Two Airlines Incident

The Two Airlines Incident (referred to in Taiwan as the "Two Airlines Defection" and in mainland China as the "Two Airlines Uprising") occurred during the late stage of the Chinese Civil War. On November 9, 1949, employees of the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), under the Republic of China Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Central Air Transport (CAT) announced an uprising in British Hong Kong. Led by CNAC General Manager Liu Jing-yi and CAT General Manager Chen Zhuo-lin, they piloted 12 aircraft under difficult conditions—without ground navigation or meteorological support and facing the risk of enemy attacks—to fly to Tianjin and Beijing in the People's Republic of China.Meanwhile, employees remaining in Hong Kong engaged in a "property protection struggle" with the Kuomintang authorities and the British colonial government, safeguarding assets including 71 aircraft, warehouses, and equipment. They also transferred an aircraft repair factory, a telecommunications repair facility, and thousands of tons of equipment, supplies, and aviation fuel back to the mainland.The 71 aircraft stationed at Hong Kong International Airport sparked a dispute between both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The Republic of China government sold these aircraft to the Civil Air Transport company established by Claire Lee Chennault in the United States. After diplomatic and legal struggles involving the Kuomintang, the Chinese Communist Party, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the Hong Kong Supreme Court ruled in favor of Civil Air Transport on October 8, 1952, granting the company ownership of the aircraft.In 1987, the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom reached an agreement to settle four historical asset claims related to former CNAC and CAT properties. In exchange, the UK government agreed to pay the PRC government $3.8 million.