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2.
SIGILFICANT WORLD DEVELOPMENTS AFFECTING U. S. SECURITY
The Director of Central Intelligence commented briefly on
the propaganda reactions from Peiping, Moscow and North Korea, to
the U. S. announcement of its intentions to modernize U. S. forces
in South Korea.
Mr. Dulles then analyzed the increased Chinese Commnist
military activity in the Amoy-Quemoy area. In the course of their
shelling of the Nationalist-held offshore islands, the Chinese Com-
munists had apparently fired 9350 rounds in a single day recently,
the heaviest such bomberdment ever recorded and directed against
the Quemoy island group.
The President interrupted to ask whether our Government
had people on these offshore islands. Mr. Dulles replied that we
had a MAAG group, (i :iIIDlliIliiiililiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.
Secretary
Dulles, who was obviously very concerned over this increased mili-
tary activity, complained that he hadn't been able to find that
the State Department had had any report from representatives of
the Department resident in the area, with respect to the Communist
shelling of the offshore islands.
Secretary Wilson interrupted to
say he would not be in the least surprised if it had been the Nationalists who had initiated these artillery exchanges.
Secretary
Dulles went on to ask whether we did not get reports on such events,
and as to what is going on in the Quemoy area, from representatives
of the Department of Defense (1:12 1.1 iiii2
Mr. Allen Dulles expressed the view that now that the
Chinese Communists had completed their new reilroad into Amoy, they
wanted to open up the Port of Amoy to shipping.
Accordingly, they
might wish either to seize or to neutralize the small islands--
Little Quemoy, Tatan and Ehrtan--which could block entrance to the
Port of Amoy. It was suggested that the absence of official U. S.
reports on this stepped-up shelling might indicate that our people
in this area regarded the matter as no great departure from the
routine artillery exchanges between the Commmnists and the Nationalists.
Mr. Dulles went on to comment on the movement of a light
REPRODUCED AT THE DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY
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bomber group of Chinese Commnist IL-28s in the direction of the
Amoy area.
He closed his comments on the general topic of the off-
shore islands by stating that there existed no real evidence that
the Chinese Communists were about to try to seize these offshore
islands at the present time. He pointed out, however, that there
were plenty of Chinese Commnist troops in the general area :fa
decision to move were made.
Mr, Dulles next said that the Soviets had issued an an-
noucement to the press on June 2) that their big Air Show, sched-
uled for June 30 in Moscow, would not take place.
-7T-
‘The event had
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