A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
UNITS of the Chinese Air Force have been stationed on Hainan for a long time; and for a long time air-liners of eevdal nationalities have flown daily past the south coast of the island on regular schedules without, being interfered with. Why was the Skymaster suddenly and deliberately shot down ? Two of many possible explanations Make a certain amount of sense to me. One is that the attack Oas carried out in the light of false information (such as that ne or more important Chinese Nationalists were travelling in the aircraft) which had been planted on the Communists 1 ?y their enemies on Formosa : the object of this being to provoke very much the sort of situation that has been pro- poked. The second and less far-fetched explanation is that erhaps a new commander has just taken over the air forces n South China and that he happens to be an aggressive- Minded and intransigent thruster. Certainly the reply from canton—where his headquarters would be—to Hongkong's notification that rescue aircraft were being sent to the scene Of the disaster was ruthless, domineering and inexcusable.
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