Cambodia & History: Mok Yeang, Khmer Rouge soldier who trained as a fighter pilot in China

Mok Yeang was one of 50 former Khmer Rouge soldiers sent to China's Hebei province in early 1976 to train as a fighter pilot.

Mok Yeang is seated, second from right, in a photo taken at the airport in Hebei province, China, in mid-1978, after completing his three years of training and returning to Phnom Penh

Mok Yeang claims that of the 50 Khmer Rouge soldiers sent to China to train as fighter pilots, only 15 completed their training. Among them were Mok Yeang, Ieng Vuth (son of former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary), Sen Raksmey (son of former Khmer Rouge leader Son Sen) and Seth (son of former Khmer Rouge leader Vorn Vet). The other Khmer Rouge soldiers were eliminated from the fighter plane team by Chinese instructors because they did not have the ability to learn to fly the planes, while some were sent back to Cambodia for their involvement in betraying the Communist Party of Kampuchea.

Mok Yeang's story

My name is Mok Yeang, a 70-year-old man who works as a farmer. I was born in Prek Ambel commune, Sa-ang district, Kandal province. Now I live in a remote village in Phnom Kravanh district, Pursat province. My father, Mok Yun, died during the Khmer Rouge regime because of lack of food, and my mother, Sok Hiek, died in 2009. I have five brothers and sisters, including three sisters, and I'm the second child in the family. My first wife, Seak Met, is 70 years old and lives in Ang Boribo district in Kampong Chhnang province. We lived together and had three children (two daughters) before divorcing. My second wife, Haing Phatra, is 45 and works on a farm. We have two children, two daughters. As a child, I lived with my parents in Prek Ambel commune, and my family worked in agriculture. At the time, I studied up to grade 7 under the old system, which is equivalent to grade 6 today. I went to school in Prek Ambel until grade 7, but in March 1970, Lon Nol organised the coup d'état to overthrow Prince Norodom Sihanouk, which forced me to leave the school.

Mok Yeang today

After that, I joined the Khmer Rouge as a soldier at the age of 15. In the village of Anlong Ta Sek, many young people aged between 15 and 16 joined the Khmer Rouge. I was sent to Koh Thom district for political education training for a month, then I was transferred to the Ang Proloeng pagoda in Ang Snoul district. At first, I was in the 14th regiment of Division 11, with Ta Teanh and Ta Saom as chief and deputy chief of Division 11. The 14th Regiment was divided into three battalions: the 16th Battalion, the 17th Battalion and the 18th Battalion. I was in the 18th Battalion, 81st Company, with Keo Narong as commander. I stayed there and learned combat strategies. My battalion's first attack was in the Udong region, then we attacked Phnom Penh at Chhouk Va. In 1973, I became the commander of the 3rd section of the 81st Company, which had three sections in total (1st, 2nd and 3rd sections). Later, Division 14 was created, with Ta San as military chief and Ta Saroeun as political chief. During the second attack on Phnom Penh, around National Road 5 near Setha Bridge, my unit suffered heavy casualties. My section joined the soldiers from the south-west to attack Lon Nol's fortifications.

17th April 1975

On 17 April 1975, Khmer Rouge soldiers took Phnom Penh. My unit was stationed along National Road 4, from Pochentong to Phnom Penh, and we stayed at the Olympic Stadium. Later, the section and battalion commanders planned to evacuate the inhabitants of Phnom Penh, on the pretext of avoiding the American bombardments and because there was no food. Most people left for the countryside, but some hid in their homes because they didn't want to leave. After the evacuation, I was sent to build a pond in the Boeng Bayap area, where I stayed for a month before returning with 14 Division to Wat Preah Puth Mean Bon. At that time, Division 14 was renamed Division 801, which was part of the Khmer Rouge general staff. Shortly afterwards, I was selected to train as a fighter pilot in China and moved to Pochentong at the end of 1975. At the time, I was the commander of 81st Platoon. In the 801 Division, many soldiers, from battalion commanders to privates, were selected for fighter pilot training in China. After a medical examination, I boarded the plane from Phnom Penh with a hundred other people (50 fighter pilots and 50 bomber pilots), including three Cambodian-Chinese translators (Chea, his wife and another man). After a four-hour flight, we landed at Kunming airport to refuel before continuing on to Beijing, which took another four hours.

Beijing

We arrived at Beijing airport at around 5pm, where we were greeted by Pich Cheang, the ambassador of Democratic Kampuchea to China, and several Chinese officials. We were taken by bus from the airport to a hotel in Beijing. The Chinese provided us with winter coats (the fighter pilots were given fairly thick coats, while the bomber pilots were given both a thick coat and an extra fleece jacket because they were going to train in Harbin, in Heilongjiang province, which is a very cold region). There were 50 trainee fighter pilots and 5 interpreters (3 Chinese and 2 Khmer). I remember arriving in China in the spring. We spent a week in Beijing, during which the Chinese showed us places like Tiananmen and the Great Wall. The hospitality was excellent, the food plentiful and the accommodation comfortable. After a week in Beijing, the fighter pilot trainees took an overnight train to Xingyang City. The bomber pilots took a train to Harbin. When we arrived in Xingyang, the Chinese organised Chinese lessons for us with the help of interpreters. We studied Chinese for one to two months before being transferred to Shijiazhuang, in Hebei province, where we continued studying Chinese for another month. After learning Chinese, we spent three to four months studying fighter aircraft theory, with the help of interpreters to translate the lessons. During the course, each Chinese teacher taught three students. The theory covered aspects such as the forces acting on aircraft - lift, weight and so on. After the theory, we started the practical training on the Shenyang J-6 fighter plane, with 100 hours of flight time, which took a year. We trained at an air base in the city of Shijiazhuang, using the Shenyang J-6, a low-speed aircraft capable of turning around. It was a two-seater, with the instructor sitting behind the student and the two sharing a single control stick.

In the second year, we switched to training on the Shenyang J-5 for a further 100 hours, and in the third year we returned to training on the Shenyang J-6. During the three years of training, some pilots were dismissed by the Chinese instructors for lack of skills, while others were sent back to Cambodia for participating in the betrayal of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. In the end, only 15 of the original 50 pilots completed the training. One of my colleagues, Bou Sarin, was reassigned to study command. During our training, we received visits from Cambodian delegations, including Ta Nat and Ta Lvei. After completing our three-year training programme, all the remaining fighter pilots returned to Beijing before heading back to Cambodia, with the exception of Yin Im and myself. We stayed in Beijing to look after our interpreter, Chea, who had taken drugs to avoid returning to Cambodia. Chea was hospitalised with his wife as his carer.

Back to Cambodia

After a week in the hotel, Yin Im and I were finally sent back to Cambodia by the Chinese. We took a Boeing flight from Beijing to Phnom Penh, accompanied by three Italian delegates, arriving at midday. Back in Phnom Penh, we were sent to the Olympic stadium, where we met up with the pilots who had returned a week earlier. Chinese instructors came to Pochentong airport to give us another 50 hours of flying time, the equivalent of six months. At the time, the Khmer Rouge were engaged in fighting along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, while we continued our training at Pochentong. The Chinese sent a dozen fighter planes (Shenyang J-5 and J-6 models) to Cambodia by boat for our training. I trained to fly from Pochentong airport to Mong Russey, Kampong Speu, Takhmao, and back to the airport, covering special areas during flights of about an hour and a half. I flew at an altitude of 6,000 metres and a speed of 500 kilometres per hour. A fighter plane could carry three guns, grenades and a 900-litre long-range fuel tank, which added 30 minutes to the flight time. The plane consumed 1,400 litres of petrol per hour. In early 1979, when the Vietnamese forces reached Phnom Penh, we had not completed our training and could not yet fire our weapons in flight. Su Chem, the leader of the jet fighter group, was then reassigned to 703 Division as regimental commander. Yin Im, the deputy chief, was transferred to Kang Keng airport in Kampong Som, and I became the chief of the fighter team. A week before the Vietnamese entered Phnom Penh, Ieng Vuth's mother, Ieng Thirith, told us to prepare to return to China to continue our studies.

7th January 1979

However, on 7 January 1979, we had to flee to Battambang province because the Vietnamese forces were advancing too quickly. We fought the Vietnamese soldiers in the village of Ao Mal, in Battambang, where I was shot in the leg. Ieng Vuth escorted me to a safe place near Phnom Sampov, where a car took me to Samlot district for treatment. I stayed in hospital for several months until I could walk again. After recovering, I returned to the battlefield, joining the 502 division and fighting the Vietnamese forces until we ran out of food. I surrendered to the Vietnamese soldiers in the village of Montri, Phnom Kravanh district, Pursat province. The Vietnamese captured and imprisoned me in Maung Russey district, Battambang province, for three days before releasing me after learning that I had been trained as a commander in China. Despite this, I was beaten by Vietnamese soldiers for seven days and nights. Later, I was transferred to Saang district, where I was held for a year. During this period, the Vietnamese did not torture me, but made me work, collecting wood and growing vegetables. After my release, I got married and moved with my wife to Phnom Touch, in Phnom Thom, in the province of Banteay Meanchey, where we became small traders. Before the UNTAC elections, I took my wife and children back to her home town of Kampong Chhnang, where we lived together for several years before divorcing. In 2013, I remarried and moved to Phnom Kravanh district in Pursat province, where I continue to work as a farmer.

By Long Dany, Director of the Veal Veng Reconciliation Centre