BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has not too long ago replied to a letter from the households of the survivors of the “Lisbon Maru.”
In the letter, Xi inspired them to proceed to actively decide to the China-Britain friendship and appeared ahead to extra British associates making contributions to bilateral relations.
In October 1942, “Lisbon Maru,” a cargo vessel, requisitioned by the Japanese military to hold greater than 1,800 British prisoners of warfare (POWs) from Hong Kong to Japan, was hit by the U.S. military off the Zhoushan Islands, China’s Zhejiang province.
A complete of 843 POWs died, whereas 384 have been rescued by native fishermen. The British officers and troopers and the British authorities have been deeply grateful for his or her assist.
Referring to the shifting story of the heroic rescue again in 1942, Xi identified that it bears vital witness to China and Britain combating facet by facet as allies throughout World War II towards fascist aggression and has left tales of the profound friendship between the individuals of the 2 international locations.
Xi famous that he’s very aware of this piece of historical past, and instructed the story throughout his go to to Britain in 2015.
The Chinese president harassed that this 12 months marks the fiftieth anniversary of the institution of diplomatic relations on the ambassadorial stage between China and Britain, including that over the previous half a century, bilateral ties have been in a position to hold shifting ahead because of the exhausting work of quite a few pleasant individuals from each international locations.
Xi additionally expressed the hope that the households of the survivors will proceed to remain dedicated to the China-Britain friendship, and that extra British individuals will make optimistic contributions to the event of China-Britian relations.