Black Bat Squadron

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Black Bats (Chinese: hēi biānfú zhōngduì 黑蝙蝠中隊) was the name of a corps of CIA reconnaissance plane pilots based in Taiwan during the Cold War. Citizens of the Republic of China, they flew missions over mainland China, or the People's Republic of China (PRC), to drop agents and photograph military sites. The corps came into being in 1953 and was disbanded around 1975, being absorbed into China Airlines. The squadron's emblem was a bat and seven stars and its formal name was the 34th Squadron of the ROC Air Force.

Around 140 Black Bat crew members went down with their planes. A few were captured after being shot down and later released in Hong Kong.

This is not to be confused with another top-secret squadron of the ROCAF—The Black Cat Squadron. This squadron flew U2 high altitude reconnaissance plane provided by the CIA, losing five aircraft and three ROCAF pilots to PRC air defenses. Their flight provided valuable intelligence deep inside mainland China, specifically China's Atomic bomb development. The Black Cat Squadron was disbanded in 1979 after America formally recognised the People's Republic of China and severed ties with ROC.

Director Ting Wen-chin (Dīng Wénjìng 丁雯靜) made a documentary about them entitled The Secret Hidden in the Sky of Taiwan (Táiwān tiānkōng de mìmi 台灣天空的祕密).

[edit] External links

• Taipei Times article, 10 July, 2007
• USA Today article, 4 August, 2007
• NPR Audio Story, 4 April, 2008

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