PRESS REVEALS CHINESE COMMUNIST SECURITY BREACH; SAYS 150,000 KOREAN WAR CASUALTIES IN CENTRAL CHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700040566-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 27, 2011
• Sequence Number: 566
• Publication Date: February 25, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
CURiTF INFOHMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGEJCE AGENCY RE
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIC.:3ROADCASTS CD
Military; Political
Daily newspaper, weekly periodical
Hankow; Bong Kong
22 Oct - 27 Nov 1951
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Nnrtao n ;eY. N;noournaN or ms rou a noxwnan
DATE OF
INFORMATION
DATE DIST. A S Feb 1952
NO. OF PAGES 6
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
PRESS REVEALS CHINESE COMMUNIST SECURITY BREACH;
SAYS 150.000 KOREAN WAR CASUALTlp IN CENTRAL CHINA
/-In tl,e. Letters to the Editor Column of the Chinese Communist newspaper,
the Hankow Ch'ang-Chiang TLh-pa:) of 22 October 1951, appeared a letter severely
critici.zine the peraor;nel of the Health Section of the Public Health Department
of tho, Central and South China Military and Administrative Committee for gross
negligence iC the handling of a classified publication, Chung-n211 Wei-shen
tCentral and South China Public Health), which led to the disclosure of vital
state secret;, The letter described how the secrets were revealed and sug-
gesta.i way, of preventing further security violations. An answer to the above
letter, which appear-, to the r; November 1951 issue of the same paper, admitted
*?= violation and gave assurance that corrective measures were taken.
The pro-KM? Hong Kong Rsla-wen T'ien-ti of 27 November 1951 carried an ar-
ticle writt.:n by Yang Ch'u-~Chu (. reporting the se-called state se-
cret; which had been revealed, i.e", the capitalization of some 150,000 wounded
of the Fourth Field Army in Central and South China (only 23,662 are accounted
for in the statistical table of tee article), including hospital conditions,
statistical data, etc., of the various ho3pitals in Ch'ang-sha, Wu-ch'ang, and
Hankow.
According to an item in the Tokyo Yomiuri Shimbun (reprinted in the Hain-
wen Tien-t.i, 1,2 August 101l)? t ha Ifs it:-wen T''ien-ti, publish>_3 in Hong Kong
and Taiwan, is a Chinese EN weekly, hig.,iy regarded for its accurate reporting
by some 200,000 overseas Ci,ineac in Southeast Asia and in other countries. This
p'.Iblication, according to the Tokyo paper, has a well-organized underground
news gathering system to report Chinee~ Communist activities on the mainland.
The two letters carried in the Hankow Chang-Chian Jih-pao were exploited
in full aol are pr?=se:nte9 h-low With t Fe exception of the statistical table,
the Hong Kong Hein-wen Tien-ti article, which follws the letters, was summa- p,
rized.7
STATE NAVY
ARMY X AIR
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
FBI I
NERDENTIAL
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SCORES USE OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS AS WRAPPING PAPER -- Hankow, Ch'ang-chiang
Jih?-pao, 22 Oct 51
Today, when various agencies are diligently studying the Provisional Reg-
ulations for the Preservation of State Secrets of the Central People's Govern-
ment, the indiscriminate use of pages of a classified publication, Chung-nan
Wei-sheng, by the Health Section, Public Health Department, Central and South
China Military and Administrative Committee, as wrappers for sending medical
diagnosis records should be thoroughly investigated and corrected. On 29 Sep-
tember 1951, the Health Section sent us such a package wrapped in the pages of
the Chung-nan Wei-sheng dated 10 September 1951 and clearly stamped: "For In-
ternal Departmental Use Only -- Do Not Misplace."
Such complete carelessness in maintaining secrets reveals the political
paralysis of these men.
We suggest that the responsible officials of the Public Health Department
immediately look into the matter, correct all laxity in security, and implement
intensive security training of all personnel.
(Signed) Shan Pin-hsia ( mU )
Ch'iu Hsiao-hsing (g 4, 4 )
Water-Conse_v,,nncy Department
Central and South China
Military and Administrative Committee
ADMI'i5 LAXITY IN SECURITY CONCEPT -- Hankow, Chang-chiang Jih-pao, 5 Nov 51
Dear Editor:
In recponse to the letter of 22 October 1951, pertaining to the leakage
of classified information, we have looked into the matter and have taken the
necessary steps to correct the laxity.
The Public Health Department receivee he Chung-nan Wei-sheng from the
Medical. Ptpartment of the Fourth Field Army and the Health Section redistrib-
utes them to the subordinate offices of the Central and South China Military
and Administrative Committee. There are always extra copies which, hitherto,
we have failed to secure in accordance with proper procedures. Recently, we
used them to wrap medical diagnosis records which were distributed to the rel-
evant offices.
The causes of this security breach are principally: inadequate security
consciousness, attaching insufficient importance to security activities, and
not understanding the true meaning of security training.
We will strive to remold our thoughts, study the regulations pertaining
to the preservation of state secrets, put into practice the stipulated regula-
tions, and prevent further occurrences of such security violations. All super-
visory personnel will study, revise, and establish a clear-cut system for the
acquisition, distribution, and safekeeping of this particular publication and
of other such documents. Special personnel will be appointed who will be re-
sponsible for Implementing this system.
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This serious criticism by the comrades at the Water-Conservancy Depart-
ment has taught us a lesson and has caused us to awaken from complacency. We
are very grateful for your criticism.
(Signed) Liu Wen-heng ( 1.. )
T'an Shun-lei ( ) k )
Health Section, Public Health Departacat
central and South China
Military and Administrative Committee
LEAKAGES REVEAL HEAVY FOURTH FIELD ARMY CASUALTIES -- Hong Kong, Hsin-wen T'ien-
ti, 27 Nov 51
The Hankow Ch'ang-chiang Jih-pan, of 2_ October 1951, carried a very aston-
ishing news item, pointing out that the Health Section of the Public Health De-
partment, Central and South China Military and Administrative Committee, had
committed a number of serious security violations. The article reports that
this health section used the pages of a classified publication, Chung-nan Wei-
sheng, as wrappers to send medical diagnosis records to the subordinate offices
of the Central and South China Military and Administrative Committee, leading
to the public disclosure of state secrets. The information spread rapidly,
thereby causing an emergency situation in Chang-sha and Hankow. The leakages
of the secrets caused great concern among the Cormunist leaders because of its
possible effect on their drive to get civilians to iris the army.
The Chung-nan Wei-sherjg, a semimonthly publication of the Medical Depart-
ment of the Fourth Field Army, is circulated only to regimental and ch'u
cadres and above. It was formerly a classified Party publication.
The first violation, which led to the disclosure of the state secrets, con-
cerned an ertiele in the Chung-nan Wei-sheng of 16 September 1951 that revealed
the case of Wang Yen, a 12-year war veteran who had escaped from an army hos-
pital and had committed suicide rather than be confined in a hospital for the
insane. The article attacked the extravagant waste in the army hospitals, the
poor treatment of wounded soldiers, and corruption in the hospital staffs. It
also revealed conflict between patients and the hospital staffs, due largely to
the fact that most of the soldiers were from North China and a great deal of
misunderstanding had arisen between the two groups because of language diffi-
culties. The article criticized staff members for their preJudired nee of pen-
icillin and sulfa drugs. The charges of corruption were not spelled out, but
the article in the Chung-nan Wei-sheng called for a "struggle" against both cor-
rupticn and extravagance and appealed for better treatment of the wounded. It
pointed out the alarming need for medicine and medical materials and revealed
that 150,000 war casualties of the Fourth Fie". Army in Korea, under Lin Piao,
are now hospitalized in the Central and South China area.
The second violation, which led to the disclosure of the state secrets con-
cerned an article published in the Chung-nan Wei-sheng of 16 October 1951 that
revealed data on the number of wounded soldiers hospitalize, in Hankow, Chang-
sha, and Wu-ch'ang. Although the article stated that there were 23,400 wounded
soldiers confined in Ch'ang-sha, the statistical table contained therein, and
attached below, lists only 10,350 wounded soldiers hospitalized in Ch'ang-sha
rear-area hospitcis controlled by the Central and South China Military District.
The remaining 13,050 wounded soldiery must, therefore, be hospitalized in the
rear-area hospitals under the control of the medical units of the Fourth Field
Army. The Chung-nan Wei-sheng article stated that there were 39,0)0 wounded
soldiers in Wu-ch'ang and Hankow rear-area hospitals which are controlled by
the Central and South Military District, but the table shows only 13,112.
-1 L
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She total for the Central and South China area here i3 23,462, but 23,662 in
the attached.table_7 It must be assumed that the remainder are also placed in
the rear-area hospitals controlled by the Fourth Field Army's medical units.
This article further disclosed that the wounded soldiers are strictly con-
fined to the hospitals and are not permitted to visit the cities except under
unusual circumstances. When they are allowed to visit the neighboring cities,
they wear civilian clothes and are under surveillance by "leaders" who see that
they do not fraternize with the civilians. The article also stated that the
army transports all the wounded soldiers to the hospitals late at night to
avoid being seen by the public; that the wounded soldiers required more politi-
cal training; and that the hospital staff should be more patient and understand-
ing.
The Letters to the Editor Column of the Wuhan jic7 Chang-chiang Jih-pao
of 5 November 1951 contained a letter written in answer to the one which criti-
cized the Health Section, Public Health Department, for laxity of security which
led to disclosure of state secrets. Except for the ommission of the third and
fourth paragraphs, the above-mentioned letter is the same as the one carried in
the Hankow Chang-chiang Jih-pao of 5 November 1951_7
The statistical table, contained in the Chung-nan Wei-sheng of 16 October
1951, is as follows:
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for
Table Showing Temporary Military Rear-Area Hospitals
in Han'cow, Wu-ch'ang, and Chang-sha Controlled by Public Health
Department, Central and South China Military District (As of 29 September 1951)
a'
O
4,
w-~
ci
to
W ~I
4,
a
0
a
0 S..
x ' 00 0
m
o
o a
~
roy
e q
a
0
0
m +'
O d
v
0e.
00
m 1
0
w
0 0
z0
No 8 Chang Ta-chun 47 106 1 Jul 51 1,200 2,000 3,000 2,000
( K4 )
No 9
Chien Chih-
ch'ao
' 4, 1 )
No 10
Chan
(A-
g Ser"
A- )
No 11
Wang
Ju_
(
)
No 12
(1"11 Yun-ch'ing
011 ;1 )
No 13
Hsiang Pin
((% #3 )
No
Hsiao Chen-hua
(
j,~)
No 15
Li Yung-t'ai
(
)
No 1(
Wang Hsiang-
:;heng
(L">-, )
No 17
Liu Ta-wei
($') K 4 )
No 18
Aa Ch-eng-hsiang
('~
.. ft )
No 19
Huang Ta-min
(A .L )
No 20
Li lea-pin
No 22
Chang Te-ming
Total
M
N i,
0
4,
() to
~? m
11+ 95 1 Jul 51 800 1,500 3,000 1,496
29 60 Dec 50 480 1,200 2:000 1,200
25 51 Dec 50 320 800 1,000 900
1? 25 Dec 49 100 300 500 2,316
72 145 1 Sep 51 1,700 4,000 6,000 4,000
25 50 Dec 49 450 1,000 1,500 1,000
38 55 Jan 50 500 1,200 1,800 1,200
50 91s 1 Aug 51 800 2,000 3,000 2,000
86 150 Oct 50 1,400 3,500 5,000 3,500
35 (1c Oct 50 500 1,300 2,800 1,300
12 25 Jun 50 -- '00 1,800 400
31 55 Oct 50 500 1,200 1,500 1,200
20 33 Jan 50 -- 750 2,000 750
527 993 3,750 21,150 34,900 23,662
-5-
CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
NOTE: Middle and vocational schools now currently in use in Ch'ang-eha
are being used as hospitals to accommodate the wounded soldiers.
The former names of the rear-area hospitals listed above are as follows:
Present
Designation Former Name
No 8 St Joseph Hospital (American Catholic
owned)
No 9 Tung-chi Hospital W ,
No 10 T'ung-Jan Hospitaj,
No 11 Hupeh Provincial Hospital
No 12 Fu-ju Medical Center
No 13 Tien-chu-t'ang (French owned)
No 14 Hankow City Hospital
No 15 Hunan Provincial Hospital
No 16 T'ien-chu-t'ang Hospital
No 17 Hsiang-ya Hospital
No 18 Jen-ehu Hospital
No 19 Fu-hsiang Girls' Middle School,
Ya-li Middle School, and a
mental hospital
No 20 Po-Jan Hospital
No 22 Yun-lu Middle School, used as a
Tuberculosis Hospital, later
used by the military
COONFIDEN.iirtl.
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Ch'ang-sha
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