PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF SITUATION SUMMARY ON DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH VIETNAM AND ADJACENT AREAS OF CHINA AS OF 27 DECEMBER 1962.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89B00569R000200080018-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 26, 2002
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: December 29, 1962
• Content Type: MF

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29 December 1962
SC-11187/62
N~MORANDU~d FUR: The Director of Central Intelligence
ATTENTION
SUBJECT
Preliminary Evaluation of Situation
Summary on Developments in North Viet-
nam and Adajacent areas of China as of
2? December 1962.
25X1A
1. The information contained in this situation sum-
mary disclosed a large military installation at Ssumao
located about 50 miles northwest of the Laos border. Over
700 barracks, storage buildings and miscellaneous facili-
ties were noted. The breakdown of barracks and storage
buildings was not indicated in the original report .but
the field has been queried for a more definitive inter-
pretation of this installation. On the basis of what
is now available it appears to be one of the largest
concentrations of military buildings in one location
ever noted in this type of information. If only half of
the buildings noted--350--are barracks of the normal size
40 by 100 feet) they could conservatively house 35,000
troops. This would be over two full strength divisions
or three understrength divisions. At the present time
we credit one division--the 39th, subordinate to the
13th Army--at Ssumao.
2. Other relatively large military installations
were reported at Mengla where 110 billets were noted
and at Fohai north of the Burma border where about 200
barracks were reported. These large garrison areas in-
dicate that the Chinese are preparing to station large
numbers of troops along the Burma/Laotian border areas.
Within the entire Kunming Military Region there are be-
lieved to be about 150,000 troops subordinate for the
most part to the 13th and 14th Armies. The number of
buildings reported at Ssumao, ~engla, and Fohai could
accomodate more than half the total strength in the
Kunming MI~ if they are standard size Chinese Communist
barracks. While there is no indication of an imminent
threat to Southeast Asia, these large installations
should be considered a potential threat of possible
Chinese Communist action against Southeast Asia.
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25X1 C
Mengtzu was reported. in this situation summary. Ap-
parently it has not been activated and remains in es-
sentially the same condition as when observed in March.
4. The information reported on North Vietnam pro-
vided little of immediate value and nothing of unusual
significance.
25X1A
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