Nov. 7 to Nov. 13
In February 2008, Wang Zhihua (王志華) was deported back to China after completing his second stint in a Taiwanese prison. He was first sentenced to 10 years for being one of 16 Chinese citizens who successfully hijacked a whopping 12 commercial planes to Taiwan between April 1993 and June 1994. Almost all such hijackings took place during that span — three even took place in the same week — with only two other cases in history in 1988 and 1998.
A 2008 Southern Weekend (南方周末) feature provides the most extensive account of Wang’s saga. Wanted in China for embezzlement, he made his escape on Nov. 8, 1993 by faking a bomb with soap and a wire on a Zhejiang Airlines plane headed to Fuzhou. Out of the 12 hijackings, seven used fake bombs and the others used knives and daggers, which were actually allowed on planes back then.
Graphic: Han Cheung, Taipei Times
The report stated that back then most airport staff weren’t trained to handle hijackings, so nobody suspected or reported the visibly shaking Wang as he boarded the plane.
He was promptly arrested after landing in Taichung. After serving six years, he was paroled and scheduled for deportation along with a number of other Chinese who illegally entered Taiwan through various means. During the flight to Kinmen, one of the deportees used a hidden knife to hold one of the officials hostage, forcing the plane to turn back to Taiwan. The report states that while Wang did not actively participate, security later also found a knife on him, earning him his second sentence.
Due to this second “hijacking,” Wang remained in Taiwan longer than any of the 16 hijackers who were eventually all deported.
NO LONGER HEROES
Why were there so many hijackings in those 14 months? It would make sense if it were during martial law, when Chinese defectors to Taiwan were treated as anti-communist heroes and heavily rewarded by the government for “defecting to freedom.” Most of these were People’s Liberation Army pilots who flew their MiGs across the Taiwan Strait, but in May 1988, Zhang Qingguo (張慶國) and Long Guiyun (龍貴雲) became the first Chinese to hijack a commercial plane directly to Taiwan.
Although initial media reports described the act as a “defection to freedom,” the political climate had changed and the two were eventually charged for violating the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) and sentenced to three years and six months in jail. They were paroled after serving 18 months and allowed to remain in Taiwan.
It should be noted that military defections were still rewarded at this time, with the last one being Jiang Wenhao (蔣文浩), who flew his plane to Kinmen in September 1989. However, he received far less money than his predecessors and was assigned a relatively low rank in the Republic of China Air Force. In 1991, this practice officially ceased as then president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) renounced the “period of mobilization for the suppression of Communist rebellion.”
There seemed to be no more incentive for people to hijack planes — but then came the 1993-94 craze.
The Southern Weekend reported that most of these hijackers were having trouble in China, and many were wanted criminals like Wang. As Chinese law carries much harsher punishments than Taiwan’s — to this day people can still be sentenced to death for embezzling — perhaps it was a desperate move for Wang, who reportedly attempted suicide after hearing that he was scheduled to be deported.
The Southern Weekend further attributes the utter lack of airport security in China at the time. Many changes were made due to these hijackings, such as the prohibition of knives and liquids, the installation of x-ray machines and the hiring of extra armed security. Also, citizens were subject to strict identity checks before being able to purchase a ticket.
It seems that Taiwan’s handling of the Zhang and Long case was also to blame. Even though the duo did not receive their expected anti-communist hero treatment, they served relatively short sentences and were allowed to stay in Taiwan. To the eyes of many wanting to leave China, their attempt was still successful.
There also might have been a gap in Chinese media coverage as to the fate of these hijackers. Wang’s wife told Southern Weekend that she had no idea what happened to him until the 2008 reports. Chang Ya-ping (張雅萍) writes in A Study on the Problem of Chinese People Hijacking Civilian Planes to Taiwan (大陸地區人民劫機來台問題之研究) that the Chinese media either did not report on these hijackings, or only described the hijacking itself and not the aftermath.
“They would only criticize Taiwan for not returning the hijacker to China along with the plane and its passengers, but they did not report the criminal charges they faced in Taiwan, misleading Chinese to think that by hijacking a plane, they could stay in Taiwan and live a normal life.”
Regardless of the cause, these hijackers not only did not achieve anything, but were likely tried and sentenced again after returning to China. Needless to say, this practice quickly died out.
Taiwan in Time, a column about Taiwan’s history that is published every Sunday, spotlights important or interesting events around the nation that have anniversaries this week.
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