The Time: 9:00 A.M., January 21, 1981.

The Place: De Gaulle Airport, France.

A group of 16 determined-looking Chinese men, in phalanx around a drawn-looking, middle-aged countryman, hurried through the terminal toward a Peiping-bound aircraft. As they approached the boarding ramp, they were intercepted by a Frenchman who quickly identified himself as a government official. The middle-aged man immediately asked to be freed from his captors, and requested political asylum in France.

Chiang Yu-lu, 45 years old, a scientist-expert in weights and measurements, was in Paris to attend an international meeting as a representative of Communist China. He escaped return by moments and was subsequently granted asylum; he has been living in Paris since and has twice visited Taiwan, in July and October.

"It is a miracle here," Chiang says. "Everyone works hard of his own will. It is unbelievable!"

Chiang enjoys talking to people around him here. Everyone he knew in mainland China was defensive, preferring to the protection of silence. But here in Taiwan, taxi drivers, street vendors, snack stand workers, all talk freely. He was very impressed when a street vendor told him that he keeps every penny he earns. "If it weren't for the Communists," laments Chiang, "China would have been among the wealthier countries in the world."

Yet, Chiang is one of those who benefited the most under the Communist system.

From a poor family of eight children, he was brought up in a foster home sponsored by the Communist regime. While in school, he not only excelled academically, but also displayed unusual talent in music, dance and drama. He was chosen to attend Peiping Aeronautical Engineering Institute. Although this was not his first choice, he considered himself lucky. After college, he was assigned to the Research Institute for Weights and Measurements. A member of the intellectual elite, he earned a respectable 60 Reminbi a month. He had a relatively comfortable working environment and enough leisure time to indulge himself in playing the violin and attending drama performances. But, having all the privileges of the system does not necessarily mean he enjoyed the system. In fact, he did not. He detested Communism. He hated the way it forced everybody into the same mode of thought and behavior.

He recalled that in high school, a teacher was put to death and a schoolmate committed suicide during a political struggle. No one shed a tear. Everyone was busy showing off his "progressiveness," claiming the teacher and the student "deserved every moment of their death." Chiang waited until he got home and cried for them. He started to wonder, "What is happening to this world!"

Life in mainland China was not without sweet memories. He considers his marriage to Chang Chao-lang the luckiest thing to happen to him in his whole life. He describes his wife as an "attractive woman with wide eyes, a soft complexion and the gentlest temper in the world." Working at the same institute, they pooled 100 Renminbi a month, which afforded them a small apartment in Peiping and more than 10 years together.

It was his wife who pulled him through the horrible years of the cultural revolution. Although he was spared really harsh treatment because of his "poor family background" and the nature of his work, he lived in constant fear. At the height of the revolution, he was attacked as an "anti-party fringe member" and was forbidden to play the violin, for it was a "Western gimmick." Disheartened, he took out his violin to smash it against the wall. His wife grabbed the violin from him, and put it back carefully. "You can break your violin into a thousand pieces," Chao-lang said, "but it will still not affect the depression from your heart."

It was his wife and child that later made him hesitate to flee for freedom.

When he was assigned to Paris, at first he felt only pride and honor. "After all," he said, "I was chosen to represent 'China' at an international meeting." But pride and honor crumbled from the first days in Paris. Chiang said, "We always travelled in groups which I hated. Not only that, but we looked conspicuously out-of-date." People looked at his old suit and travelling bag knowingly, "'Ah, one of those from Communist China again.' We tried to hide our inferiority feelings by talking loudly to each other and pointing to others" he said.

In comparison, they saw that Chinese students in France from Taiwan looked happy and confident and were well-mannered. Chiang said, "We are all Chinese, but there was a world of difference. I wondered from that time on if I could ever go to Taiwan and see for my self why the difference existed."

But more than anything else, he wanted to share the new world with his wife. He imagined how Chao-lang would look in those pretty western dresses, and how her eyes would shine when she saw the outside world.

At this time of indecision, the Communist Chinese made the decision for him. One day a student from the mainland came to his room and saw a Central Daily News from Taiwan on Chiang Yu-lu's desk. The paper was opened to the editorial of the day, titled "Help Communist Chinese Students Seek Freedom." This student went directly to the Communist Chinese "Embassy" to report the matter, which ignited the "Airport Incident."

In a feeling mood in Taipei, Chiang said, "I am by no means a hero; I do not want to be described as a freedom fighter who chose liberty over wife and children. I love my family. I dream of the day I can be with them again--in freedom. To bring that day nearer, I am willing to testify to what I experienced. The hope of China is here in Taiwan. I want to live with my family in a China where everyone is as happy and diligent as the people I see in Taiwan."

[Picture Caption]

1. Chiang Yu-lu applauding for a Taipei City Council election candidate during a campaign speech in Taipei, November, 1981. 2. Dr. Ku Chang-kang, president of the Free China Relief Association, welcomes a freedom fighter home.

1. Chiang Yu-lu's wife, Chao-lang, and son. 2. Chiang is a Chinese opera fan. Picture shows him (center) on stage playing the part of general.

1. Chiang Yu-lu attending the International Conference on Weights and Measurements in Paris, with delegates from other countries. 2. Chiang meets Miss Orient USA, Chang Yuan-yuan at a party hosted by the Kuomintang Overseas Affairs Committee in Taipei in October 1981. 3. Chiang describes the different life styles on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Dr. Ku Chang-kang, president of the Free China Relief Association, welcomes a freedom fighter home.

Chiang Yu-lu's wife, Chao-lang, and son.

Chiang Yu-lu's wife, Chao-lang, and son.

Chiang is a Chinese opera fan. Picture shows him （center） on stage playing the part of general.

1. Chiang Yu-lu attending the International Conference on Weights and Measurements in Paris, with delegates from other countries.

Chiang meets Miss Orient USA, Chang Yuan-yuan at a party hosted by the Kuomintang Overseas Affairs Committee in Taipei in October 1981.

Chiang describes the different life styles on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.