A Timely Defection

For Nationalist China, the defection to Taiwan last week of Communist Squadron Commander Fan Yuan-yen in his MiG-19 was the best piece of news since the death of Mao Tse-tung nearly a year ago. Radio stations played stirring martial music between special news flashes, and people set off firecrackers in the streets in celebration.

It was the first defection of a Communist pilot since 1965, and from Taiwan's point of view it could not have been better timed. President Carter is eager to normalize relations with Peking. Taiwan hoped the defection would dramatize popular dissatisfaction with Communist rule in China and thus make the point that Peking is unworthy of recognition by an Administration that has put so much emphasis on human rights.

Defector Fan turned out to be an ideal spokesman for Taipei's view. "I couldn't take it any more," he said after touching down at Tainan airbase in southern Taiwan. "There is simply no freedom on the mainland." Fan, who had been thinking of defecting for many years, prepared for his escape by listening to broadcasts from Taiwan giving directions on routes and proper signals for defectors to use. His opportunity came when his unit was transferred last month to a base in Fukien province, just across the Taiwan Strait.

He took off at the head of four aircraft on a routine training mission. Once airborne, he headed for Taiwan. The other planes in his group tried to pursue, but turned back when they saw Nationalist Chinese jets that had been alerted by radar. Fan dipped his wings --the signal Taiwan had broadcast --and his jet was escorted to Tainan.

At a press conference next day, Fan elaborated on his unhappiness with life on the mainland. He said that he had seen many people "half starving," and that disturbances, particularly among tenant farmers, had been widespread in Fukien province. He complained about the regimentation; all his spare time was taken up with political-indoctrination classes and "criticism and selfcriticism" sessions. Despite the strong efforts of Premier Hua Kuo-feng's regime to discredit the so-called Gang of Four, led by Mao's widow Chiang Ch'ing, Fan reported that supporters of the ousted radicals still have some limited power in the air force.

Fan will get a reward of 4,000 taels (Chinese ounces) of gold--worth about $556,000 in local currency. His main worry was that the wife and three children he left behind would now be persecuted. Fan expressed hope that Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, on his trip to China next month, would ask Peking to let his family join him. It is unlikely that Vance will ask; it is less likely that Peking will say yes if he does.

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