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The Black Bats: CIA Spy Flights over China from Taiwan 1951-1969
After Mao's communists took control of mainland China in 1949, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency developed an uneasy partnership with the nationalist Chinese government on Taiwan for covert air operations over the mainland dropping agents and propaganda, and collecting signals, imagery and nuclear intelligence. But Communist China s air defenses reacted with determination and ingenuity to the unwelcome intruders. Ten of the aircraft B-17s, B-26s, and P-2s were lost and over 100 aircrew killed in this epic yet hardly-known struggle, told in English for the first time. Each chapter is punctuated with vivid, first-hand accounts from the participants Chinese nationalists, Chinese communists, and Americans. The book also describes how during the Vietnam War, America subcontracted many of its covert air operations to the same group of airmen from Taiwan.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 27, 2024
Phew! That was a slog - most definitely definitive, but dry as sawdust; this is literally a flight-by-flight review of all the CIA-sponsored overflights of China from Taiwan between 1951-1969. I can't imagine the intended market for this textbook-like tome being more than maybe a dozen oddball casual readers and a slightly larger number of academics.
So why four stars? Well, because I'm one of that weird dozen who for a variety of reasons is just fascinated by this topic and period.
The book begins just two short years after Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists retreated to Taiwan in the full expectation of regrouping and then retaking the mainland from Mao's Communists - not a totally unreasonable hope at the time, as China simultaneously staggered through its first 5-year development plan and fought the combined US/UN troops in Korea, followed in short order by the disastrous famine of the Great Leap Forward and then the even more tumultuous societal upheavals of the Cultural Revolution.
And so the Nationalists saw the purpose of these high risk (and far too often deadly) overflights as a way to plant the seeds for their return - propaganda/leaflet drops, guerilla insertions, and other "fifth column" activities - while for the Americans, they were more an effort to gather ELINT/SIGINT on China's coastal defenses in preparation for a direct war with China, as well as monitor the PRC's efforts to develop their own atomic bomb - both of which were seen as inevitabilities at that time. (One interesting argument that continued throughout this period was: were all those aerial intrusions actually gathering useful intel on China's defense capabilities, or merely giving China multiple opportunities to test and then improve those capabilities?)
Anyway - overall an informative if somewhat challenging overview of US-Taiwan relations during that early period, and how both the USG/CIA and CKS continued to try to "play" each other in order to prioritize their own agendas.
While the book focuses on the period 1951-1969 (it's right there in the title), it also contains a separate final section on the Black Bats' in Southeast Asia, where they supported US operations from 1960 up through 1973, (handled separately by the author because they did not involve overflights of China itself, but were limited to operations in Laos and Vietnam). I found this part particularly interesting, as it got much closer to my own time in Taiwan (which began in 1978), and so involved players like Air America, Air Asia and CAT with which I had more first-hand experience, (you can see below - or not - for a few details). On the downside, however, by breaking out this section, I found it harder to keep the timeline straight in my head…"okay, this happened in Vietnam in 1965 - but what was then going on in China at the same time?" kinda thing, so that I had to keep flipping back and forth to earlier chapters to get the bigger picture.
Most interesting to me were the numerous photos as well as the scattered sidebar quotes, anecdotes, and interview/secondary-source excerpts that were much more emotive than the main text itself. And, of course, the brief but fascinating epilogue that brings us up to 2010 - from Kissinger's trip to China through the rise of Taiwanese democracy and the DPP, development of the IDF, and basically the large-scale closure of US bases and facilities - both overt and covert - on the island.
In keeping with its "textbook" feel, Pocock also includes numerous "bonus features" - a helpful acronym glossary, pages of notes, index, and comprehensive bibliography which included many books I've either already read or have sitting on my shelf.
Overall, an important addition to a very limited and specific bookshelf. Hard to really recommend to anyone I don't know really well, but I certainly got a lot out of it.
____________________________________
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS: Just a couple, and I promise I'll keep them short. Ray Cline, the former CIA station chief in Taipei (1958-1962, and who figures prominently here) remained a lifelong friend of Taiwan, and so returned regularly to visit (and I'm sure advise the government) during my years there. I got to know him from his frequent talks to the American Chamber of Commerce, and we ended up having a number of fascinating meals together over time; just wish I could remember more of his stories, (it's amazing how old people will open up to young people who are actually willing to listen!).
At the same time, the graphic design company I opened in Taipei ended up doing promotional work for the newly-established American Institute on Taiwan (AIT, which replaced the previous US Embassy), through which I got to somewhat know James Lilley, (who I only learned years later was more spook than diplomat, and whose China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia is on my TBR shelf). We also did some work for Air Asia - the former maintenance arm of Air America, described (but not named) in the book here as "the big aircraft overhaul depot at Tainan that was eventually sold to E-Systems" - who, recently cut off from USG/CIA funding and needing for the first time to turn a profit, brought us in to design some marketing materials, which among other things gave me the opportunity to go through their massive filing cabinets full of endless photos (officially if ironically known in the design industry as a "morgue") of just completely shot-to-shit planes and helicopters that had somehow limped back from Southeast Asia - fun!
So yeah - this book brought back a lot of memories from a period of Taiwan's "retake the Mainland!" (光復大陸 !!) history that has truly disappeared. Good times indeed....
So why four stars? Well, because I'm one of that weird dozen who for a variety of reasons is just fascinated by this topic and period.
The book begins just two short years after Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists retreated to Taiwan in the full expectation of regrouping and then retaking the mainland from Mao's Communists - not a totally unreasonable hope at the time, as China simultaneously staggered through its first 5-year development plan and fought the combined US/UN troops in Korea, followed in short order by the disastrous famine of the Great Leap Forward and then the even more tumultuous societal upheavals of the Cultural Revolution.
And so the Nationalists saw the purpose of these high risk (and far too often deadly) overflights as a way to plant the seeds for their return - propaganda/leaflet drops, guerilla insertions, and other "fifth column" activities - while for the Americans, they were more an effort to gather ELINT/SIGINT on China's coastal defenses in preparation for a direct war with China, as well as monitor the PRC's efforts to develop their own atomic bomb - both of which were seen as inevitabilities at that time. (One interesting argument that continued throughout this period was: were all those aerial intrusions actually gathering useful intel on China's defense capabilities, or merely giving China multiple opportunities to test and then improve those capabilities?)
Anyway - overall an informative if somewhat challenging overview of US-Taiwan relations during that early period, and how both the USG/CIA and CKS continued to try to "play" each other in order to prioritize their own agendas.
While the book focuses on the period 1951-1969 (it's right there in the title), it also contains a separate final section on the Black Bats' in Southeast Asia, where they supported US operations from 1960 up through 1973, (handled separately by the author because they did not involve overflights of China itself, but were limited to operations in Laos and Vietnam). I found this part particularly interesting, as it got much closer to my own time in Taiwan (which began in 1978), and so involved players like Air America, Air Asia and CAT with which I had more first-hand experience, (you can see below - or not - for a few details). On the downside, however, by breaking out this section, I found it harder to keep the timeline straight in my head…"okay, this happened in Vietnam in 1965 - but what was then going on in China at the same time?" kinda thing, so that I had to keep flipping back and forth to earlier chapters to get the bigger picture.
Most interesting to me were the numerous photos as well as the scattered sidebar quotes, anecdotes, and interview/secondary-source excerpts that were much more emotive than the main text itself. And, of course, the brief but fascinating epilogue that brings us up to 2010 - from Kissinger's trip to China through the rise of Taiwanese democracy and the DPP, development of the IDF, and basically the large-scale closure of US bases and facilities - both overt and covert - on the island.
In keeping with its "textbook" feel, Pocock also includes numerous "bonus features" - a helpful acronym glossary, pages of notes, index, and comprehensive bibliography which included many books I've either already read or have sitting on my shelf.
Overall, an important addition to a very limited and specific bookshelf. Hard to really recommend to anyone I don't know really well, but I certainly got a lot out of it.
____________________________________
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS: Just a couple, and I promise I'll keep them short. Ray Cline, the former CIA station chief in Taipei (1958-1962, and who figures prominently here) remained a lifelong friend of Taiwan, and so returned regularly to visit (and I'm sure advise the government) during my years there. I got to know him from his frequent talks to the American Chamber of Commerce, and we ended up having a number of fascinating meals together over time; just wish I could remember more of his stories, (it's amazing how old people will open up to young people who are actually willing to listen!).
At the same time, the graphic design company I opened in Taipei ended up doing promotional work for the newly-established American Institute on Taiwan (AIT, which replaced the previous US Embassy), through which I got to somewhat know James Lilley, (who I only learned years later was more spook than diplomat, and whose China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia is on my TBR shelf). We also did some work for Air Asia - the former maintenance arm of Air America, described (but not named) in the book here as "the big aircraft overhaul depot at Tainan that was eventually sold to E-Systems" - who, recently cut off from USG/CIA funding and needing for the first time to turn a profit, brought us in to design some marketing materials, which among other things gave me the opportunity to go through their massive filing cabinets full of endless photos (officially if ironically known in the design industry as a "morgue") of just completely shot-to-shit planes and helicopters that had somehow limped back from Southeast Asia - fun!
So yeah - this book brought back a lot of memories from a period of Taiwan's "retake the Mainland!" (光復大陸 !!) history that has truly disappeared. Good times indeed....
November 1, 2015
An extremely interesting book on electronic warfare operations conducted by Taiwanese forces against the mainland Chinese in the 1950s and 1960s. It certainly covers one of those little adjuncts of the Cold War that are little explored due to secrecy and, sadly, a lack of broader interest in these operations.
The book includes some interesting technical information on electronic warfare and how it was used against the PRC, but not too detailed to lose a reader who has no familiarity with the field.
While more of a squadron history, the book could have been a much more expanded tome and covered in greater depth operations in Vietnam (covered briefly at the end) as well as the U-2 operations undertaken by the Taiwanese. Nonetheless, a very good book and well worth a read.
The book includes some interesting technical information on electronic warfare and how it was used against the PRC, but not too detailed to lose a reader who has no familiarity with the field.
While more of a squadron history, the book could have been a much more expanded tome and covered in greater depth operations in Vietnam (covered briefly at the end) as well as the U-2 operations undertaken by the Taiwanese. Nonetheless, a very good book and well worth a read.
December 31, 2017
Required Reading for Cold War ELINT
ELINT missions over the Peoples Republic of China had always been relegated to footnotes in other cold war histories. References to ELINT planes shot down or U-2's lost over mainland China made it sound like this was some minor sideshow compared to the effort going on over the Soviet Union. What's clear from this book that while smaller in scale, the Black Bat squadron was more than doing their share. This book is well written, provides the context of the missions, sheds new light on the purpose of the missions, talks about specific ELINT systems carried (rarely found in a book) and offered some personal stories of the crew - all which made for a great read.
Kudos to the author and his translator.
ELINT missions over the Peoples Republic of China had always been relegated to footnotes in other cold war histories. References to ELINT planes shot down or U-2's lost over mainland China made it sound like this was some minor sideshow compared to the effort going on over the Soviet Union. What's clear from this book that while smaller in scale, the Black Bat squadron was more than doing their share. This book is well written, provides the context of the missions, sheds new light on the purpose of the missions, talks about specific ELINT systems carried (rarely found in a book) and offered some personal stories of the crew - all which made for a great read.
Kudos to the author and his translator.
October 6, 2013
Never knew, until i read this book, of Chinese/Taiwanese pilots of U-2 flying mission over China; neither of Chinese/Taiwanese pilots flying over North and South Vietnam. Very interesting
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews