An exhibition opened Thursday in Beijing to relive the history of fights between the Chinese air force together with its counterparts from the United States and the former Soviet Union against Japanese invaders during World War II.

The exhibition was jointly sponsored by the Memorial Hall of the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War and the Beijing Aviation Club, both based in the Chinese capital.

Five Chinese members of the US Airforce's Flying Tigers brigade attended the opening ceremony.

"I have flown this kind of airplane," said 85-year-old Peng Jiaheng, who fought in the Flying Tigers from 1944 to 1945, pointing at a photographic exhibit.

"The exhibition reminds me of the battlefield 60 years ago. I don't think I'm a hero. I think I was only an ordinary soldier in the war against Japanese aggression. Those who sacrificed their lives were true heroes," said Peng.

"Once I call them into remembrance, I think it's so difficult to win back peace. We should cherish peace."

According to Li Yu, head of the exhibition's co-sponsor, the Beijing Aviation Club, this is the first time that the history of the Chinese air force, which fought shoulder to shoulder with the US and the USSR air forces during WWII, has been displayed in detail.

"We hope to remember the dead and leave historical evidence for future generations."

"I am honored to be with Chinese veterans who fought for the anti-Japanese war," Colonel Leroy M. Coleman, US Air Force Air Attach from the US Embassy in Beijing said at the opening ceremony.

"Depending on their fighting and sacrifice, we were able to defeat the enemies."

"It is a magnificent exhibition," said Coleman. "The veterans are still alive are in their 80s or 90s. In another 10 years, they may be gone. Commemoration with veterans' participation may be never done again."

"A large part of what we have today is because of those courageous men and women. Hostility is temporary whereas friendship is eternal, however," Coleman said.

"We fought together against enemies 60 years ago and we have always been friends," said Colonel Sergey V. Netkach, Air Attach from the Defense Attach Office, Embassy of the Russian Federation in Beijing.

At the six-part show, more than 220 historic photos, a dozen aircraft models and more than 20 pieces of cultural relics have been exhibited.

"The show also serves as a supplement to the massive exhibition to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the victory of the resistance war against Japanese aggression," said Wang Xinhua, head of another co-sponsor of the show, the Memorial Hall of Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War.

The US Air Force volunteer pilot group and the Soviet Union Air Force volunteer pilot group came to China during WWII and fought with the Chinese air force from 1937 to 1945. They contributed a lot to the victory against Japanese aggressors. A total of 3,292 pilots became martyrs during the war, of whom 2,186 were Americans, 236 were Russians and 870 were Chinese.

Official statistics show that during the eight years of fighting, at least 5,242 Japanese planes were shot down or damaged, 8,177 vessels and 8,456 tanks and military vehicles were blown down, and 660,000 Japanese intruders were annihilated by the Chinese, US and the Soviet Union air forces.

Source: Xinhua