This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum dated June eighteenth, nineteen seventy, concerning an assessment of a new Chinese strategic missile launch site. It appears in the agency’s intelligence on China series and is notable for its early analysis of Chinese surface‑to‑surface missile deployment and for highlighting discrepancies in earlier assessments. The memorandum was released to the public through The Black Vault on February twelfth, two thousand four. It was made available under a Freedom of Information Act request and declassified by the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Intelligence. The document is hosted at the Black Vault archive and can be accessed via its permanent URL. Memorandum for Director of Strategic Research. Subject: IAS Comment on SR IM seventy‑twenty, “The New Chinese Strategic Missile Launch Site—An Initial Assessment.” I have read your recent memorandum on the Wu‑chai site and found it of value and generally consistent with the

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum, dated July ninth, nineteen seventy, evaluating a Chinese Communist attempt to intercept a United States reconnaissance aircraft. The memorandum was sent from the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry A. Kissinger, to President Richard Nixon, and it reflects the heightened sensitivity of U.S.–China relations at that moment. It is notable because it documents a rare instance of direct Chinese military action against a U.S. aircraft and the strategic assessment that followed. The document was released to the public through The Black Vault, with the full text available from the Internet Archive. The record was declassified by the Central Intelligence Agency under Top Secret Umbra authority and is cataloged on the archive site as a text file. The release date is not specified in the source, but the file can be accessed at archive.org under the URL for the CI01962 collection. Memorandum From the President’s A

Communist China’s strategic weapons program – a Central Intelligence Agency National Intelligence Estimate, August twentieth, nineteen seventy. This document is notable because it records the first Chinese earth‑satellite launch and provides the earliest open‑source analysis of missile facilities that suggested a shift from medium‑range to intermediate‑range capability. The text was released to the public through The Black Vault, which hosts a digitized copy of the CIA file. The declassification was authorized by the CIA’s Office of Information Management, and the material was made available on the archive’s website without a FOIA case number attached. The estimate opens with a brief overview. It notes that since the publication of NIE thirteen‑eight slash one‑sixty‑nine, the Chinese have launched their first earth satellite, have continued firings of a medium‑range ballistic missile, and appear to be advancing a missile system with intermediate‑range ballistic missile potential. The d

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum dated September twenty‑third, nineteen seventy, concerning the requirement for missile search of China. It is notable because it marks the transition from a rail‑based search strategy to a photographic analysis program that divided the entire country into twenty‑six geographic areas. The memorandum was released to the public through The Black Vault, posted online as part of the agency’s declassification program. The document is available at the Black Vault URL archive dot org slash download slash us‑china‑intel‑C‑I‑01964 slash C‑I‑01964_djvu dot txt. The release date is recorded as the date of posting on that site, and the declassification authority is the Central Intelligence Agency’s internal review board. The document reads as follows: “ZoX° – two, approved for release December nineteenth, two thousand three. Central Intelligence Agency, reference D‑R‑78‑B‑057‑03. September twenty‑third, nineteen seventy. Memorandum for:

This is a declassified Central Intelligence Agency intelligence report concerning the Cultural Revolution and the new political system in China, dated October thirtieth, nineteen seventy. It is notable because it offers a contemporary U.S. analysis of Mao Tse‑tung’s attempts to reshape the Chinese Communist Party during a period of intense internal upheaval. The source is archived at theblackvault.com. The document was released in May twenty‑zero‑seven under Executive Order one two nine five eight, classification exemption three point three, paragraph one, for records older than twenty‑five years. The declassification authority was the Director of Central Intelligence, and the release was made available through the public archive of the Black Vault. The report begins with an approval for release notice: “SECRET. DATE: MAY 2007. EO 12958 3.3(b) (1) > 25 years. BO 12958 6.2(c).” It then identifies the issuing office as the Directorate of Intelligence, and the classification reference as

COMMUNIST CHINA'S INTERNATIONAL POSTURE – NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE, NOVEMBER TWELVE, NINETEEN SEVENTY. This declassified Central Intelligence Agency assessment was prepared for senior policymakers during a period of shifting diplomatic activity in East Asia. It appears in the public archive of United States intelligence documents. The record was released through a Freedom of Information Act request, identified in the Black Vault as document CI01966. The declassification authority was the Director of Central Intelligence, and the material was made publicly available on the Internet archive on May ninth, twenty twenty‑two. The following is the text of the estimate as it appears in the original file. The document begins with an approval notice and a list of contributing agencies, then proceeds to a brief overview and a series of conclusions labeled A through G. “APPROVED FOR RELEASE. DATE: MAY S009. NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE NUMBER 13‑7‑70. COMMUNIST CHINA’S INTERNATIONAL POSTU

The record before us is a Central Intelligence Agency intelligence report on Lin Piao and the structure of power in the People’s Republic of China, dated December nineteen seventy. It is notable because it offers a contemporary U.S. assessment of the senior Chinese leader’s position within the Communist Party and the military during the Cultural Revolution, and it was declassified in the early twenty‑first century. This document was released under the Freedom of Information Act, case number undisclosed, with an approval for release dated May two thousand seven, in accordance with Executive Order one two nine five eight, paragraph three point three, subsection one, and paragraph six point two, subsection c. The declassification authority was the Director of Central Intelligence, and the full text is available through the Black Vault archive at archive dot org slash download slash us‑china‑intel‑CI01967 slash CI01967_djvu dot txt. The report opens with a warning that the document “defend

Possible Missile Impact Area in Western China – U.S. Intelligence Memorandum, December fourteen, nineteen seventy. This declassified National Security Agency record is notable because it documents an early U.S. assessment of three crater‑like features and associated instrumentation sites that were interpreted as possible missile impact locations in the Takla Makan desert of western China. The record is hosted at the Black Vault archive. The memorandum was released to the public through a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the Central Intelligence Agency. The declassification review was completed by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and the Department of Defense Executive Director, and the document was approved for release on March twenty‑six, two thousand four. The Black Vault entry for this record can be found at archive dot org slash download slash us‑china‑intel‑CI01968 slash CI01968_djvu.txt. Approved fourteen December nineteen seventy. Memorandum for: Deputy Direc

The declassified Central Intelligence Agency memorandum titled “TAGBOARD Mission Resume” records a drone reconnaissance operation conducted on December seventeenth, nineteen seventy over South China. It is notable because it details the launch, flight, and recovery attempt of the D‑21 TAGBOARD drone, and it provides the first official account of the mission’s outcome. The record is hosted on The Black Vault archive. This memorandum was released to the public through The Black Vault website. The document was uploaded as part of a broader declassification effort by the Central Intelligence Agency, with the declassification authority listed as the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence. The release date is reflected in the archive entry, and the material is available for public download. The memorandum reads as follows: “MEMORANDUM FOR THE HOLDERS OF SPECIAL OVERVIEW SUPPLEMENT Subject: TAGBOARD Mission Resume The D‑21 (TAGBOARD) drone reconnaissance mission scheduled for December 1970 was exe

Command History, 1971, Volume One, Section IV – Reconnaissance, a declassified Central Intelligence Agency record concerning United States Pacific Command intelligence activities in the early 1970s. The document is notable because it details operational adjustments to aerial reconnaissance over the China coastline and policy decisions on reconnaissance escort, high‑altitude drone use, and intelligence collection in Korea. The record was released through The Black Vault, uploaded on the archive.org site under the identifier CI01970. The declassification notice in the document states it was declassified on July twenty‑second, nineteen seventy by authority SEC 3.1 6.0 12958. No foreign‑national release was authorized. The source is the original CIA command history file, now publicly accessible at the Black Vault URL. Section IV begins with a summary of Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance Program, abbreviated PARPRO. In 1971 the program continued, but cutbacks were imposed. In March, the comma