The ashes of five military servicemen who died during intelligence and surveillance missions during the Cold War were enshrined at the Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei yesterday with full military honors.
The three pilots and two paratroopers were part of the Air Force's crack 34th and 35th squadrons (informally known as the Black Cats and Black Bats respectively) that together flew more than 1,000 missions over Chinese territory between 1953 and 1974.
The ceremony was officiated by Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) and included dozens of family members and surviving squadron members, many of them are well into their eighties.
“I was extremely sad that after all our comrades sacrificed for this country, their ashes lay in a foreign land for so long. The government has finally brought them back and put them to rest. I now feel content and relieved,” 82 year-old Hu Tien-peng (胡天鵬), a former paratrooper, told reporters.
The reconnaissance Black Cat Squadron flew 220 missions in US- supplied U-2 spy planes between 1961 and 1974, gathering key intelligence over strategic sites in China.
A spy plane piloted by a member of the Black Cat squadron is believed to have been one of the first to gather evidence of China's nuclear weapons development program.
Ten members of the squadron lost their lives during the period and two more were captured by communist forces and only released in 1982.
Meanwhile, the Black Bat Squadron, operational between 1953 and 1972, worked with the CIA to drop agents and gather military intelligence in China.
In total, the squadron flew 838 missions over China during the period, losing 148 crew members and 15 aircraft. Paratroopers with the squadron also supported US forces during the Vietnam War between 1967 and 1972.
Some of the servicemen from the Black Bat Squadron remain unaccounted for and their remains are believed to still be in China.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as