Black Cat Squadron

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The Black Cat Squadron (traditional Chinese: 黑貓中隊; simplified Chinese: 黑猫中队; pinyin: hēi māo zhōngduì) was a squadron of the Republic of China Air Force that flew 102 U-2 surveillance flights over the People's Republic of China between 1962 and 1974, not to be confused with Black Bat Squadron of RoCAF.

The formal designation of the squadron was the 35th Squadron, and five U-2's were lost to PRC air defenses, with three dead pilots. When the squadron was first formed, Colonel Lu Xiliang (盧錫良) became its first commander and he served the longest time as the squadron commander. Colonel Lu was born in Shanghai on December 27, 1923 and completed his training in USA. After his retirement, he and his family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1986, where he became an ardent activist for RoCAF POWs' rights, particularly for the rights of those POWs to return to Taiwan to reunite with their families after their unfortunate capture and imprisonment in mainland China. Colonel Lu died on December 15, 2008 in Los Angeles.

The intelligence gathered by the Black Cat Squadron, which included evidence of a military build-up on the Sino-Soviet border, may have contributed to the U.S. opening to China during the Nixon administration by revealing the escalating tensions between the two communist nations.

Shortly after Nixon's visit to Beijing, all reconnaissance flights over the People's Republic were ceased, and the Black Cat Squadron was officially disbanded in the spring of 1974.