{"id":8,"date":"2009-08-30T03:00:12","date_gmt":"2009-08-30T07:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dontow.com\/wordpress\/?p=8"},"modified":"2016-01-17T22:25:40","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T03:25:40","slug":"heroic-and-critical-battles-in-yunnan-during-wwii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dontow.com\/2009\/08\/heroic-and-critical-battles-in-yunnan-during-wwii\/","title":{"rendered":"Heroic and Critical Battles in Yunnan During WWII"},"content":{"rendered":"
(How Chinese, Americans, and Overseas Chinese Joined Forces to Regain Control of the Critical Supply Route to China)<\/p>\n
For more than two and a half years during WWII, fierce, deadly, and heroic battles took place in the western Yunnan Province (in the region called Dianxi, \u6ec7\u897f) in China. Besides helping to turn the tide against the Japanese Imperial Army in the Asian warfront, the events that occurred during this period are of great historical significance for two reasons. One is that by studying what happened in Dianxi, one can learn about all four major types of atrocities committed by the Japanese in Asia during WWII: (1) Massacre, (2) sex slaves, (3) germ warfare, and (4) slave labor. The other is how the Chinese, Americans, and Overseas Chinese joined forces to fight successfully to drive out the invading Japanese army.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This article is based on a personal visit to Dianxi in July 2009, as part of the 2009 Peace and Reconciliation Tour to China (also called China Study Tour) organized by the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (GA) and the New Jersey Alliance for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (NJ-ALPHA).[1]<\/a><\/p>\n Japan’s invasion of Southeast Asia began on December 8, 1941 with its invasion of Thailand and Malaya, i.e., about the same time as the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, which in Asia was December 8, 1941. In early 1942 Japan invaded and gained control of Burma from the British colonial power. At that time, Japan already controlled all the sea ports along the east coast of China and a large part of the urban areas of China, making it extremely difficult for the Allies to provide supplies to China. However, since Japan did not control Yunnan Province, which shares a western border with Burma and other Southeast Asian countries,\u00a0 the Allied Forces, in particular, the U.S., were able to transport military and other supplies to Kunming (\u6606\u660e, capital of Yunnan) and there to other parts of China, either via the ground using the Burma Road[2]<\/a> starting from the port of Rangoon in southern Burma or via the air by flying through the Himalayan mountain range bordering Yunnan and nearby Asian countries.<\/p>\n In order to shut off this critical supply route to China which greatly helped the Chinese to fight against the Japanese, in late April 1942 Japan moved their troops in Burma to invade western Yunnan, with the objective of gaining control of Kunming which is several hundred miles to the east. On the way to Kunming they first had to cross the Salween River (also known as Nujiang, \u6012\u6c5f meaning Angry River in Chinese) and go through the city of Baoshan (\u4fdd\u5c71), which is the heart of the Dianxi region and just to the east of the Salween River. To help soften the defense of Baoshan, the Japanese army periodically bombed Baoshan and the surrounding area in late April and early May in 1942. This is followed by a massive bombing raid on Baoshan on May 4, 1942, including using large amounts of germ warfare, in particular, bombs that can spread cholera and bubonic plague. May 4 is an important historic day in China in honor of the May 4, 1919 student movement (perhaps the world\u2019s largest student movement ever), which was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement growing out of students protesting the Chinese government’s weak response to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, including the transfer of German concessions in Shandong Province to Japan, instead of returning its sovereignty to China. Therefore, on May 4, 1942, as on other May 4, many people in Baoshan were out commemorating the May 4 Movement when the bombing attack started around noon. In one day this bombing attack killed 10,000 people in Baoshan, and the effects of the germ warfare lasted many years, and cholera alone killed about 60,000 people in the Baoshan area, plus thousands more killed from the bubonic plague in the Baoshan area.[3]<\/a> The population of Baoshan in 1942 was about 400,000.<\/p>\n During our recent trip, we interviewed three people who were survivors of the May 4, 1942 bombing and germ warfare attack. They are<\/p>\n These are their stories.<\/p>\n Yizhi Yuan:<\/strong> She was an overseas Chinese living in Burma. She is Muslim. Besides Chinese, she also speaks Burmese and a little bit of English. After Japan took control of Burma, the Japanese just randomly burned and killed people. In Burma many of the overseas Chinese who could afford to do so escaped to Baoshan, Yunnan; those who could not afford to do so remained in Burma and most likely were killed. She thinks that if they had not escaped from Burma, they would have all died.<\/p>\n On May 4, 1942, a bomb hit the roof of her house and killed her husband, younger brother, and younger sister. (She also had another younger brother and younger sister in Burma, but she has lost contacts with them.) The bomb wounded her in several parts of her body, and her right foot was damaged. She was saved by two Americans (perhaps soldiers), who were part of a contingent of 30-40 Americans stationed in that area, perhaps to build airports. She was very happy to see us, because it was the first time she has met Americans since 1942.<\/p>\n The doctors wanted to amputate her foot, but she refused because she would prefer death. Subsequently a Chinese doctor treated her and saved her foot, but her right foot is permanently deformed. She was also infected with cholera, but treatment by a Burmese oriental doctor cured her.<\/p>\n Later she remarried, to a man whose first wife and brother and sister were also killed during the bombing attack. They have three daughters and a son, the latter we also met during our visit. Her second husband kept a daily diary starting in 1942 with detailed records of the bombing and the cholera (this diary was also shown to us). Several of his relatives also died from cholera.<\/p>\n Our contingent included two young college students, Sophia and her younger brother Brian, whose parents lived in Burma before moving to Taiwan. Sophia can speak a few phrases of Burmese, and Brian was born in Burma. When Sophia spoke with old Yuan in Burmese, old Yuan was overjoyed to hear Burmese, and she said it was the first time in over 60 years that she had spoken Burmese.<\/p>\n Old Yuan said that the Japanese right wing must understand that Japan went very far away and destroyed people\u2019s lives and destroyed a peaceful region\u2019s livelihood.<\/p>\nJapan’s Invasion of Western Yunnan:<\/h2>\n
Three Survivors\u2019 Testimonies<\/span><\/h2>\n
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