Chinese defense minister meets with US WWII veterans

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Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe met with veterans and relatives of the US Flying Tigers who had fought together with Chinese soldiers against Japanese aggression during World War Two in Washington on Saturday, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry.

Wei, who is on a visit to the United States for the second China-US Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, spoke highly of the Flying Tigers veterans for their great sacrifices in safeguarding world peace, adding that the Chinese people will never forget their old comrades in arms, old friends and those who had helped them.

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (R) meets with veterans and relatives of the Flying Tigers in Washington, US, November 10, 2018. /Chinese Defense Ministry Photo

US participants in the meeting included veteran Jay Wenyard of the Hump Route, Neil Kelleway, granddaughter of Claire Lee Chennault, commander of the Flying Tigers, Richard Cole, son of Durit Raider Pilot Richard Cole, and Larry Kelly, member of the Durit Bombers Association.

Wenyard, 95, said he is proud of the history that the US and China fought shoulder to shoulder in the war, stressing that he hopes the two countries can maintain their friendship and continue to deepen cooperation.

The Flying Tigers, officially called the First American Volunteer Group, was founded by General Chennault in 1941. It particularly repeated a flight of the treacherous Hump, or the "death route" over the Himalayan mountains, operated jointly by China and the US to transport military supplies from India to China from 1942 to 1945.

The Flying Tigers helped China fight against Japanese aggressor troops, destroying over 2,600 Japanese planes and 44 warships at the cost of losing 563 planes and over 1,500 lives of crew members during the fight.

(With inputs from Xinhua)

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