tibetans came to the realization that the Communist regime threatened their religious institutions and their traditions. Monks in Forced Labor During 1957, the Communists continued their efforts at collectivization, resorting'to forced labor and campaigns to destroy religious institutions and to undermine religious leaders. During this time the Khamba rebels continued their guerrilla resistance. After anti-Communist demonstrations in Lhasa on 10 March, armed revolt broke out in the city on 19 March. The uprising of the lay people and monks was suppressed by the Communists who are reported to have bombed several important monasteries and destroyed valuable manuscripts and relics. Before the full-scale Tibetan uprising in March the esti- mate of the number of Tibetan refugees in India was 8,000. By the end of May this number had increased to 21,000. Refugees Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :I CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 reported that the Communists h nted down refugees fleeing to India, killing and wounding a treat number of them. Various items of information regarding killings, imprison- ment, deportations and acts of destruction were reported for the first three months of 1959 before the main uprising. Guer- rilla leaders reported that eight monasteries were deliberately destroyed by bombing. The eldest brother of the Dalai Lama, Thubten J. Norbu, interviewed t the University of Washington on 24 March, accused the Chine e Communists of having machine- gunned thousands of men, women and children; of destroying monasteries with populations of up to 5,000; and of slaughtering the monks. As of 4 April, according to a Tibetan wool merchant now a refugee in India, Chinese regression in the Kham Province was ruthless. Monasteries which frmer.ly had 1,000 lamas were reduced to populations of 100. The others were either executed or drafted into forced labor o collective farms. After the revolt in Lhasa, even Khambas who cooperated with the Communists were executed simply because they were Khambas. Most of the information regarding the suppression of resistance in Tibet was obtained from the border towns of Darjeeling and Kalimpong. These reports revealed that the Communists shelled many important buildings in Lhasa such as the Dalai Lama's summer palace, the offices of the Tibetan Cabinet, the medical college, the Jokhang cathedral and the Sera and Drepung monasteries. The entire population of Sera and Drepung were reportedly taken into custody for "'screening. The number of Tibetan dead in Lhasa was placed at 2,000 as of 27 March. By the end of that; month the Communist army had sealed off the Indian frontier to prevent the escape of Tibetan refugees and guerrillas. Reports at this time also stated that the Communists were shipping Tibetans from Lhasa out of the country in military trucks. Similar deportations were reported in progress at G ;antse and Shigatse. Information dated 4 April oted the indiscriminate shooting of the Khambas. Lamas reaching Mismari, India, from Dekaung on 14 May stated they had seen Communist machinegun and bombing attacks in the Lhikh area, two days' march southeast of Lhasa. They reported that thousands were attempting to flee Tibet because of the increase in Communist persecution and indoctrina- tion. In Lhasa, the people's cou into action by the middle of Ma were landowners who were being the "reactionaries." They were heavy chains on their way to t1 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: 1.0 Irts were reported to have gone Most of the "defendants" tried for collaboration with paraded through the streets in e place of execution. CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 As. of 22 May estimates of the number of Tibetans killed in Lhasa anged from 5,000 to 10,000 out of a population of some 70,000. About 5,000-10,000 ablebodied men were deportedi'some to work on the railroad from Siningfu to Lhasa. It is estimated that a total of 200,000 Tibetans had been killed by the Chinese Communists in recent years of fighting. On the basis of the foregoing examples of ruthless acts by the Communist regime against the Tibetan population over a period of some eight years, the conclusion is inescapable that there was every intention of using violence in order to imple- ment the communization of Tibet. It is equally inescapable that all these killings, arrests and deportations can only be equated to an outright charge of genocide. This has been done by the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva which on 5 June reported that Chinese Communist acts in Tibet over the past nine years constituted the "crime of genocide" in an attempt to destroy the Tibetan people. A report by this organization representing 35,000 lawyers from 53 nations said that since 1950 the Chinese Communists had killed more than 65,000 Tibetans who had opposed them. The Commission of Jurists said it would "initiate such action as envisaged by the Genocide Convention of 1948 and by the Charter of the United Nations for suppression of these acts..." The Commission's report was-prepared by Shri Purshottam Trikamdas, senior advocate of the Indian Supreme Court and former secretary to Mohandas Gandhi. Trikamdas said the report, a preliminary one, was based on two months of study of 'documents And'interviews with Tibetan refugeeo in India. The report also accused the Chinese of over-running Tibet with 500,000 Chinese immigrants with another four million to come. Control over Education A concerted effort is being made in Tibet to subvert the youth of the country through the establishment of a series of schools where they will be indoctrinated in Communism. In April 1957 Peking announced that some 70 primary schools with accommodation for 6,000 students had been established in various localities in Tibet. The intent of the program was indicated in the Lhasa news- paper Tibet Jih Pao which said on August 2 1957: Approved For Release 1999/08/24i; CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 Approved For Release 1999/08/24: "Last year a number o places in Tibet. This has development of cultural an Tibet and the training of Tibet. However, certain u dissatisfied with our open the unreasonable phenomenon appeared in certain locals from the students' parents. The true aims of the Commu by Thubten Nyenjik, Abbot of Gy on 20 July 1956. He declared: "The Chinese have set are designed solely for the of the youth of Tibet with vocational training and no pupils with their own cult fact, the Chinese are wagir all the indigenous schools, Chinese. The aim of Chines CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5 schools was opened in various a positive function in the educational undertakings in killed persons for building up per--level personages are even ng schools. At the same time of drafting people into schools ies, arousing many complaints of ist school program were stated ntse Monastery, in a statement up schools, but these schools purpose of the indoctrination Communist ideas. There is no attempt to familiarize the ral and religious heritage; in g a continuous campaign to close none of which has ever taught e education in Tibet is the production of reliable pro-Chinese Communists and this involves nothing short of the wholesale alienation of the Tibetan youth from their ova tradition and culture that) humanity and tolerance andli share to the spiritual heri. The "educational" program Tibet Jih Pao included more th cacres o Tibetan nationality, members of Tibetan nationality munist League members. At the s 6,000 members of the Patriotic more than 1,000 members of the No precise figures on the Communist China for "schooling" sands were trained and returned occupation, prepared to take ov n tradition and culture--a have been noted for their have contributed their just tage of Asia and of the world." y 15 October 1957, according to n 5,000 local revolutionary ore than 1,000 Communist Party nd more than 2,000 Young Com- ame time, there were mole than outh Cultural Association and atriotic Women's Association. umber of Tibetans taken to are available, but some thou- to Tibet with the army of r governmental positions and to administer "social reforms."! In September 1956 Chang Kuo-hua announced plans to recruit between 5,000 and 8,000 students of Tibetan nationality and "to train 10,000 people on a rotation basis." The youth of Tibet may no onger go to India or other countries for their education. The Chinese Communists have plainly embarked on a program o mass indoctrination of the youth of Tibet in a concerted e fort to make sure that all ves- tiges of the country's age-old dulture are eradicated as quickly as possible. Approved For Release 1999/08/24 :1 CIA-RDP78-02771 R000300440003-5