Taiwanese hijacker returned by China jailed for life
     TAIPEI (July 23, 1997 09:27 a.m. EDT) - A Taipei court meted out
 a life prison term on Wednesday to an air pirate who hijacked a Tai-
 wan jetliner to the rival Chinese communist mainland -- only to be
 promptly handed back by Beijing.
     "After a trial of more than one month, Liu Shan-chung has been
 sentenced to life in prison and stripped of his civil rights for
 life," the state-funded Central News Agency quoted the district
 court verdict as saying.
     The court could have ordered Liu to die, but said it opted for
 life in prison because Liu had "confessed his crime and shown a good
 attitude" following his arrest.
     A court spokesman told Reuters that article 77 of Taiwan's avi-
 ation law allows for capital punishment in cases of "air piracy
 through forceful and life-threatening means."
     "Because Liu showed sign of repentance, the panel of judges
 decided to give him the life sentence," the spokesman said.
     It was not immediately known whether Liu would appeal.
     Liu, 45, a jobless journalist, doused himself with petrol on a
 Far Eastern Airlines jet on March 10 and threatened to torch himself
 if it did not fly to Xiamen in southern China.
     In Xiamen, Liu asked for political asylum, explaining that be-
 cause he was born on the Chinese mainland he had faced a life of
 "persecution" at the hands of Taiwan-born compatriots.
     But communist Beijing, rivals with Taiwan since a 1949 civil war
 split, refused and sent Liu home in May -- an unprecedented air
 pirate handover that was completed despite the lack of a repatri-
 ation agreement.
     Taiwan reciprocated on July 16 with what it called "an act of
 good faith" -- handing over to Beijing two mainlanders who had
 commandeered jetliners to Taiwan in 1993 and had served out prison
 terms for air piracy.
     Beijing said it would try the two on charges that can carry the
 death penalty, but pledged to take their Taiwan prison time into
 account. No trial dates or charges have been disclosed.
     Taiwan's top China policy body, the Mainland Affairs Council,
 has urged leniency in view of prison time served.
     Another 14 mainlanders convicted in a spate of 12 hijackings in
 the early 1990s still languish in Taiwan prisons.  Taipei has said
 they would be repatriated upon parole.
     The mutual repatriations signalled a political shift on both
 sides of the Taiwan strait.
    Before deep cross-strait strains began to ease in the late 1980s,
 both sides hailed hijackers as ideological heroes, feting them with
 cash rewards and jobs and featuring them in propaganda offensives.
     Despite a lack of any formal links since 1949, semi-official
 negotiators for Taipei and Beijing reached consensus on hijacker
 repatriation in 1995. But a planned signing of the accord fell
 through because of subsequent political friction.
 -------------------------------------------------
 Reuters Hourly News Summary
 Clinton Praises EU Decision
     The European Commission recommended approval today of Boeing's
 planned $15 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, after the
 aircraft maker offered concessions. The decision averts the danger
 of a potentially damaging trans-Atlantic trade war. The commission
 will now send its recommendation to antitrust experts from the
 bloc's 15 member nations for review. In Washington, President
 Clinton expressed pleasure with the outcome, which he had lobbied
 for. Boeing denied, however, that Clinton or other government
 officials pressured the company to make concessions.
 ------------------
 EU OK's Boeing-McDonnell Merger
     The European Commission recommended approval today of Boeing's
 planned $15 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas after the
 Seattle-based aircraft maker offered last-minute concessions. "There
 was a broad agreement (within the Commission).  The remedies the
 Commission was striving for have largely been supplied," EU Compe-
 tition Commissioner Karel van Miert said. The Commission, the
 European Union's 20-member executive body, says it will send its
 recommendation -- which averts the danger of a potentially damaging
 transatlantic trade war -- to antitrust experts from the bloc's 15
 member nations, who will review it by next week.
 Airline Results Mixed
    US Airways and Continental Airlines reported mixed second-quarter
 earnings results today, while TWA posted a bigger-than-expected loss.
 US Airways, the nation's sixth largest carrier, said earnings edged
 up 2 percent in the quarter, but the results failed to meet expecta-
 tions on Wall Street and its stock fell. No. 5 Continental said that
 while pretax earnings set a record in the quarter, net income fell
 23 percent. The results did not keep pace with those of the parent
 companies of United Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, and No.
 2 American Airlines, both of which reported better-than-expected
 results for the quarter.
 Reut 17:43 07-23-97
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