A park to commemorate the Chinese soldiers and members of the US
"Flying Tigers" air squadron who fought in the Second World War is
to be set up in southwest China's Yunnan Province.
A file photo of "Flying
Tigers"
The wooded park will cover 167 hectares and boast a peace gate,
a friendship monument, a memorial wall and memorials to wartime
figures.
The park would be near an abandoned military airport that hosted
American planes during WWII, about 20 kilometers from downtown
Kunming, capital of Yunnan, said Wang Chengzhong of the park's
construction administration committee.
Detailed construction designs would be submitted to local
authorities for ratification after workers finish surveying the
site.
Yunnan has established a foundation to raise funds for the
project, which is estimated to cost four billion yuan (US$540
million).
A joint venture registered by firms from China, Australia and
Thailand will be in charge of the development.
American and Chinese foundations and organizations have already
pledged support. The Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation,
whose members are mostly World War II veterans, has promised to
donate hundreds of WWII documents and objects.
The American Volunteer Group, nicknamed the "Flying Tigers" by
Chinese for their courage, was formed in 1941 under the leadership
of US General Claire Lee Chennaults to help China drive out
invading Japanese troops.
An estimated 2,264 US "Flying Tigers" members and more than 900
Chinese airmen who fought along with them died in the war.
From December 1941 to September 1945, the "Flying Tigers" shot
down 2,600 Japanese military planes, destroyed 44 warships and
killed 66,700 Japanese soldiers.
Chinese and American air forces also opened the famous Camel
Peak Aviation Route across the Himalayas, the so-called "death
route," to deliver urgently needed military supplies to support
China's war effort.
Many monuments, memorial architectures and cemeteries for
members of the "Flying Tigers" have been established across
China.
A file photo of "Flying
Tigers"
(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2007)
