US WWII veterans to watch air battle simulation in Beijing

A total of 127 US World War II veterans will watch an air battle simulation on Saturday in memory of the war they fought 60 years ago in China against the Japanese invaders.

During the 20-minute aerobatic performance, to be held at the China Aviation Museum in northern Beijing's Changping District, young Chinese technicians will command 40 miniature planes through remote control to simulate an air battle between the Chinese and Japanese air forces during the WWII.

Half of the 40 small fighter planes, particularly produced for the war simulation performance at a cost of nearly 10,000 yuan (about 1,200 US dollars) each, are destined to be shot down or destroyed to create a vivid presentation of history, museum sources said.

The 127 US veterans, who arrived here on Thursday and Friday, include members of the famous American Volunteer Group that fought in China during the country's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression between 1937 and 1945 and known as the "Flying Tigers."

They also include former US air force pilots who steered cargo-transport planes from southern India to southwestern China via the Himalayas, known as the 500-mile "Hump" route.

More than 650,000 tons of assistance cargoes were shipped to China via the "Hump" route, considered to be one of the most dangerous air routes in World War II, giving a strong boost to China's self-defense war against Japan.

The 127 former service people of the US armed forces will stay here for about four days and are scheduled to leave on Monday for Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province which was a major wartime base for the Flying Tigers to overhaul and maintain their planes.

The US veterans, along with WWII veterans from other parts of the world, will gather in Beijing again next month to sign a peacede claration to mark the 60th anniversary of China's victory against Japanese invasion and the world's victory against fascism.

They will also inaugurate a 60-meter-long Beijing Peace Wall in a park in the suburbs of the Chinese capital. The text of the peace declaration and the names of the veterans will be engraved on the 10-meter-high wall.

Source: Xinhua