Memorial for heroic rescue bears testimony to Sino-UK friendship

More than a dozen descendants of British prisoners of war joined descendants of Chinese fishermen at a ceremony on Tuesday in East China's Zhejiang province to mark the friendship forged between Chinese and British people during the joint war against fascism.

A memorial was unveiled at the event in Zhoushan, a coastal city in Zhejiang, to remember the selfless heroism of local fishermen who rescued a few hundred POWs from the brink of death more than 80 years ago.

The inscriptions in both Chinese and English read "Memorial for Dongji Fishermen's Rescue of British Prisoners of War" and "Love knows no boundary; Friendship transcends time", alongside a detailed account of the incident.

In October 1942, the Lisbon Maru, a cargo vessel requisitioned by the Japanese army to transfer more than 1,800 British POWs from Hong Kong to Japan, was torpedoed by US forces off Zhoushan's Dongji Islands.

As the Lisbon Maru started to sink, Japanese soldiers tried to prevent their prisoners from escaping before abandoning the ship. While 843 POWs either drowned or were shot dead by the troops, Chinese fishermen risked their lives and saved 384 British POWs.

During his state visit to the United Kingdom in 2015, President Xi Jinping recalled the incident to emphasize that the wartime friendship forged between the Chinese and the British will never fade, and that it has become a valuable asset in bilateral relations.

In 2022, Denise Wynne, daughter of Lisbon Maru survivor Dennis Morley, wrote to Xi to express her staunch support for building on the friendship between generations of British and Chinese people. In a reply letter, Xi encouraged family members of the survivors to make efforts to further advance the bilateral friendship.

On Tuesday, Wynne attended the memorial unveiling ceremony. "Establishing a memorial was a shared wish of my father and the other British POWs," she told reporters. "Now, our descendants can come and see it, and they can remember the sacrifices of their ancestors and the bravery of the rescuers. Future generations can also take pride in this."

The memorial is located at the very site that once sheltered three British POWs from a search by Japanese soldiers 83 years ago.

"Seeing the memorial sculpture is like revisiting the scene of our forefathers' heroic rescue act," said Wu Xiaofei, a descendant of a Dongji fisherman. "They risked their lives and braved gunfire, and with sheer determination and strength, they saved all these people. We hope to pass on this friendship forged through a life-and-death situation."

Last week, during a session of the UK House of Commons, Member of Parliament Kirsteen Sullivan mentioned about Tuesday's unveiling ceremony.

"My constituent (Gerry Borge) shared with me the story of his father's and uncle's service with the Royal Scots in the Far East during World War II," she said, adding that Borge would attend the event.

In response, UK Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell said she was pleased to hear about the memorial being unveiled. "That tragedy needs to be remembered," she said.