Chan Tat-Ching, called "Brother Six", was a frontline director of Operation Yellowbird. Out of 13 siblings in his family, he was sixth oldest; thus his nickname.

Chan originally operated a business smuggling people and goods. In the middle of June, 1989, a group of people involved in Operation Yellowbird sought assistance from Chan. His finesse with the government and his network of contacts were of extreme use to the Operation.

Chan's team included about ten people. He was in charge of initiating and planning the organization; he and his partners also made decisions on the escape routes, passwords, contact points, disguises, false identities, and money to bribe mainland officials and guards. With the assistance of a vast number of civilians, the refugees hid in private residences, factories, and warehouses. Chan and his partners sent speedboats to meet the refugees; both sides relied on passwords and matching up halves of torn photographs to identify each other.

The work of receiving refugees was extremely hazardous. People who worked for Chan and fleeing students alike were lost in accidents at sea. Chan and his associates also took the risk of using a cargo vessel to help spirit Chen Yizi, who had served as Zhao Ziyang's assistant, away from Hainan island.

Several months later, police in China sent out false messages about dissidents, entrapping two of Chan's assistants. In 1990, he went to Beijing, and made an agreement with the powers-that-be there — that he would not help any more refugees — in order to secure the release of his two assistants.

After that event, Chan was condemned for falling in with the Chinese authorities. Szeto Wah believed Chan to have exposed the Yellowbird routes, severely affecting operations; and after that point, Wah no longer listed Chan as one of the operatives. Chan remembers events this way: "I had no other choice but to secure the release of my two brothers". He also reiterates that he never sold anyone out.