Documents / FOIA release

(EST Pub Date) Science and Technology in Communist CHINA Through 1970

Central Intelligence Agency · 1965-06-01 · 95 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Central Intelligence Agency release is a Scientific Intelligence Study, TCS No. 4425/65. The Scientific Intelligence Committee prepared it with other intelligence community committees and approved it on 3 June 1965. It assesses Communist China's capabilities in science and technology through 1970, with particular attention to military and industrial programs. The study concludes that China will lag far behind advanced nations. The exceptions are a few priority areas such as nuclear weapons, missiles and air defense. It contains no discussion of UFOs.

  • p. 5 …Hence, the Scientific Intelligence Committee has undertaken this study to provide the intelligence com- munity with…
  • p. 10 …China will continue to lag far behind the more advanced nations of the world in the…
  • p. 12 …from the present through 1970, China will remain far behind the world’s more advanced nations…
  • p. 13 …Much good work in analytical chemistry is conducted by the Chinese, particularly on the methods of…
  • p. 14 …The most im- portant advancement in agricultural research has been in crop breeding. New native strains…
  • p. 17 …with advances in products, equipment, and production techniques. In more complex fields—for example, the priority…
  • p. 18 …In a few fields, especially those related to the advanced weapons program, a high priority in…
  • p. 19 …China is now taking steps to establish rela- tions with advanced countries of the non-Commu…
  • p. 20 …levels in the common disciplines of science and to concentrate on advancement in the follow- ing…
  • p. 24 …Research and de- velopment have continued to expand since 1960, especially in the expensive advanced weapons…
  • p. 28 …the last 10 years. Other new leaders will come from more formal programs for advanced training…
  • p. 29 …Sophisti- cated apparatus of the kind expected to be used in the research laboratories of advanced…
  • p. 32 …techniques and methods, and deficiencies in the amounts of advanced mate- rials, equipment, and facilities. Nevertheless…
  • p. 33 …The most advanced high-speed digital com- puter in China, the 16-K, is somewhat inferior…
  • p. 41 …capabilities lower than in advanced countries. Minimum operational requirements of the armed forces, industry, and agriculture…
  • p. 42 …By 1970, China will be only slightly nearer the level of advanced countries in meteorology. 148…
  • p. 45 …the situation during the period of this estimate, but by 1973-75 they should advance the…
  • p. 46 …Considerable advances have been made by the Chinese in the field of antibiotic research, but they…
  • p. 53 …This research, how- ever, has not yet reached the advanced scientific stage of that in many…
  • p. 62 _.-¢a_.- resistant materials imposed by advanced military and civilian requirements, the Chinese increased substantially the electric…
  • p. 66 …oriented toward the development of advanced weaponry and toward the production of advanced weapons on a…
  • p. 67 …The Chinese now are de- pendent on foreign sources for some advanced equipment and for designs…
  • p. 68 …However, advanced tech- nology is not needed to get most of the jobs done. The Chinese…
  • p. 78 …of the Shanghai-class, which do not represent any radical advances in design. The Shanghai-class…
  • p. 86 …These equipments, how- ever, probably will not be as sophisticated as those of the more advanced…
  • p. 87 …coMMUmcA'r1oNs—China places heavy reli- ance on imports from the more advanced countries for its…
Approved for Release: 2018/01/30 C00659420
TCS 4425/65 "|‘C‘P-5'E€-R-E-T-
probably continue in connection with certain trade
items that call for technical services, but the nature
of them, if any, is not known.
52. Relations with Eastern European countries
have been similar to those with the Soviet Union
but on a considerably smaller scale. Formal rela-
tionships covered by scientific and technical agree-
ments are being maintained, although the substan-
tive content is believed to have diminished mark-
edly in the last few years.
53. China is now taking steps to establish rela-
tions with advanced countries of the non-Commu-
nist world as a substitute for the valuable relations
formerly enjoyed with the Soviet Bloc. The inter-
national political environment combined with
China’s own hesitancy to open her doors to for-
eigners has retarded the growth of these relations.
China, however, has moved gingerly along the
usual avenues of access to foreign scientific knowl-
edge, materials, and assistance.
s tor the n1r1ng_ot non-B100 scientists to do re-
search, consult, or teach for extended periods in
China, none are known to have been hired, al-
though official overtures to do so have been voiced
in some japanese scientific circles. There are nu-
merous instances, however, of Western scientists
being invited to China for consultation and lecture
tours of a few weeks duration. Attendance at
international scientific meetings commenced to be
an important type of contact with non-Bloc science
during 1963, but the “two-Chinas problem” keeps
Communist China out of any organization in which
the Republic of China is a member. Communist
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China adheres to none of the bodies under the
International Council of Scientific Unions except
the History of Science Section of the Union of the
History and Philosophy of Science. Contacts have
been established between the Chinese Academy of
Sciences and the British Royal Society and the
Australian Academy of Science. Expansion of
such relations is expected.
55. In the less-developed countries, China uses
science and technology to promote her interests.
The example of China’s scientific progress is used
as a foundation for influential relations. Under
cover of scientific and technical assistance, Chinese
geologists, civil engineers, and-others are able to
explore and map foreign countries. China’s biggest
effort in the use of science to influence foreign
countries was the convocation of the Peiping Sci-
ence Symposium in August 1964. It was attended
by individuals from 41 countries of Asia, Africa,
South America, and Oceania (New Zealand and
Australia). The main purpose was clearly politi-
cal. By means of the Symposium and the perma-(b)(1)
nent liaison office established by the Chinese in
connection with it, China intends to develop Pei-
ping as a science center and to use science as one
of the bonds in welding together an Afro-Asian
Bloc under China’s domination.
56. Other efforts have included a few Chinese
touring delegations, attendance at science confer-
ences in Asia and Africa, and. special training of
foreigners in China. Scientific and technical coop-
eration agreements, similar to those signed during
the l950’s with Soviet Bloc countries, are appear-
ing. Cooperation documents have been signed by
China during 1965 with Indonesia, Cambodia, and
the United Arab Republic, during 1964 with Al-
geria, and in 1960 with Cuba. China's use of sci-
ence and technology as a vehicle for penetration
and influence in Afro-Asian countries is expected
to expand steadily in the next few years. _
for Release: 2018/01/30 C00659420
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 95 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.