Remarks of Donald M. Bishop Minister-Counselor for Press and Cultural Affairs American Embassy Beijing At the Ceremony to Transfer a Stone Roller to the U.S. Air Force Museum

BUILDING THE RUNWAYS TO FLY AND FIGHT: Cooperation between Americans and Chinese in World War II

Kunming, Yunnan Province, China
March 29, 2004

Click to See the Pictures of this Event 

Posted on Apr 5, 2004

On occasions like this, it is customary to open a ceremony by greeting the senior dignitaries, the honored guests, the ladies and gentlemen. The Vice Governor and I have agreed. Today's senior dignitaries, today's honored guests, are the men before us, airfield workers in Kunming during the Second World War. Gentlemen, will you stand?

We have gathered today for a ceremony. The government of Yunnan Province has recovered one of the stone rollers used during the war to pave airfields on this battle front against Japanese aggression. They are turning it over to us, representing the United States Embassy, the U.S. Air Force Museum, and the Sino-American Aviation History Foundation. After it is transported to the United States, it will join the displays that commemorate the World War II campaigns in the China-Burma-India theatre at the U.S. Air Force Museum, one of the most frequently visited tourist attractions in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will view the roller each year.

This stone roller is 54 inches in diameter. It weighs 11,000 pounds. From the old photographs, I see that it took a team of nearly 50 strong men to haul it back and forth across the newly constructed runways. Some of those men are with us today to tell the story.

Of the cooperation between the United States and China during the Second World War, we hear much of brave and skilled aviators - the Flying Tigers, the Hump pilots, the 14th Air Force. In the old films, our eyes catch the takeoffs and landings of the aircraft. There were the fighters, like the P-40 and the P-51, with shark's teeth painted on the nose. There were bombers like the B-24 and the B-25. And green and silver transports - C-47s, C-46s - made history flying the harrowing route from India across the Himalayas to Kunming.

But if we think only of the aviators and their aircraft, we miss the two larger stories of the theater. The first story is that of the great wartime cooperation between the United States and China. The second is the story of remarkable achievement by the Chinese people.

The American aircraft, the American aviators, and the American maintenance and support people traveled a long way to reach Kunming and the other airfields in Yunnan Province. Many began their trips in Florida and flew in hops across the Caribbean Sea to Brazil. From the eastern point of Brazil they crossed the Atlantic to Liberia in West Africa. Long flights took them to Nigeria, the Sudan, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and India. Others made long sea voyages to India.

Even when these Americans had reached Assam state in India, they still faced the most formidable leg of the trip - flying across the Himalayas until they reached Kunming. They say a pilot could follow the route from Assam to Kunming by the aluminum trail of aircraft crashes. When the Americans arrived, they had come 10,000 miles. Every man, every aircraft, every spare part, every tool, every radio, every radar, every bulldozer, every bullet, and every gallon of aviation gas came the long distance to join the fight in China.

Welcoming them were the Chinese government and people. Tens of thousands of Chinese worked under difficult conditions, enduring Japanese attacks, to prepare the airfields, to pave the runways, to build the hangars, to dig the trenches, to cook in the dining halls. As they did so, they learned civil engineering and modern logistics and airfield operations. As the war went on, Chinese pilots and gunners and maintenance officers and mechanics, many trained in the United States, joined them.

There were other Chinese contributions to the war effort. One was the contribution of Chinese who provided early warning information by telephone to General Chennault's headquarters. The intelligence they provided on Japanese aircraft movements gave the Flying Tigers an edge in their battles. The Japanese had many more aircraft, but the Americans had many more patriotic Chinese friends, risking their lives to provide the information. The Chinese cancelled the Japanese advantage in numbers.

The second was the many other brave Chinese who helped rescue downed American flyers, to prevent their capture, and return them to fight again. Our archives report that Chinese rescued 890 flyers. I can say this to all the Chinese here - the thousands of children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren of these men will never forget.

The Americans of that generation are unanimous in their praise of the role played by China's ordinary people in this great struggle. They saw their hard work, their suffering, and their sacrifices. They saw their firm will to expel an aggressor.

All of this is within living memory. Our honored guests were participants and witnesses. They helped build the airfields. They saw the aircraft take off and return from battle. They saw the crashes and the losses. They recall the Japanese attacks. This roller, when it is at the Museum, will tell their story - China's story - to a new generation of Americans.

It is now six decades since that time. A few years after the war, history took an unexpected turn. Americans and Chinese fought one another in Korea. There were three decades of hostility and estrangement between our two nations. But since President Nixon's visit to China in 1972, China and America have once again become friends and partners.

Now, American businesses invest in China. Now, Chinese and American students learn one another's languages and study in one another's universities. Last year American doctors worked with Chinese counterparts to combat SARS, and now, our two countries have signed an agreement to cooperate against AIDS in the south of China.

American and Chinese aviators again take off from Kunming's runways. The American firm Alteon trains pilots of China's airlines. Their work here is just one small part of an immense new field of cooperation between our two countries, symbolized by the recent visit of the Administrator of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Once again, Chinese and Americans are working together on flight safety, aviation standards, airport safety management, and air traffic control.

So too the armed forces of China and the United States meet once again. Port calls, visits to installations, and study tours are building trust and confidence. We are working on common procedures when ships or aircraft of our armed forces meet. The United States and China are mutually opening the door to more fields of military-to-military cooperation, and we look forward to reciprocally expanding that cooperation.

What united the efforts of Americans and Chinese at that time? We know, of course, that our nations together opposed Japanese aggression and conquest. But there was more, of course - ideals.

In far away Yenan, Chairman Mao noted in 1944 that the Chinese people shared the wartime goals of the American people - ideals that President Roosevelt called the "Four Freedoms." A young American aviation mechanic in Kunming in 1944 might not have much background in international affairs or political science. But he, like the Chinese working with him, carried in his heart some basic ideas - hopes for the peace that would follow the war. He knew that all mankind hoped for freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. It is sixty years later, but Americans and Chinese still share the same ideals. Together we hope that these large ideals may come closer to reality.

Today, then, is a day for thanks and for hopes.

The thanks look back to the cooperation between China and the United States during the Second World War. Today we can express those thanks to our honored guests from the generation that fought the war, even those who hauled this stone roller up and down the runway.

The hopes look forward to our two nations' cooperation in the future. The roller, when it is on display in the United States, will lead American visitors to the Museum to contemplate how Chinese and Americans may work together.

To the young people who are with us today, I say: learn about this period of cooperation during the Second World War. Before you leave, shake the hands of the men who were here, paving the runways. They are passing on to you a great legacy. And think how you may carry forward the ideals that joined, and join, our nations.

 

美国驻华大使馆新闻文化处毕孝贤公使衔参赞
在中国昆明呈贡机场向美国空军博物馆移交石碾子仪式上的讲话
2004年3月29日
 
在今天这样的场合，仪式开始时，习惯于先向要员、贵宾、女士和先生致意。            副省长和我同意，今天的要员，今天的贵宾是我们面前的这些人，他们是第二次世界大战期间昆明的机场工人。先生们，请你们站起来一下，好吗？
 
          今天我们在此聚会，是参加一个仪式。云南省政府找到了一个二战期间这条抗日战线上用来铺设机场的石碾（NIAN）子。他们将把这个石碾子移交给代表美国大使馆、代表成都美国总领馆、代表美国空军博物馆和中美航空历史基金会的我们。石碾子运到美国以后，将在美国空军博物馆的一个展厅展出，这个展厅的展品是纪念二战期间中国-缅甸-印度战场上的战役情况的。美国空军博物馆是美国参观人数最多的博物馆之一，每年将有成千上万的美国人参观这个石碾子。
 
          这个石碾子直径为54英寸，重一万一千英磅。从旧照片中，我看到，要用差不多50个壮劳力来拉石碾子在新建的跑道上来回滚动。今天和我们在一起的一些人，会给我们将这段故事。
 
          关于二战期间美中之间的合作，我们听到了许多英勇善战的飞行员的故事—飞虎队、驼峰飞行员、第十四航空大队。在老的电影中，我们的眼睛盯着飞机的起飞和降落，有像P-40和P-51那样的战斗机，机鼻上漆上了鲨鱼牙齿；还有B-25和B-29那样的轰炸机。绿色和银色的C-47s和C-46s运输机，飞行于穿越喜玛拉雅山的印度到昆明的
令人断魂的航线上，从而创造了历史。
 
          但是，如果我们仅仅想到飞行员和飞机，我们则忘掉了这个战区的两个更大故事。第一个是美中之间伟大的战时合作的故事，第二个是中国人民做出杰出成就的故事。
 
          美国飞机、美国飞行员、美国维修和支援人员经过长途跋涉才
到达昆明和云南的其他机场的。很多人从佛罗里达出发，分段飞行，越过加勒比海到达巴西，再从巴西东部飞越大西洋到达西非的利比里亚，再经过长途飞行到达尼日利亚、苏丹、埃及、伊朗、巴基斯坦和印度。其他人则经过漫长的海上航行到达印度。
 
          甚至当这些美国人到达印度的阿萨姆邦后，他们仍要面临行程中最为可怕的一段—飞越喜玛拉雅山来到昆明。他们说，一个飞行员可沿着失事飞机的铝片构成的线路从阿萨姆来到昆明。当美国人到达昆明时，他们已经跋涉了一万英里。参加中国战斗的每一个人、每架飞机、每个备件、每个工具、每个收音机、每个雷达、每台推土机、每粒子弹、每加仑汽油都来自远方。
 
          欢迎他们的是中国政府和中国人民。成千上万的中国人在困难的条件下工作，冒着日本人的攻击去准备机场、铺设跑道、建筑机库、 挖掘战壕、在食堂做饭。当他们做这些事的时候，他们学会了土木工程、现代化的后勤和机场运作。在战争继续进行时，中国飞行员、炮手、维修人员和机械师，很多人在美国接受过培训，加入了他们的行列。
 
          中国人还为战争努力作出了其他贡献，一个贡献就是中国人用电话向陈纳德将军司令部提供早期预警信息。他们提供的关于日本飞机活动的情报给飞虎队提供了战斗优势。日本人有着更多的飞机，但美国人有着更多的爱国的中国朋友，他们冒着生命危险来提供信息。中国人消去了日本人在数量上的优势。
 
          第二个贡献是，许多勇敢的中国人帮助救援被击落的美国飞行员，使他们免于被俘而能重返蓝天。我们的档案表明，中国人救出了890名飞行员。我可以向所有在座的中国人说，这飞行员的数以千计的子女， 孙子孙女，甚至曾孙曾孙女都将永远不会忘记。
 
          那一代的美国人，一致称赞中国百姓在这场伟大斗争中所起的作用。他们看到了中国人的辛劳、痛苦和牺牲。他们看到了中国人驱除侵略者的坚定决心。
 
          我们对所有这一切仍然记忆犹新。我们的贵宾就是参与者和见证人，他们帮助建造了机场，他们看到了飞机的起飞和胜利返航，他们看到了飞机坠毁和损失，他们还记得日本人的攻击。这个石碾子，在放入博物馆后，将向新的一代美国人讲述他们的故事—中国的故事。
 
         
从那时以来，六十年已经过去。二战以后没有几年，历史发生了出乎预料的转折。美国人和中国人在朝鲜相互打了起来。我们两国之 间出现了三十年的敌视和疏远。但从1972年尼克松总统访华以后，中国和美国再次变成了朋友与伙伴。
 
          现在，美国商人在中国投资；现在，中国学生和美国学生在互相学习对方的语言，在对方的大学中学习。去年美国医生与中国同行一起抗击非典；现在，我们两国已经签订了在中国南方抗击爱滋病的合作协议。
 
          美国和中国飞行员又从昆明的跑道上起飞了。美国公司-- 飞行安全国际-- 在培训中国航空公司的飞行员。他们在这儿的工作，仅仅是我们两国新的广阔合作领域的一小部分。美国联邦航空署署长的近期访问体现了这种合作。中国人和美国人再一次在飞行安全、航空标准、机场安全管理及空中交通管制方面共同工作。
 
          中国武装力量和美国的武装力量也再次见面了。访问港口、参观设施以及考察访问正在建立信任与信心。我们正在制定我们两国武装力量的船只和飞机相遇时的共同程序。美国和中国正在为更多领域的军方合作打开大门。我们期待这种合作在互惠基础上扩大。
 
          当时是什么把美国人和中国人的努力联合到一起的呢？我们当然知道，是我们两国一致反对日本的侵略和征服。但是，当然还有更多的东西—是理想。
 
          1944年毛主席在遥远的延安指出，中国人民和美国人民有着共同的战时目标，就是罗斯福总统称之为“四大自由”的理想。1944年在昆明的一位年青的美国航空机械师，对国际事务或政治的背景可能了解得并不多，但是他，像同他在一起工作的中国人一样，心中带有一些基本思想—希望战后能有和平。他知道，全人类都希望言论自由、信仰自由、免受匮乏困扰的自由、免受恐惧难安的自由。六十年过去了，但美国人和中国人仍然有着同样的理想。我们共同希望，现实能更加接近这些宏大理想。
 
          因此，今天是一个感谢的日子，是一个希望的日子。
          感谢属于回顾，感谢二战期间的中美之间的合作。今天我们向参加战斗那一代的贵宾，包括那些在跑道上来回拉过这个石碾子的贵宾表示感谢。
 
          希望属于期待，期待我们两国在未来进行合作。这个石碾子在美国展出时，将引导参观博物馆的美国人考虑，中国人和美国人如何能在一起工作。
  
          对今天和我们在一起的年青人，我想说：了解二战期间的这段合作吧。在你们离开前，同那些铺设跑道的在座者握握手吧。他们正在把一笔伟大遗产交给你们。并且想一想，你们怎样把曾经而且仍然将我们两国联系在一起的理想承传下去。