Taiwan’s Cold War spy pilots lift veil on secret missions focus 08/25/2010

Taiwan’s Cold War spy pilots lift veil on secret missions

focus 08/25/2010 HSINCHU — For weeks after narrowly escaping two Chinese missiles, Chuang Jen-liang would wake up at night bathed in sweat, but the Taiwanese spy pilot could talk to no one about his missions. Only now, more than four decades later, is 73-year-old Chuang able to speak out about his harrowing experiences, as Taiwan is lifting the veil on one of its most closely guarded secrets of the Cold War. This brings credit to Chuang and other veterans of the 35th “Black Cats” Squadron who flew at altitudes of more than 20,000 meters (65,000 feet) to gather intelligence about the Chinese, risking their lives each time. “I doubt if I’d be so lucky if I had to go through all this again,” said Chuang, who now lives in an apartment in north Taiwan’s Hsinchu city. The elite Black Cats, who were operational from 1961 until 1974, flew the legendary U-2 airplane, dubbed “Dragon Lady” and a crucial intelligence tool at the time. That made the squadron a key element in the intelligence relationship between the US government and Taiwan’s Nationalist rulers, who had fled the mainland in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100825com6.html

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