Chang Liyi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chang Liyi
|
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chang Liyi with his wife and two of their children
|
|||||||||
| Other name(s) | Zhang Liyi, Jack Chang | ||||||||
| Born | 7 November 1929 Nanjing, Republic of China |
||||||||
| Died | 12 June 2019 (aged 89) Taipei, Taiwan |
||||||||
| Allegiance |  Republic of China |
||||||||
| Service/ |
Republic of China Air Force | ||||||||
| Rank | Major | ||||||||
| Unit | Black Cat Squadron | ||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Chang Chia-chi | ||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 張立義 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 张立义 | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
Chang Liyi (Chinese: 張立義; pinyin: Zhāng Lìyì; 7 November 1929 – 12 June 2019), also known as Jack Chang, was a brave pilot from Taiwan. He was a major in the Republic of China Air Force. Chang Liyi was part of a special group called the Black Cat Squadron. This group was trained by the CIA from the United States.
He flew a special spy plane called the American U-2. His missions were to gather information about China's nuclear program. On January 10, 1965, his plane was shot down over Inner Mongolia. Chang Liyi was held in mainland China for 17 long years. He was finally released in 1982. However, he could not return to Taiwan right away. He lived in the United States for some years. He was finally allowed to go back to Taiwan in 1990.
Contents
Chang Liyi's Early Life
Chang Liyi was born in Nanjing, China, on November 7, 1929. Nanjing was the capital city at that time. When he was young, the Second Sino-Japanese War began. The Japanese army attacked Nanjing in December 1937.
Chang's mother had to leave the city with her children. They traveled across China for over a year. They finally reached Chongqing, which became the wartime capital. Sadly, his father stayed behind to look after his shop. He died during the Nanjing Massacre.
In 1943, the Republic of China Air Force started a training school for young people. It was in Dujiangyan, Sichuan. Chang wanted to join the military very much. He took the entrance exam and was accepted the next year. Before he could graduate, the government in China was facing big changes. The school had to move to Taiwan in 1948. His family stayed behind in mainland China.
Flying Secret Missions
In the late 1950s, the United States and Taiwan started a top-secret plan. They wanted to gather information on China's nuclear bomb project. This project was deep inside China. To reach these places, pilots from Taiwan were trained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). They learned to fly the Lockheed U-2 plane. This plane could fly very high to take pictures.
Chang Liyi was chosen for this special U-2 training. He joined the Black Cat Squadron in July 1964. He was a major at that time.
Shot Down and Captured
China exploded its first nuclear bomb in October 1964. After this, the Black Cat Squadron flew even more missions. On January 10, 1965, Chang Liyi took off from Taiwan. He was flying a U-2C plane (No. 358). His mission was to take special infrared photographs. These pictures would show atomic bomb factories in Northwest China.
As he flew over Baotou, Inner Mongolia, his plane was hit. A surface-to-air missile shot it down. This missile was launched by the Chinese army. When his plane was hit, Chang ejected. He used his parachute to land safely on a farm. He was then captured by soldiers. He was held in a guesthouse in Beijing. In Taiwan, everyone thought he had died in action. Newspapers even reported his "death." The Air Force built graves for him and another pilot who was also thought to be dead.
In April 1965, four U-2 planes that had been shot down by China were put on display. Chang Liyi's plane was one of them. Years later, Chang was invited to see the wreckage of his own plane at the museum.
Chang Liyi was released from being held in late 1969. This was almost five years after he was captured. He was later sent to live in his hometown, Nanjing. There, he finally saw his mother and siblings again. It had been 27 years since they last met. He worked different jobs, including as a farmer and a factory worker. Later, he became an engineer at the Nanjing Institute of Aeronautics.
Coming Home
In 1982, the Chinese government allowed Chang Liyi and another pilot to leave. They were sent to Hong Kong. However, the President of Taiwan at the time, Chiang Ching-kuo, did not allow them to return to Taiwan right away.
A former commander of the Black Cat Squadron contacted the CIA. The CIA helped Chang and the other pilot settle in the United States. These pilots did not receive medals from the CIA. However, their capture had a big impact. It made the US Air Force focus on creating pilotless drones.
Chang Liyi was finally allowed to return to Taiwan in 1990. This was after President Chiang Ching-kuo had passed away. On June 12, 2019, Chang Liyi died from a heart attack in Taipei. He was 89 years old.
His Family Life
In 1956, Chang Liyi married Chang Chia-chi (張家淇). She was also from Nanjing. They had three children together. Eight years after he was shot down in 1965, his wife in Taiwan thought he was dead. She married an army officer. But she still hoped Liyi might be alive. She made an agreement with her second husband. She said she would reunite with Liyi if he ever came back.
In 1983, she met Liyi in Hong Kong after he was released from China. She felt bad for having remarried while he was still single in China. After he was allowed to return to Taiwan, she divorced her second husband. She then remarried Liyi in April 1991. She passed away in August 2003 from kidney disease.
