Chinese Airliner Hijacked to Taiwan
A domestic Chinese airliner carrying 198 people was hijacked to Taiwan on Tuesday by two men who smuggled handguns on board in a box of candies. The hijackers surrendered without incident after requesting political asylum, officials said.
No one was hurt in the hijacking of the China Southern Airlines Boeing 757 on a flight from Shenzhen, a special economic zone near Hong Kong, to Beijing. After several hours in Taipei, the plane returned to China with the other 184 passengers and 13 crew members.
The hijackers will be prosecuted in Taiwan, said Huang Huei-ho, deputy director of Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Under Taiwan law, hijackers can face the death penalty. But the only other hijacking of a Chinese airliner to Taiwan, in 1988, resulted in suspended sentences.
Government spokesman Jason Hu said the two hijackers gave Taiwanese authorities a statement that condemned the Communist government in China.
The hijackers were identified as Liu Baocai, 23, a seafood salesman and Huang Shugang, 29, an employee of a state-run steel company, both from Hebei province in northern China.
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