Chinese Defector In Custody In U.S.

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31906, 6 February 1969, Page 11

Chinese Defector In Custody In U.S.

(N .Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) WASHINGTON, February 5. A Chinese defector, Liao Ho-shu, faces a lonely, shadowy existence as United States counter-espionage agents begin debriefing this highest-ranking Peking Communist to seek American asylum.

Liao, aged 46, Peking’s senior diplomat in the Netherlands until 11 days ago, is under day-and-night guard at a secret location. He will probably stay incommunicado, under steady questioning, for at least six months.

United States diplomats believe he may be the most important Chinese intelligence agent to defect to the West since the Communists seized power in Peking in 1948. They think he may have deep knowledge of China's expanding spy network in Western Europe. Like many Communist defectors since World War 11, nothing more may be heard of Liao for years. Eventually, he may appear under a cover name, running a restaurant or teaching at an obscure American university. Presence Confirmed His presence in the United States was confirmed in Washington yesterday by the State Department, which said only that the Government was considering his plea for political asylum. Liao is regarded as a major catch by the Central In. telligence Agency because of his work in the Netherlands. Chinese operations have built up steadily at The Hague, and Western experts think the Dutch capital has replaced Berne, Switzerland, as Peking's ideological and espionage base in Europe. Because of his potential importance as a source for information. Liao is expected to get more than the usual debriefing treatment from the C.I.A. Under normal circumstances, depending on the defector's background, this can last from a few weeks up to a year. Many Communist defectors, especially professional espionage agents, remain as permanent C.I.A. employees, sifting and analysing data from their own countries. They earn about $14,000 a year. The life they lead is restrictive with few opportunities to mingle with ordinary Ameri-

cans, generally confined to I “emigre colonies” run by the' C.I.A. Several hundred defectors, mostly from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, are now' in the United States. Many; were minor functionaries with little intelligence knowledge to divulge, and most cases were unpublicised. Those in the top bracket, the espionage professionals, are under constant surveillance. Their first weeks in the United States are spent in the sole company of American agents, usually in C.1.A.owned debriefing 1 “ >es in the Washington suburbs or in small towns in the Mid-West. They are rarely allowed to move freely ....til after eight months have passed. Russian’s View

A Soviet defector, now living under an assumed identity, described the experience as gruesome. Whether a defector ever assimilates completely depends on his adaptability, his mastery of the English language and his ability to overcome his “fear complex.”

According to an official who advises the C.I.A. on handling of defectors, an escaper presents the Government vith a “unique intelligence challenge, as well as a protection problem.” During his first weeks in the United States, he must expect to be “pumped for hours on end by the best people the C.I.A. can find.” Unless offered a regular job with the C.l.A.—depending on his long-term usefulness—he may be helped discreetly to find a position at a university, or given funds to set himself up in business. Both Stanford University, at Palo Alto. California, and the University of California, at Berkeley, have Chinese emigres on their teaching staffs.

Whether Liao gets permanent police protection depends on the risks he may expect to run from a Peking-hired assassin.

“What we try to decide is whether he will continue to; feed valuable intelligence information to the United! States and also whether the. Chinese know this and can; do something about it,” an official said. Constant Watch

A rehabilitated defector de-' scribed his first months at C.I.A. headquarters as a repetitious round of written debriefings “writing reports on everything I knew, about

politics, my associates, then writing them all over again., so that the C.I.A. could spot' discrepancies. The defector is watched constantly, every re-J action is observed, his state-: ments are cross-checked with| other emigres A Soviet agent, Yevgeny Runge, has been incommuni- j cado, under constant C.I.A. supervision, since he defec-j ted in West Germany in Octo-j ber. 1967. Major-General Jan Sejna. a Czech political officer who de-1 fected a year ago, is just be-

ginning to emerge writing letters to publishers offering manuscripts. But he still uses a box number at New York's Grand Central Post Office for his letters. The most famous defector of all, Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, has settled down to a quiet private life at Princeton, New Jersey. Nearly two years after seeking asylum, she is working on : her second book. Another Soviet defector, i Professor Arkady Belinkov, {now teaching at Yale Univer- ! sity, complains he feels let j down by lack of recognition for bis academic attainments. A Soviet MiG pilot. Pyotr Pirogov, found a job as a house painter after his debriefing, but now runs his 1 own construction business. A Soviet secret police officer is still under surveillance, still being milked for valuable information, five years after he defected. The C.I.A. estimates that one out of every five defectors returns home after a few years. Exact figures of those coming and going-are kept secret.