Chang Hsi
en-
yi
The man who hel
ped prevent a nucl
ear cri
si
s
I
n 1988 Tai
wan was r
aci
ng t
o bui
l
d i
t
s f
i
r
st nucl
ear bomb, but one mi
l
i
t
ar
y
sci
ent
i
st put a st
op t
o t
hat when he def
ect
ed t
o t
he Uni
t
ed St
at
es and
exposed t
hose pl
ans. Thi
s i
s t
he st
or
y of a man who i
nsi
st
s he had t
o
bet
r
ay hi
s count
r
y i
n or
der t
o save i
t
.
To t
hi
s day, cr
i
t
i
cs consi
der Chang Hsi
en-
yi a t
r
ai
t
or - but he has no
r
egr
et
s.
"
I
f I can ever do i
t al
l over agai
n, I wi
l
l do i
t
,
" says t
he cal
ml
y def
i
ant
73-
year
-
ol
d, speaki
ng f
r
om hi
s home i
n t
he US st
at
e of I
daho.
The f
or
mer mi
l
i
t
ar
y col
onel has been l
i
vi
ng t
her
e si
nce 1988 when he f
l
ed
t
o t
he US, a cl
ose al
l
y of t
he i
sl
and, and t
hi
s i
s hi
s f
i
r
st subst
ant
i
al
i
nt
er
vi
ew about t
hat t
i
me.
I
t mi
ght seem a per
pl
exi
ng t
ur
n of event
s gi
ven t
he cl
ose r
el
at
i
onshi
p t
he
US has wi
t
h Tai
wan, but Washi
ngt
on had f
ound out t
hat Tai
wan'
s
gover
nment had secr
et
l
y or
der
ed sci
ent
i
st
s t
o devel
op nucl
ear weapons.
Tai
wan'
s enemy, t
he Communi
st gover
nment of Chi
na, had been bui
l
di
ng
up i
t
s nucl
ear ar
senal si
nce t
he 1960s, and t
he Tai
wanese wer
e t
er
r
i
f
i
ed
t
hi
s woul
d be unl
eashed on t
he i
sl
and.
wan separ
at
ed f
r
om Chi
na af
t
er t
he Chi
nese Ci
vi
l War i
n 1949. To t
hi
s
T ai
day Chi
na consi
der
s Tai
wan a br
eakaway pr
ovi
nce and has vowed t
o
r
euni
f
y wi
t
h t
he i
sl
and, by f
or
ce i
f necessar
y.
The l
eader
shi
p of t
he i
sl
and was al
so i
n an uncer
t
ai
n phase - i
t
s pr
esi
dent
,
Chi
ang Chi
ng-
kuo, was dyi
ng, and t
he US t
hought t
hat Gener
al Hau
Pei
-
t
sun, whom t
hey saw as a hawki
sh f
i
gur
e, woul
d become hi
s
successor
.