Chinese Official on Sino-US Ties: Old Friends to Trust

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, October 20, 2002

Chinese Official on Sino-US Ties: Old Friends to Trust

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The torch of Sino-US friendship lit by American heroes who helped China fight Japanese invaders during World War II (WWII) will lead the two great countries to a better future relationship, a senior Chinese official said on Friday in Washington.

Addressing a symposium of Chinese and US World War II veterans, Zhao Qizheng, director of China's State Council Information Office, first saluted all the heroic anti-fascist veterans and their relatives.

"Thousands of American airmen lost their lives in China during WWII. Many of them don't even have their tombstones, reposing there in China's deep mountains," Zhao said at the symposium held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in downtown Washington.

In fighting the Japanese air force, more than 3,300 American and Chinese airmen lost their lives, over two-thirds of whom were American, Zhao recalled.

After the Japanese severed the China-Burma Road in 1943, the American Air Force then opened up the "Hump Flight" over the roof of the world, the Himalayas, to supply arms and supplies to the China Theater. Because of the tough terrain and harsh weather conditions, over 500 American airplanes were wrecked and more than1,500 American and Chinese airmen lost their lives, he said.

"Chinese people will never forget this period of history," the director noted, adding that the Chinese government and people have erected a martyr's monument for the American airmen in Nanjing and established cenotaphs wherever they found wreckage of American Air Force planes.

"Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read," Zhao quoted famous philosopher Francis Bacon.

"Your internationalism, courage and righteousness brewed the mellowest wine and produced the most beautiful lines," Zhao told the American veterans present. "To the Chinese people, your are great friends. The torch of friendship ignited by you will forever guide our road to the future of our bilateral relations no matter how rough that road might be," he said.

As to Sino-US relationship, Zhao said "(Chinese) President Jiang Zemin always advocates that Sino-US relations be handled strategically with a clear view to the overall situation of the world" and "also encourages that a new century entails a new way of thinking."

"As long as we abide by the Three Joint Communiques, in the spirit of mutual respect, seeking common points while reserving differences, treating each other on an equal footing, and handling the Taiwan issue in a very prudent way, Sino-US relations will maintain a stable, lasting and healthy momentum of development," Zhao said.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Yang Jiechi and retired American generals and veterans, who fought shoulder to shoulder with the Chinese people as members of the famed Flying Tigers and Doolittle's Raiders during the WWII, also addressed the symposium.

Recalling those days fighting in China, the retired American generals and veterans saluted the Chinese people for their bravery and tenacity in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.They expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the efforts and sacrifices made by many ordinary Chinese citizens in rescuing American pilots.

Established in 1941, the Flying Tigers led by General Claire Lee Chennault fought valiantly for years in China to defend China's vital supply link with the outside world and protect Chinese cities from occupation in south central China during WWII.

Doolittle's Raiders were the American airmen from sixteen US Army Air Force B-25 medium bombers led by the legendary James Doolittle.

On April 18, 1942, Doolittle's Raiders, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, initiated the first major American offensive combat operation of WWII by bombing Tokyo and a number of other major Japanese cities.

Once clear of the Japanese home islands, however, none of Doolittle's aircraft was able to reach their intended recovery airfield in southern China and most of them eventually ran out of gas and got lost, the crews crash landing or parachuting to safety.

Eight of Doolittle's men were captured by the Japanese army occupying China. But fifty-five of the American airmen, including Doolittle, managed to land in unoccupied Chinese territory.

Many of them received protection and assistance from the Chinese people who, in seeing to it that Doolittle's men did not fall into Japanese hands, paid a terrible price in subsequent Japanese reprisals.

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