Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015 07 24 CIA-RDP79T00936A005000450001-2 DAILY BRIEF 20 MARCH 1967 1 South Vietnam 2 North Vietnam 3 Soviet Union Ambassador Bui Diem -now in Saigon-- says that approval of the draft consti- tution by the Armed Forces Cou_nei_1_ w_i_11_ be merely a_ _formali_ty 5OX1 The council will probably be con- vened soon after the Guam Conference with the constitution itself being promulgated early next month The elec tion date for president and vice presi- dent has been set for 3 September 4 Sep- tember for the upper house and 1 October for the lower house Peking went out of its way in speeches and editorials over the week end to reaffirm its support for Hanoi The ostensible reason for this was the 17th anniversary of Vietnam Day Against US Imperialism The primary purpose however was to reinforce the North Vietnamese conviction that Hanoi will win in the long run and that negotiation would be useless The Chinese probably see the Guam Conference as leading to a sizable US escalation and these latest statements out of Peking are meant to stiffen Hanoi's resolve A Soviet officer in Moscow has promised the US defense attach that next summer's air parade will be very interesting A big show in this the 50th year since the October revolution would certainly not be surprising The Soviets have several developmental air craft which they might unveil including fighters transports and a prototype vertical take off and landing plane 50x1 Copy Approved ior'ReIease 2015 07 24 CIA-RDP79T00936A005000450001-2 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu