THE NORTH VIETNAMESE CRISIS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01762A000800050015-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2006
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: August 11, 1964
• Content Type: MEMO

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Information as of 1300
1) AU.GUIST 1964
PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
FURTHER DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION
CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT AUTHORIZED
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11 August 1964
I. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
A. North Vietnamese Military Activity
B. Chinese Communist Military Activity
C. Soviet Union
II. OTHER COMMUNIST REACTIONS
A. North Vietnam
B. Communist China
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11 August 1964
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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There are currently 176 MIG jet
fighters and 20 IL-28 (Beagle) jet light bombers
in areas of China contiguous to North Vietnam.
I lThe 6 August report 25X1
of the presence of Chinese troops in
North Vietnam is still unconfirmed. 25X1
fleet areas are continuing routine patrol and coastal
survey activities. There are no indications that
any 'interfleet movements southward are imminent or
under way.
4 Chinese naval forces in all three
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1. Hanoi propaganda is making a concerted
effort to portray the 2-5 August incidents as great
victories for North Vietnam. No mention of North
Vietnamese losses has been printed while extensive
coverage has been given to the shootdown of the US
aircraft and to the capture of one US'.pilota The re-
gime is evidently anxious to cover up its failures
in order to avoid undercutting the morale of the
North Vietnamese people and especially of the Viet
Cong.
2. A North Vietnamese National Assembly
Standing Committee resolution issued on 11 August
praised the "valiant fight" of the Vietnamese Army
and people,' "particularly the antiaircraft and
naval forces," and boasted of the "brilliant suc-
cesses on 2 and 5 August."
3. The official Viet Cong reaction has
been one of bold defiance toward the US. Hanoi
radio:on 10 August broadcast a Liberation Front
statement asserting that the US "aggression" against
North Vietnam "can only fan up the indignation
and determination to fight and win" on the part
of the "South Vietnamese people." The statement
claimed that the "South Vietnamese people" will
defeat their enemy despite the fact that the US
"will send more troops and war material to South
Vietnam..'"
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6. North Korean Premier Kim Il-sung, how-
ever, has cancelled plans to attend Indonesian in-
dependence celebrations on 17 August. Kim's trip,
which would have been his first outside the bloc,
was called off "in view of various matters currently
facing the DPRK," according to an Indonesian radio
announcement on 11 August. The North Korean de-
cision apparently reflects Pyongyang's uncertainty
concerning future developments in Southeast Asia.
North Korean Army, naval, and air units have been
placed on alert status because of the crisis.
B. Communist China
1. Chinese Communist propaganda attacks
on the US continue'to'mount in an effort.td keep-
domestic ahd international attentionifbcused on
the crisis. An analysis in People's Daily on 11
August concentrates on refuting American accounts
of the second North Vietnamese attack against US
warships--which the Chinese call a "barefaced lie
with many loopholes" designed to justify "expand-
ing the war." The article cites stories in Le
Monde and the British Yorkshire Post to support
tear contention and quotes s ectively from the
American press to pick holes in the US case.
2. Stage managed "popular" demonstra-
tions are now going on in all major Chinese cities.
According to .Peiping..broadcast? 17 million people
have so far taken part in parades and rallies to
demonstrate their support for North Vietnam. Such
public citcuses, designed as much for their impact
outside China as for their effect on the popular
tion, are a standard response to crisis situations
involving the US anywhere in the world.
3. For example, Peiping claimed that 16
million people participated in demonstrations con-
nected with the Panama incident last January. When
China is directly involved, efforts to stir up popu-
lar "enthusiasm" are vastly greater. During the
three-.month Taiwan Straits crisis of 1958 more than
300 million Chinese were alleged to have "opposed
America" by demonstrating in the streets.
4. The Chinese continue toattack Soviet
conduct in this crisis and on 10 August broadcast
an article from a'ileft-wing Cambodian paper.' enL.
titled "Soviet Paper Tiger." Peiping's version of
the Cambodian story refers to Soviet "indifference"
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to the plight of another socialist state. They
claim that the "excessive prudence" of the So-
viet UN resolution had "'shocked all observers"
and asserted that capitulation by Moscow had re-
moved all restraints from the US and "mortgaged
the struggle of neutralist countries against
imperialism."
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