Chinese laborers in WWI get recognition after 100 years

World
Europe

A statue was erected in Belgium on Wednesday to honor a group of young Chinese who rested in an almost forgotten part of World War I history for the past century.

The statue in the village of Busseboom in west Belgium's Poperinge is a memorial to 13 Chinese labors killed during a German bombardment on November 15, 1917 in the village.

The statue depicts three laborers doing the most common jobs for them in the battlefields – carrying shells, digging trenches and evacuating wounded soldiers.

Wreaths were placed in front of the statue by mayor of Poperinge Christof Dejaegher, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Qu Xing and British Ambassador Alison Rose, among other Chinese and Belgian dignitaries.

Chinese labors in Europe during WWI /Photo via Sina.com

The 13 people were among the 20,000 Chinese laborers who lost their lives in Europe during WWI, who shared the name of "Chinese Labor Corps of WWI."

In the last two years of WWI, some 140,000 Chinese laborers came to Europe to provide logistical services to the Allied Forces, who at that time were suffering a severe manpower shortage.

They worked seven days a week, 10-18 hours a day – and only had three days off the whole year around.

Some died of illness from the tough working conditions, others from attacks like the one in Poperinge.

Chinese people in France lay wreaths to pay tribute to the Chinese Labor Corps, who contributed on the Western Front during WWI, in Paris in June 2014. /VCG Photo

"Although they were not directly involved in the battles, quite often they worked very closely to the front-line, sometimes only 50 meters from enemies," said Qu.

The British ambassador, whose country along with France were the main recruiters of Chinese laborers during WWI, said it was a pity that the laborers did not receive the honor they deserved at the end of the war, and thanked the Chinese embassy and the city of Poperinge for building the monument.

"We think it is indispensable, for our generation who enjoy peace, to build a monument to commemorate them, about 20,000 Chinese laborers-as-soldiers who devoted their lives to come to a place they had never been, and to help a people they had never met," said the Chinese ambassador at the ceremony on Wednesday.

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