Volodin paid tribute to the memory of Soviet pilots who died during the China War

Vyacheslav Viktorovich laid a wreath at the monument on Mount Zijinshan and bowed his head in honor of our heroes and their Asian brothers in the air wing.

Photo: Edward CHESNOKOV

“Aviation saves the nation.” These words are engraved on the monument to the pilot heroes of the War of Resistance against the Japanese invaders, which stands on Mount Zijinshan in Nanjing. As you know, China had its own “dark year of 1937”: the militarists of Tokyo, Hitler’s future allies, then went on the offensive, seizing vast territories. And in Nanjing, then capital of the Republic of China, a horrible massacre took place that killed, according to some estimates, up to three hundred thousand inhabitants.

Worst of all, the Japanese had complete air supremacy and could fire on marching Chinese columns with impunity, not to mention bombing peaceful cities. This had a depressing effect on even the staunchest patriots. Many stopped believing in victory and how to prepare retaliatory operations if the enemy immediately learned of their troop movements through aerial reconnaissance.

But the USSR reached out to China, the first of all. Furthermore, at that time the internationally recognized leader of the Republic was Chiang Kai-shek, an ardent anti-communist, whose nationalist Kuomintang movement could imprison a person for the mere suspicion of belonging to the “reds.” But Stalin insightfully understood: the enemy (in this case, the Japanese militarists) must be defeated on distant lines. Through Alma-Ata and Urumqi, one of the last land roads connecting free China with the outside world, convoys with weapons and ammunition arrived from the USSR.

And “Li Xi Tsin’s pilots” took to the air, forming the backbone of the new Chinese aviation. The first victories in the air and daring air attacks behind enemy lines soon followed. Realizing that the samurai had lost their main asset, the Chinese took heart. (To be fair, the skies of the Republic were then defended by the Americans with their “Flying Tigers” squadron; but if our pilots “answered the call of the working brothers” selflessly and out of conviction, then the US air aces .USA flew to the Celestial Empire for a huge fee – in fact, their “Tigers” were a kind of “aero-PMC”).

In total, some four thousand Chinese Air Force pilots and ground technicians died in that 1937-45 Defense War, including 236 Soviet citizens.

On November 23, 2023, his memory was honored by the Chairman of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, who together with the deputies was visiting the People’s Republic of China. Vyacheslav Viktorovich laid a wreath at the monument on Mount Zijinshan and bowed his head in honor of our heroes and their Asian brothers in the air wing.

Nanjing, the city where the monument is located, is known as the “Chinese Petrograd”: the most important cultural center and the first capital of the Republic. It became the second point of our visit after Beijing. Despite the late arrival, the Duma delegation was received by the head of the local Jiangsu province, Comrade Xin Changxing.

— We saw you on the television news when you met with Chinese President Xi Jinping! – greeted Xin Changxing, referring to the recent communication of our delegation with the country’s leader in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

In response, Volodin noted the positive dynamics of relations:

— We have reached an unprecedented level of mutual settlements in national currencies: 95%. This is a very serious indicator.

The visit of the deputies here, to Nanjing and the province of Jiangsu, is not coincidental. This territory is the most important center of innovative industry and the regional GDP exceeds entire countries, such as, for example, South Korea. Finally, Nanjing University is one of the oldest technical universities in China and is ranked among the top 100 in the world.

Here Vyacheslav Viktorovich talked with the rector, teachers and students of Russian studies.

— We live in a time of challenges, but it is also a time of opportunities. Over the past 10 years, 17.5 thousand sanctions have been introduced against the Russian Federation; Trade wars were launched against China and restrictions were introduced,” Volodin told the young people. – What did this lead to? According to World Bank data for 2012, China was the second largest economy in the world and Russia the sixth. While at the end of last year, China took first place (displacing the United States to second), and Russia became the fifth largest economy in the world and the largest economy in Europe. Here is the result of hostile actions. You and I see it: those who started the sanctions war suffered the consequences.

—After leaving my position, I will study Russian! — promised jokingly (or maybe not jokingly) after the meeting, the university rector, Comrade Tan Zhemin.

This area of ​​our interaction is also expanding: today about 37 thousand students from China study in Russian universities and 7.5 thousand Russian citizens study in Chinese higher educational institutions. But this, the deputies emphasize, is in any case not enough.

So there is something to study carefully! Thanks to Volodin’s first personal meeting with his local colleague, the new chairman of the National People’s Congress, Comrade Zhao Leji, joint work of the relevant parliamentary committees on all issues is expected in the future: from tourism to the economy and the industry.