The World : Chinese MIG Pilot Defects

A Chinese air force squadron commander flew his MIG-19 jet to Taiwan, saying he was defecting to the Nationalists because of corruption and bureaucracy in the Communist Chinese government. Liu Chih-yuan, 28, said Communist leaders engage in factional disputes while rank-and-file officials are only interested in making money. None of them is “concerned about people’s livelihood,” he said. The Taiwanese government pays rewards in gold to Chinese military defectors, and the reward for his MIG-19 alone would amount to about $2 million, but Liu said he didn’t defect for that reason. “I came for freedom, not for money,” he said. Liu left behind his parents, two brothers, a sister and a girlfriend.