CIA man misread reaction, sources say: [1* Edition]

The Vancouver Sun; Vancouver, B.C. [Vancouver, B.C]17 Sep 1992: A20.

Abstract

WASHINGTON - THE CIA STATION chief in China left the country two days before Chinese troops attacked demonstrators in the capital Beijing in 1989, after predicting the military would not act, U.S. officials said.

In the weeks leading up to the 1989 bloodshed, the CIA monitored the growing tension closely using its case officers, diplomats at the U.S. embassy, and a network of informers among the students who led the protest.

Full Text

WASHINGTON - THE CIA STATION chief in China left the country two days before Chinese troops attacked demonstrators in the capital Beijing in 1989, after predicting the military would not act, U.S. officials said.

China's government had declared martial law 12 days earlier and moved tens of thousands of troops to the outskirts of Beijing in preparation for removing the demonstrators from Tiananmen Square.

The Central Intelligence Agency had sources among protesters, as well as within China's intelligence services with which it enjoyed a close relationship since the 1970s, said the officials, who spoke this week on condition of anonymity.

For months before the June 3 attack on the demonstrators, the CIA had been helping student activists form the anti-government movement, providing typewriters, facsimile machines and other equipment to help them spread their message, said one official.

At the same time, U.S. intelligence services were cooperating with China throughout the world on a joint mission to stem Soviet influence. This cooperation survived even the toughest disputes between the two governments in the 1970s and 1980s, allowing the U.S. National Security Agency to maintain at least two listening posts in northwestern China to monitor Soviet communications.

In the weeks leading up to the 1989 bloodshed, the CIA monitored the growing tension closely using its case officers, diplomats at the U.S. embassy, and a network of informers among the students who led the protest.

But as the protest lost steam, the chief of the CIA station decided the threat of confrontation had been defused, said one official.

The CIA declined all comment.

1 of 2 6/28/17 10:58 AM

Find a copy

http://PY5EL8NE9M.search.serialssolutions.com/directLink?&atitle=CIA+man+misread+reaction0/02C+sources+say&author=& issn=08321299&title=The+Vancouver+Sun&volume=&issue=&date=1992-09-17&spage=A.20&id=doi:&sid=ProQ_ss& genre=article