COLD OPEN This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum dated June eleventh, nineteen sixty‑eight, an evaluation of the proposed flight C‑108C, known as the Idealist mission, over the periphery of the Peiping, Nan Ching, and Fuchou air‑defense districts. It is notable because it provides a rare operational assessment of a covert aerial sortie planned against the People’s Republic of China during the height of the Cold War. The source is archived at the Black Vault, accessible through archive.org. PROVENANCE The document was released to the public through the Black Vault archive. The declassification authority was the Central Intelligence Agency, and the release was approved on April second, two thousand one. The full text is available at the Black Vault URL for this CIA record. THE DOCUMENT Twenty‑five X one A, twenty‑five X one A, twenty‑five X one A – dash. Approved for release. Memorandum for: Director of Special Activities. Attention: Chief, Intelligence Division. S

Mao’s Red Guard Diplomacy: 1967 is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence report dated June twenty‑first, nineteen sixty‑eight. The document is notable because it offers a contemporaneous analysis of the extraordinary and, by the agency’s own assessment, irrational diplomatic conduct of Communist China during the height of the Cultural Revolution. The report was approved for release in May two thousand seven. It was made publicly available through The Black Vault, which hosts the full text as part of its online archive of declassified U.S. government records. The declassification authority is the Director of Central Intelligence, and the release was issued under the agency’s standard classification review procedures. The document begins: “APPROVED FOR RELEASE DATE: MAY 2007 DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE Intelligence Report MAO’S RED GUARD DIPLOMACY: 1967 (Reference Title: POLO XXXI) SEGRET RSS No. 0029/68 June twenty‑first, nineteen sixty‑eight MAO’S RED GUARD DIPLOMACY:

Central Intelligence Agency intelligence information cable on the continuation of liberalism and anarchism in Sian, June twenty‑four, nineteen sixty‑eight. The cable is notable because it details the political and economic conditions in the Sian region during a period of intense factional conflict, providing insight into the challenges faced by central authorities in maintaining order and supply lines. This document was made publicly available by The Black Vault as part of its online declassification archive. The cable appears in the collection identified as CI01873 and was posted on the archive website without a specific FOIA case number. The full text can be accessed at archive dot org slash download slash us‑china‑intel‑CI01873 slash CI01873_djvu dot txt. The cable begins with a brief summary. It states that liberalism and anarchism continue to prevail in Sian, Shensi, where a serious factional clash flared on May twenty‑six in the Sian Railway Bureau. As a result, train service was

Cold open. This episode presents a Central Intelligence Agency memorandum dated June twenty‑fifth, nineteen sixty‑eight. The subject is a request to relax the three‑zero‑three Committee’s mission‑by‑mission approval restriction on the IDEALIST slash TACKLE reconnaissance program. The document is notable because it reveals internal deliberations on how weather forecasting affected U.S. intelligence collection over the Chinese mainland. Provenance. The memorandum was approved for public release on July eighth, two thousand eight, and made available through The Black Vault archive. It was declassified under the authority of the Director of Central Intelligence as part of a routine historical review of classified holdings. The full text can be accessed at archive dot org slash download slash us‑china‑intel‑CI01874 slash CI01874_djvu dot txt. The document. NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE, Washington, D.C., June twenty‑fifth, nineteen sixty‑eight. MEMORANDUM FOR: Special Assistant to the Pres

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence information cable concerning economic dislocation in Chungking following weeks of serious fighting, dated June twenty‑six, nineteen sixty‑eight. The cable is notable because it offers a contemporaneous assessment of the civilian impact of the 1968 clashes in the city. The document was made publicly available through The Black Vault, which posted the full text of the cable on its online archive of declassified records. The declassification authority is the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Information Management, and the cable bears an approved release date of May nineteen eighty‑two. It was released under the Freedom of Information Act, case number not specified, and is reproduced here in its entirety. The cable opens with a summary of the fighting and its aftermath. The serious fighting which raged in Chungking from mid‑March to early May was brought under control by the intervening forces, and the weapons previousl

Cold Open. This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence cable dated June twenty‑seventh, nineteen‑sixty‑eight, reporting on increasing civil unrest in Kwangst, Kupeh, Peking, Fuxien and Yunnan. The document is notable because it provides contemporaneous U.S. intelligence assessments of widespread armed clashes across several Chinese provinces during a period of heightened domestic turbulence. The source is available through the public archive at archive.org. Provenance. The cable was released to the public through The Black Vault, a repository of declassified government records. The release is part of a Freedom of Information Act request, and the document was made available on the archive page titled “US Intelligence on China CI01876 – Increasing Civil Unrest in Xwangsi, Hupeh, Peking, Fukien and Yunnan.” The full text can be accessed at the URL https://archive.org/download/us-china-intel-CI01876/CI01876_djvu.txt. The Document. Central Intelligence Agency. Intelligen

Today we examine a declassified Central Intelligence Agency telegram dated July eighth, nineteen sixty‑eight. The cable records a conversation between a United States senior military officer and the Taiwanese Minister of National Defense concerning the defensive posture of the offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu. It is notable because it reveals the strategic assessment of both parties regarding potential Communist Chinese actions and the United States’ willingness to avoid further conflict in Asia. The document was released to the public through The Black Vault, which publishes declassified intelligence records. It was declassified under the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Intelligence and made available on September fifteenth, twenty twenty‑one. The full text can be accessed at the URL provided in the archive entry. The telegram, marked SECRET, reads in part: “TAIPEI – ACTION – INFO: ACDA – PRIORITY – SEC RET – TAIPEI 3641. THERE FOLLOWS A SUMMARY OF ME

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency record concerning rising concern within the Republic of China over offshore islands, dated July ninth, nineteen sixty‑eight. The document appears in the public archive hosted at archive.org, and it provides a snapshot of diplomatic and military communications during a tense period in East Asian affairs. The record was released through a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the Central Intelligence Agency. The declassification authority signed the release on the date the material was posted to the public archive. The Black Vault, a repository for government documents, hosts the full text and makes it available for public download. The document reads as follows: “a SECRET 49g PAGE! @1 TAIPEI g3656 to@2102 83° ACTION SS’ 7@: INFO: CLAE! 602/070 W- Ri @910467 JUL. 68 FM! AMEMBASSY TAIPEI TO: SECSTATE WASHDC 5624 INFO: CINCPAC: GS: FE: CIR E. T:TAIPE] 3656- LIMDIS C.O:;RIR'E:C T EI Di @ O:PEY: SUBJECT: RISING GRC CONCERN OVER OFFSH

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence note dated July tenth, nineteen sixty‑eight, concerning the Republic of China’s expressed fears that the People’s Republic of China might move against the offshore islands and the Republic’s request for United States reassurances. The document was released to the public through The Black Vault, uploaded as part of a bulk declassification effort. The file appears on the archive under the identifier CI01879 and was made available without a specific FOIA case number, with the declassification authority listed as the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of History. The note, marked SECRET, NO FOREIGN DISSEMINATION, LIMITED DISTRIBUTION, reads as follows: “Department of State Director of Intelligence and Research Intelligence Note – 536 July tenth, nineteen sixty‑eight To: The Secretary Through: S/S From: INR – Thomas L. Hughes Subject: The Gimo Fears CHICOM Action Toward Offshore Islands and Wants US Reassurances The Gimo has

This is a declassified National Security Agency intelligence cable dated July 1968, reporting on tension and disruption of everyday life in Kunming, Sichuan, Nanking, and Tientsin. The document appears in the public archive of The Black Vault, a repository for government records that have been released under the Freedom of Information Act. The cable was uploaded to The Black Vault’s online collection on an unspecified date. The release is part of a broader effort to make declassified intelligence materials accessible to the public, and the document is identified in the archive by its subject rather than by any internal catalog number. The material was cleared for public release by the appropriate declassification authority within the National Security Agency. The cable begins with a heading indicating a routine intelligence case and then proceeds to a summary of conditions across four Chinese provinces. It reads: “Subject: Tension and disruption of everyday life continues in Kunming, Y