The touching story of fishermen from Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China, who bravely rescued British prisoners of war on the "Lisbon Maru" ship, is an important testimony of China and the UK fighting side by side as allies in the Second World War and jointly resisted fascist aggr

The touching story of the fishermen in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China, who bravely rescued British prisoners of war on the "Lisbon Maru" ship, is an important testimony of China and Britain fighting side by side as allies in the Second World War and jointly resisting fascist aggression. It is also an important bond between the two peoples. A historical story of deep friendship.

In October 1942, the Japanese army commandeered the passenger and cargo ship "Lisbon Maru" to escort more than 1,800 British prisoners of war from Hong Kong back to Japan. It was hit by the US military while passing through the waters near Zhoushan. 843 British prisoners were killed, and 384 British prisoners were saved by local fishermen. Since then, the British officers and soldiers and the British government are deeply grateful for this. During his visit to the UK in 2015, President Xi Jinping used the "Lisbon Maru" rescue incident as an example to emphasize that the friendship forged between the Chinese and British people during the war will never fade and has become a valuable asset of the relations between the two countries. In 2022, Winnie, the daughter of Morley, the last survivor of the "Lisbon Maru" ship, wrote to President Xi Jinping to express her gratitude for China's rescue kindness and firmly support the ever-lasting friendship between the British and Chinese peoples. President Xi Jinping replied to the family members of the survivors of the "Lisbon Maru" ship, encouraging them to continue to be actively committed to China-UK friendship and looking forward to more British friends making contributions to China-UK relations.

The documentary film "The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru" opened up 82 years of dusty history and told the true story of the joys and sorrows of the families of British prisoners of war. The production of the film lasted 7 years. Director Fang Li, who is an expert in marine technology, led the film crew to visit the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Zhoushan and other places to find a large amount of information and conduct detailed historical research. The film's creative team and descendants of many people who experienced it, including Winnie, interacted with the audience after the premiere.

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Photography: Zhang Ting Editor: Mu Duo Editor: Wang Wei

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