BEIJING. On Monday, China paid tribute to two American veterans of World War II, Mel McMullen and Harry Moyer, in a symbolic gesture to find inspiration in past collaboration as Washington and Beijing work toward improving their strained relationship.
McMullen, in his late 90s, and Moyer, who celebrated his 103rd birthday on Monday, are among the surviving members of the U.S. Army Air Force command known as the “Flying Tigers.” This group played a crucial role in aiding China against Japan during the war.
Their visit signifies a growing series of exchanges ahead of a potential meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping next month. The aim is to mend a relationship that has significantly deteriorated due to differences on trade, technology, security, and human rights.
McMullen shared stories of Chinese farmers who risked their lives to save downed American pilots, hiding them during the day and moving them from village to village under the cover of darkness, despite the threat of severe punishment by the Japanese.
“I think that’s something we should all understand,” he emphasized at a ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. “People are the same. Their governments may be different, but the people actually always have one desire, and that is to live and to raise their families in peace, and in the customs of their predecessors.”
The U.S. and China have been rebuilding contacts that had been severed over the past four years due to the coronavirus pandemic, travel restrictions, and escalating animosity between the world’s two largest economies.
Earlier this month, a delegation of six U.S. senators visited China, marking the first congressional visit since 2019, and California Governor Gavin Newsom’s visit last week was the first by a state leader.
In a revival of cultural exchange, the American Ballet Theatre is performing in Shanghai this week, followed by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra who will begin a tour next week, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the orchestra’s historic visit to China in 1973.
Both countries are eager to enhance people-to-people exchanges, as emphasized by U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns during the Flying Tigers ceremony held in a small embassy gymnasium.
“We’re at a difficult moment in the U.S.-China relationship,” Burns said. “We are, in many ways, rivals strategically… But the two peoples of the countries have always been together.”
Following his visit to Washington last week, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that the road to a Biden-Xi meeting would not be “smooth sailing,” despite a U.S. official’s announcement that the two leaders had agreed to meet during next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.
The visiting Flying Tigers delegation included the children and grandchildren of group members, as well as elected officials from California, where Moyer and McMullen hail from. Onstage, the two veterans were joined by Nell Calloway, the granddaughter of their former commander, Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault.
Chennault founded the Flying Tigers as a group of American pilots flying for China’s air force, which was later incorporated into the U.S. military under his command.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
