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shanghaiceltic
Board Royalty
Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 7614
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
July 21, 2006 - 08:48 AM |
 
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| Post subject: Details released on 1956 spyplane |
China gives Rumsfeld secret papers on friend's mystery death
By Francis Harris
(Filed: 20/07/2006)
When communist Chinese jets shot down an American surveillance aircraft 50 years ago, the Beijing government did not care that the co-pilot was a close friend of a young US naval officer called Donald Rumsfeld.
But now China cares so much that when it sent its most senior military officer to the United States for a visit this week, Gen Guo Boxiong handed over previously classified papers on the incident to Defence Secretary Rumsfeld.
An American official said the documents had yet to be translated, but appeared to contain the Chinese air force account of the shooting down of an American Mercator electronic surveillance aircraft in international airspace off Taiwan in August 1956.
The pilot, 24-year-old Lt James Deane, had trained with Mr Rumsfeld in Florida.
China has acknowledged that its MiGs shot down the plane, but has denied claims that it saved and then secretly held some survivors. The papers are thought to confirm the official Chinese account.
Only four bodies were ever found from the 16-man crew. Lt Deane's was not among them and there have been questions about what really happened that night.
Suspicions deepened in 1992 when a previously classified US intelligence report was discovered saying that two Americans, one of them matching the lieutenant's description, had been moved from a hospital to the house of a Chinese government official. The document's discovery fuelled a private campaign by Lt Deane's widow, Dr Beverly Deane Shaver, to discover what had happened to her husband of three months.
She travelled to China and was told that details of her husband's shooting down were considered "highly classified".
Mr Rumsfeld first raised the issue with China when he was chief of staff to President Gerald Ford, 32 years ago.
In response, Deng Xiaoping told Mr Ford that there was "no information" on what had happened to Lt Deane. Over the years, China repeatedly denied that the men had been taken alive.
Eventually, Mrs Shaver and Mr Rumsfeld went public. "I remember the sorrow of losing him," Mr Rumsfeld said at the time.
It is uncertain what effect Lt Deane's death had on Mr Rumsfeld's strategic thinking. The US has been extremely suspicious about China during Mr Rumsfeld's tenure.
He has questioned China's huge arms build-up and has initiated a substantial reinforcement of US forces in the Pacific. |
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I have parrallel bars at home, one for gin and one for whiskey |
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Magnolia
Board Biatch
Joined: June 01, 2004
Posts: 31081
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July 21, 2006 - 09:38 AM |
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Is it just me, or is it wrong that Rumsfield gets the paperwork 50 years after the incident because of his position now? There were 12 other unacountable people on board that place and thousands upon thousands of missing people worldwide... they aren't given classified information about the whereabouts of friends and family.
RHIP (rank has it's privledges) taken to the extreme. |
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BOYCOTT BENSON SALON |
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shanghaiceltic
Board Royalty
Joined: Sep 20, 2005
Posts: 7614
Location: Perth WA
Status: Offline
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July 21, 2006 - 10:10 AM |
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During the period from 1950 until the collapse of Russia as a communist country the armed forces of NATO and of non NATO but allied forces were always pushing the limits on intelligence gathering. There were high profile incidents such as Gary Powers and his U2 plane being shot down over Russia but there were many other incidents which went unreported or where information still has not been released.
The USN did a lot of intelligence gathering around China using submarines, that increased during the Vietnam war. After the Vietnam war was over the USN was very active around Cam Rahn bay which was leased to the Russians by the Vietnamese.
The N Koreans still hold the key to the names and identities of many missing soldiers and airmen who were taken prisoner during the Korean war.
The Russians lost a fair number of submarines during the cold war but no names or details were released in Russia. Only now are those details coming to light. The casualties on the NATO side were much smaller and some names were released. None of our ships or submarines were lost during Cold War operations. The casualties were mostly from the air forces and from the army.
But yes Mags I guess Rummy got the info because of his position. |
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I have parrallel bars at home, one for gin and one for whiskey |
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frenchlover1999
Shanghai Royalty
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 8730
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July 21, 2006 - 10:16 AM |
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Most likely because the Chinese thought it would somehow help their cause. Which anyway would not have been the case if Rummy was just another WWF wrestling champion and not US SoD. |
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That was no shark. That was my personal submarine. But enough of this polite conversation. What is the purpose of your visit? |
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