April 1, 2022

On Friday, Chinese netizens swarmed to social media platforms to commemorate Chinese air force pilot Wang Wei who died when his fighter jet collided with a US military reconnaissance aircraft in the South China Sea on April 1, 2001. Today marks the 21st anniversary of his death. Many commented that Wang inspires more people to fight for the motherland. 

As of Friday, several hashtags related to Wang are the top trending topics on China's social media Sina Weibo. Some of them include "#SacrificeOFWangWei'' and ''#Calling81192.'' 81192 is the number of Wang's fighter jet. 

Wang, a Chinese pilot serving in the Navy Air Force, was missing and then assumed dead after a midair collision between his fighter and a US reconnaissance plane. He was on duty tracing and monitoring the surveillance plane which illegally entered China's air space, and parachuted out after his fighter jet was rammed and destroyed by the US plane. 

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