Cen Zeliu (; 1912–1941), also Shum Tsak-lau (Cantonese), was born in Enping, Guangdong, China. He trained at the Guangdong provincial aviation academy as a fighter pilot, graduating in 1934, and was attached to the provincial warlord air force of General Chen Jitang. With full-scale war between China and the Empire of Japan brewing ever since the Mukden incident of 1931, Cen Zeliu and his compatriots were eager to focus on fighting the Imperial Japanese invasion and occupation of China.
In May 1936, General Chen Jitang conspired with the New Guangxi Clique to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek as leader of the central government of China, which Cen Zeliu perceived as weakening Chinese unity against Japan. This set the stage for Cen Zeliu and members of the Guangdong Air Force under General Huang Guangrui, the air force's Commander-in-Chief, to embark on the "Northern Flight" (北飛) defection to the centralized Nationalist Air Force of China in the midst of the Liangguang Incident in June–July 1936.
References
Bibliography
Cheung, Raymond. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 126: Aces of the Republic of China Air Force. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015. . 徐 (Xú), 露梅 (Lùméi). 隕落 (Fallen): 682位空军英烈的生死档案 - 抗战空军英烈档案大解密 (A Decryption of 682 Air Force Heroes of The War of Resistance-WWII and Their Martyrdom). 东城区, 北京， 中国: 团结出版社, 2016. .