Taipei  - A Taiwan Air Force pilot who defected to China in 1981 wants to return to Taiwan, but Taipei said he will be tried if he comes home, according to a newspaper report on Sunday.

Huang Chih-cheng, who flew an F-5F warplane to China on August 8, 1981 at the age of 29, is now homesick and wants to return to Taiwan after his retirement next year, the United Daily News said.

But Taiwan's Defence Ministry said Huang will be tried for treason if he returns to Taiwan because "his defection is still going on." Taiwan's statute of limitations is 25 years.

Huang was one of the three Taiwan Air Force pilots who defected to China since 1949, when Taiwan and China were split by the Chinese Civil War.

Huang told China that he defected to the mainland to show his support for China's call for peaceful mainland-Taiwan unification.

Huang is now a major general in the Chinese air force. He recently expressed the wish to return to Taiwan after his retirement from the Chinese air force next year.

During the Cold War years, three Taiwan Air Force pilots and one civilian pilot defected to China in warplanes and a China Airlines cargo jet respectively.

A dozen Chinese air force pilots and a dozen Chinese civilian pilots defected to Taiwan with their planes.

Although Taiwan-China ties have improved rapidly since President Ma ying-jeou took office last year, the two sides are still technically at war with each other. (dpa)