269. Memorandum From Alfred Jenkins of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow)1
Washington, June 9, 1967.
SUBJECT
- The Cultural Revolution
Recent Developments:
- 1.
- The Army’s influence has grown rapidly. In an increasing list of areas Army control has become evident in public security work, press and radio, basic community services, and in the organization of both agricultural and industrial production.
- 2.
- The extension of Army control has been generally unpopular, especially with “revolutionary rebels” whom the Army has frequently suppressed, but also with the average citizen.
- 3.
- Despite increased Army control, public order has suffered further setbacks during the past week. Sufficient trouble has broken out both north of Shanghai and south of that city to cause transportation difficulties. Letter intercepts speak of growing lawlessness.
- 4.
- A thinly veiled, sharp personal attack on Mao, recently published in a North Vietnamese Party journal, suggests the probability of new friction between Peking and Hanoi. Even if the Vietnamese were severely provoked by some recent Chinese action, this article is still a remarkable affront coming from a small nation so dependent upon Chinese largesse. It is also another index of the low state of Mao’s prestige out of the country.
The course of the Cultural Revolution has made attempted time tables hazardous. However, it seems to me there are a number of indicators which point to a likely crucial stage within a very few months. It is possible that by September there will have been fairly significant developments. As of now, the fortunes of Maoism continue slowly to sink.
Al Jenkins
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, China, Vol. IX. Secret. A copy was sent to Jorden. Rostow sent the memorandum to the President on June 9 with a covering note stating that it suggested “friction between Peiping and Hanoi, which might conceivably help set the stage for a negotiation.”↩