CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00975A001700380001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 12, 2003
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 28, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

fuse 20949 1 & AR P]P9T0
28 September 1954
Copy No, so
CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN
PK) CHANGE IN CLASS
DECLASSIFIED
(:,,ASS. CHANGED TO: TS S C
I: x f- REVIEW DATE:
AUTH: HR 70.2
DATE: 7 TM%O REv1E,WER:
Office of Current Intelligence
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
State Department review completed
25X9
25X1
7
25X1
25X1
 25X1A
25X1
Approved Fo lease 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP79T0097 001700380001-1
SUMMARY
FAR EAST
1... South Korea sharply curtails currency advances to UN
Command (page 3).
2. Comment on election of Chinese Communist leaders (page 3).
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
4.. Arabs increasingly see need for peace with .Israel (page 5).
5. Comment on the Syrian elections (page 6).
WESTERN EUROPE
Mendes-France launches anti-American press campaign.(page 6).
25X1
LATE ITEM
8. Comment on Pakistani government situation (page 8).
28 Sept 54 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN page 2
25X1A
25X1A
Approved For Release 2 00380001-1
 25X1A
Approved Fo lease 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP79T00975
FAR EAST
25X1A
1. South Korea sharply curtails currency advances to UN Command:
The Bank of Korea recently approved the
advance of only 100, 000, 000 hwan to the
deposit account of the United Nations
Command, in response to a request for
over one billion, according to the American embassy in Seoul.
The requested funds represented a six-week requirement for the
command.
Comment: The action violates a July
1950 agreement between the Unite States and South Korea pro-
viding that South Korea should furnish requested currency and
credits to the UN Command for expenditures arising out of opera-
tions within Korea.
The South Korean finance minister in-
formed the UN commander on 16 September that after 1 October
no further hwan advances to American forces would be made ex-
cept on concurrent payment in dollars at the unrealistic rate of
180-1. This action, plus the curtailment of hwan advances, ap-
pears designed to strengthen Rhee's hand in negotiations now
under way with American authorities in Seoul on revision of the
exchange rate and settlement of hwan drawings. The United
States has made South Korea's acceptance of a realistic exchange
rate one of the prerequisites for future American aid.
25X1A
2. Comment on election of Chinese Communist leaders:
The 1,210 delegates to the Chinese
Communist National People's Congress
meeting in Peiping on 27 September
elected to the four top posts in the government the four party
leaders who were expected to get them.
Mao Tse-tung, 60, chairman of the
regime for four more years, will. almost certainly continue to
dominate the party and government, although his scope of activ-
ity may be reduced by ill-health. Chu Teh, 68, commander in
28 Sept 54 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 3
Approved For X1 - A0Q1700380001-1
 25X1A
25X1
Approved Fo,Velease 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP79T00973MC001700380001-1
chief of the armed forces and now the sole vice chairman of the
regime, will be Mao's formal successor in the event of the latter's
death or serious illness. Chu, it is believed, will have little real
power. The election of Liu Shao-chi, 54, as chairman of the pow-
erful.Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,. con-
firms that he holds a position second only to Mao. Chou En-tai,
56, will continue as premier, but under the new constitution will
have somewhat broader powers than he has had to date.
Selection of the 13 vice chairmen of the
Standing Committee shows a continued emphasis on the fiction of
the "united front" and participation by minority nationalities. The
seven vice chairmen of the corresponding organization under the
.former system have been.returned to office, with the exception of
Chu Teh and Kao Kang. Kao, a politburo member and long the
regime's leader in the Northeast (Manchuria), has been out of the
news since January 1954, was not mentioned during the current
congress, and appears definitely to be out of favor.
28 Sept 54 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 4
Approved For Relea 2
- 01700380001-1
T
25X1A
 Approved For Release 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO01700380001-1
25X1
NEAR EAST - AFRICA
25X1A
Arabs increasingly see need for peace with Israel:
Ambassador Mallory in Amman.. He reports that many private
conversations have indicated- this change and that public Arab re-
action to the recent British suggestion for peace talks has been
less violent than would have been true six months ago.
Mallory points out, however, that the
key to any peace talks is the Israeli attitude and foreign policy.
He warns that unless Israel shows some restraint in return for
the prospect of a peace settlement, it would be "useless for the
major powers to keep devising gimmicks and approaches" to the
problem.
Responsible leaders in Jordan and other
nearby .Arab states are showing increas-
ing realization that some settlement with
Israel should be made, according to
Comment: Despite Israel's public
overtures this week to the Ara states, the Israelis do not ap-
pear willing to initiate a restrained border policy to the extent
necessary for obtaining Arab agreement for peace negotiations.
28 Sept 54 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN page 5
25X1A
Approved For R - 001700380001-1
 25X1A
Approved Fo elease 2004/01/16: CIA-RDP79T0097 001700380001-1
25X1A
5. Comment on the Syrian elections:
Returns from the Syrian elections
received thus far indicate that Syria
will have a civilian, conservative, pro-
Western government.
A large.bloc of independents led by
former prime minister Khalid al Azm is running well ahead of
ex-president Shukri Quwatli's Nationalist Party. Conservatives
are being returned in large numbers, although the election of
two Communists and several other radicals indicates increased
leftist strength. The very fact that the elections were held--after
several postponements and despite considerable violence--lays
to rest at least temporarily the threat of an open return to power
of the military.
By his election Khalid Bakdash, the
leading Communist in the Arab world, acquires considerable
public stature throughout the area, His presence in parliament
will add weight to the anti-Westernism in Syria.
25X1A
WESTERN EUROPE
25X1A
6. Mendes-France launches anti-American press campaign:
overthrow his government. Ambassador Dillon in Paris comments
that this campaign is in preparation for the difficulties the premier
will face when parliament reconvenes. Mendes-]'ranee is seek-
ing to rally national feeling to his side as successfully as he did
after the Brussels conference.
Premier Mendes- France has launched a
press campaign claiming that the Ameri-
can government and particularly Secre-
tary of State Dulles are attempting to
28 Sept 54 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 6
25X6
Approved For Ft1&5`e 2004/01/16: CIA-RDP79T00975A001700380001-1
 25X1A
Approved Fo elease 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP79T0097' 001700380001-1
25X1
The semiofficial- French Press Agency
is being reorganized, reportedly to reflect a progovernment
orientation. The reported director-designate is Jean Marin, a
conservative Gaullist and pro-American but also a close friend
of Interior Minister Mitterrand, who is now under fire for alleged
Communist sympathies.
28 Sept 54 CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN Page 7
Approved For Release M/16 m - A001700380001-1
 25X6 Approved For Release 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO01700380001-1
Approved For Release 2004/01/16 : CIA-RDP79T00975AO01700380001-1