【Acrylic Painting by Dennis Tang】
(Paintings and Photos may not be relevant to the incident described)
On 9 November 1949, the pilots from the two airlines, Civil Air Transport Inc (CAT, Republic of China) and the Central Air Transport Corp. (CATC, People’s Republic of China) flew 12 planes from the British colony of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China. The plane CV-240 XT-610 in this incident of the two flights was named “Beijing”, and the word “Beijing” was inscribed by President Mao Zedong in a grand naming ceremony.
After the incidents, the remaining 71 planes of CAT and CATC parked at Hong Kong International Airport sparked a dispute between the two governments, triggering complex diplomatic wrangling and legal proceedings.
The case clarified some areas of international law in succession of predecessor government properties and sovereign immunity.
