Mary Ann Harbert

Last updated

Mary Ann Harbert (born 27 December 1945) is an American who was held captive in China from 1968 to 1971.

Contents

Early life and education

Harbert was born in Arlington, Virginia. She grew up in Denver until she reached the age of twelve. [1] : 4  After that, her father's employment with the U.S. Geological Survey took the family to Vernon, Texas, Glasgow, Montana, Austin, Texas, Lampasas, Texas, Boise, Idaho (where she first met McLaughlin), Safford, Arizona, Redwood City, California, Bend, Oregon, Delta, Utah, Carson City, Nevada and Salt Lake City. [1] : 5 

After graduating from East High School, she attended the University of Utah before joining her parents in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She attended college in Beirut, later returning to Salt Lake City to finish her psychology degree. [1] : 15, 23  She graduated from the University of Utah in 1968. [1] : 1  After completing her degree, she joined her parents, who now lived in Menlo Park, California. [1] : 8 

Detention in China

Capture and captivity

On 18 April 1968, Harbert flew to Hong Kong to meet family friend Gerald Ross McLaughlin and help him sail a yacht back from Hong Kong to the United States. [2]

On 21 April 1968, as Harbert and McLaughlin were sailing from Hong Kong to Manila, The Philippines, they crossed into Chinese waters near Dangan Island, south of Hong Kong where they were captured. [3] [4]

After they failed to report from Manila, Harbert's family notified the United States Coast Guard; however, after receiving no news of her, they assumed that she had been lost at sea. [2] China made no statement that Harbert and McLaughlin had been captured. [5]

Harbert reported that for most of her time in captivity she was held in a small farmhouse on a rural commune near Canton. [6]

Release

Due to improving U.S.-China relations, Harbert and Richard G. Fecteau, who were captured on an aircraft forced down over China in 1952, were released on 13 December 1971, crossing the land border into Hong Kong where they were received by representatives of the U.S. consular officials. The consular officials had no knowledge of Harbert and were surprised by her release. Harbert and Fecteau were flown by helicopter to Kai Tak Airport and then boarded a United States Air Force aeromedical evacuation jet and flown to Clark Air Base, then Hawaii and then on to McGuire Air Force Base. [5] [7]

In an official statement made by Xinhua News Agency at the time of her release, the Chinese government said that McLaughlin had "behaved badly" during detention, "resisted investigation and, taking the warders unawares committed suicide on March 7, 1969" whereas Harbert had "admitted her mistakes". The statement implied that she, McLaughlin and Fecteau were all Central Intelligence Agency spies. [5] Harbert later denied that she was a spy. [6]

Harbert's family was stunned by her release having given her up for dead three years previously. [2] Harbert and Fecteau were taken to Valley Forge Military Hospital where she was found to be in good health. [7]

In 1973, Harbert wrote a book about her captivity titled Captivity: How I Survived 44 Months as a Prisoner of the Red Chinese. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

RMS <i>Queen Elizabeth</i> Ocean liner (1938–1968)

RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by Cunard Line. Along with the Queen Mary, she provided a weekly transatlantic service between Southampton in the United Kingdom and New York City in the United States, via Cherbourg in France.

Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a Nationalist Chinese airline, later owned by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. During the Cold War, missions consisted in assistance to "Free World" allies according to the Mutual Defense Assistance Act of 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Hui</span> Hong Kong film director (born 1947)

Ann Hui On-wah, is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in Hong Kong which include: literary adaptations, martial arts, semi-autobiographical works, women's issues, social phenomena, political changes, and thrillers. She served as the president of the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild from 2004 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ching Cheong</span> Chinese journalist (born 1949)

Ching Cheong is a Chinese senior journalist with The Straits Times. He is best known for having been interned by the People's Republic of China on allegations of spying for Taiwan. He was detained in April 2005 and spent over 1,000 days in prison; his sentencing in August 2006 was for five years' imprisonment, scheduled to end in August 2011, but he was released just before Chinese New Year in February 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security Bureau (Hong Kong)</span> Bureau of the Hong Kong Government

The Security Bureau is a policy bureau of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for policies of the maintenance of law and order, exercising immigration and customs control, rehabilitating offenders and drug abusers, and providing emergency fire and rescue services.

Sir Percy Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke was the Director of Medical Services, Hong Kong, from 1937 to 1943 and Governor of the Seychelles from 1947 to 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John T. Downey</span> American judge and CIA officer

John Thomas Downey or Jack Downey was an American judge and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As a CIA operative, he was shot down over China during the Korean War and was held prisoner for over twenty years—the longest-held prisoner of war in United States history. In 2013, then-CIA Director John O. Brennan said Downey's "ordeal remains among the most compelling accounts of courage, resolve, and endurance in the history of our agency."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Fecteau</span> CIA agent held prisoner in China 1952-1971

Richard G. Fecteau is an American Central Intelligence Agency operative who was captured by the People's Republic of China during a CIA-sponsored flight in the Korean War. News of the capture of Fecteau and John T. Downey reached the United States in November 1954, sparking a nearly two decade battle of wills between the U.S. and the PRC. Fecteau was released in December 1971. He later worked as an assistant athletic director at his alma mater, Boston University, retiring in 1989.

HMS Peterel was a river gunboat built by Yarrow Shipbuilders at Scotstoun and she was the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to carry the name and the lead ship of her class. Her name used an archaic spelling for consistency with previous Royal Navy Ships of the same name, in contrast to the modern accepted spelling petrel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao</span> Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong

The Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao represents Canada in the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China. As Hong Kong was linked to the Commonwealth during British administration, Canada's mission was called the Canadian Commission before the transfer of sovereignty to China on July 1, 1997. Since 1980, the Head of Mission in Hong Kong has also served as Consul-General to Macau.

Anthony Grey is a British journalist and author. While working for Reuters, he was imprisoned by the Chinese government for 27 months from 1967 to 1969. He has written a series of historical novels and non-fiction books, including several relating to his detention.

Philip Eldon Smith is a former United States Air Force fighter pilot who was held captive in China for seven and a half years.

Tai Lam Centre for Women is a maximum security women's prison in Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong. It is operated by Hong Kong Correctional Services and currently has a capacity of 391 prisoners. It was established in 1969.

<i>Nerbudda</i> incident

The Nerbudda incident was the summary execution of 197 crewmembers of the British merchant ships Nerbudda and Ann on 10 August 1842 by Chinese authorities in Taiwan during the First Opium War. An additional 87 prisoners died from mistreatment in Chinese captivity.

Harriet Cornelia Mills was a scholar and professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Michigan from 1966 to 1990. In 1951, she was arrested by the government of the People's Republic of China and held until October, 1955 on charges of spying. On her release she told the western press that she was guilty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouyang Sha-fei</span> Chinese actress

Qian Shunying, better known by her stage name Ouyang Sha-fei, was a Hong Kong actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna May Waters</span> Canadian nurse

Anna May Waters, was a Canadian nurse who served in the Second World War. Taken as a prisoner of war during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, she remained in captivity for fourteen months. Upon her release, Waters returned to Canada and was honoured with the Associate Royal Red Cross. After her service in Canada, Waters moved to Hawaii, spending over a decade nursing lepers at Molokai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agnes Chow</span> Hong Kong pro-democracy activist (born 1996)

Agnes Chow Ting is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosisto and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Island by-election, supported by the pro-democracy camp, was blocked by authorities, due to her party's advocacy of self-determination for Hong Kong. She was arrested in August 2019, during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, for her role in a protest at police headquarters two months earlier, and sentenced to 10 months in jail in December 2020. She was again arrested for the National Security charge of 'collusion with foreign forces' in August 2020, albeit released on bail the day after. After her early release in June 2021, she made no public announcements until December 2023, when she wrote on social media that she had already moved to Canada in September that year to study for a master's degree at a university in Toronto, and decided to go into exile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John N. McLaughlin</span> U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General

John Nicholas McLaughlin was a highly decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of lieutenant general. During his 33 years of active service, McLaughlin was a participant of wars in the Pacific, Korea and Vietnam. He was taken prisoner during the Korean War and spent almost three years in Chinese captivity. McLaughlin finished his career as commanding general of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig</span> 2018–2021 detention of Canadians in China

In December 2018, Canadian nationals Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were taken into custody in China. It appeared that their detention on December 10 and subsequent indictment under the state secrets law were linked to the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada on December 1. In English-language media, the pair are frequently and colloquially referred to as the Two Michaels.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Harbert, Mary Ann; Einstein, Charles (1973). Captivity: How I Survived 44 Months as a Prisoner of the Red Chinese. Delacorte Press. ISBN   978-0718112073.
  2. 1 2 3 "Girl's Parents Had Given Up". The New York Times. 14 December 1971. p. 7.
  3. ↑ "Chinese release Fecteau but keep Downey in prison". The New York Times. 13 December 1971. p. 7.
  4. ↑ "Sentences commuted, reduced for American Prisoners in PRC". Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts. Central Intelligence Agency: A1. 13 December 1971.
  5. 1 2 3 Tillman Durdin (14 December 1971). "Americans Are Sped to U.S.". The New York Times. p. 6.
  6. 1 2 "Mary Ann: not spy". The Evening News. 17 December 1971. p. 1.
  7. 1 2 "Advances amaze freed Americans". The New York Times. 15 December 1971. p. 3.
  8. ↑ Mary Ann Harbert (January 1, 1972). "Captivity;: How I survived 44 months as a prisoner of the Red Chinese". Amazon. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  9. ↑ Mary Ann Harbert (January 1, 1974). "Captivity: 44 Months in Red China". Good Reads. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.