Colext/Macondo
Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior
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TAIPEI - American EP-3 aircraft, one of which is at the centre of a standoff
between China and the US, have frequently entered Taiwan's air space
illegally to spy on the island, it was reported yesterday.
The Chinese-language United Daily News said the recent collision of an EP-3
aircraft and a Chinese fighter plane off the east coast of China has
rekindled the memories of mid-air interceptions of US spy planes by
Taiwanese pilots.
'Much of the time, EP-3s showed up off the south-eastern part of the island
to gather electronic information when the Chungshan Institute of Science and
Technology test-fired missiles,' the paper said, quoting retired air force
pilots.
It referred to the Chiupeng base in the southern-most Pingtung county, where
the Chungshan-designed surface-to-air Tienkung and ship-to-ship Hsiungfeng
missiles were test-fired.
The paper said that initially, Taiwan's air force despatched single-seat
fighters to drive away the EP-3s, but later had to send twin-seat fighters.
One retired military pilot said several EP-3s would play a game of
cat-and-mouse with Taiwanese fighters despatched to chase them away.
They would sometimes slow down unexpectedly or shut off two of their four
turboprop engines, he said.
Jet fighters can stall if they slow their speed dramatically.
The pilot said another EP-3 trick was to make a sharp turn.
'Maybe the American pilots thought interceptors would immediately fly away
when the EP-3 made a sharp turn, so they time and again played the tricks,'
the unnamed Taiwan pilot was quoted as having said.
He said the ill-fated Chinese pilot who was missing after his jet crashed
during the collision might have failed to notice a sharp turn by the EP-3,
bumped into the US aircraft and crashed into the sea.
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