Civilians and government officials yesterday paid tribute to former Air Force pilot Chen Huai (陳懷) on the 50th anniversary of his death. Chen died when the Chinese military shot down the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft he was flying.
ceremony
The ceremony held by civilians including Roger Hsi (習賢德), a professor of journalism at Fu Jen Catholic University, Yang Hua-kun, a younger cousin of Chen, and three former members of the Black Cat Squadron took place at the Air Force’s martyrs tomb in Sindian District (新店), New Taipei City (新北市).
National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen (胡為真) and the chief of the air force’s political warfare department, Lieutenant General Wu Wan-chiao (吳萬教), represented the government and military in their tributes to Chen.
Hsi said because Chen did not marry and his direct relatives live in Fuzhou, in China’s Fujian Province, they have been unable to go to Taiwan to apply to the government for compensation and have not received any compensation for his death in 50 years.
He said compensation for Chen’s sacrifice for the country is a matter of morality and justice and he hoped the government could find a way to compensate the family.
compensation
Yang said Chen’s parents suffered oppression in China after Chen’s death. The military later said in a press statement that according to the Act Governing Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Chinese nationals who are family members of martyrs could receive compensation but because Chen’s parents have died, no one could apply for compensation.
Before Chen was killed above Jiangxi Province, he had flown three other operational missions in the U-2.
The Black Cat squadron flew U-2 surveillance planes and collected intelligence information from 1961 to 1974.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the