According to the People's Daily, on the morning of March 31, 2015, the Yunnan Charity Federation and the Yunnan CPPCC Daily jointly launched the "Go Home to See - Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese War Veteran Li Guangdian Home ancestral Worship Activity", the scene of the event, li Guangdian, who is 93 years old, said with deep affection that "the home with the soul is haunted by dreams, I finally returned."
Just such a simple sentence, everyone present shed tears, the old man in front of him is a burmese anti-war veteran, at the age of 18, he followed the "Chinese Expeditionary Force to Burma" into Burma to fight, Japan surrendered and stayed in Burma, until more than seventy years later, he returned to the motherland that he had been away for a long time!
What's going on in between? Why did you return to China more than seventy years later? Let's walk into the legendary life of the elderly Lee Kwang-tung!
"Chinese Expeditionary Force to Burma"
After the outbreak of the "Lugou Bridge Incident," Japan set off a wave of all-out invasion of China, and North China, Central China, South China, and East China fell one after another, and most of the country was caught up in the flames of war.
However, Japan, a "small country with a small projectile," is unrealistic in its vain attempt to comprehensively encroach on and occupy our big country; as the front line has become longer and longer, Japan has reached a stalemate in the Chinese battlefield; after the "Battle of Wuhan" in 1938, Japan was no longer able to launch a large-scale battle, and the Sino-Japanese war entered a stage of strategic stalemate.
According to the "History of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", in order to quickly turn the tide of the war, Japan's expansion strategy changed from north to south, hoping to cut off the international passage of the United States, Britain, and other countries to aid China by seizing Burma, French Indochina, and other places, threatening the southwest rear area, the center of China's frontal anti-Japanese battlefield, and forcing the National Government in Chongqing to submit.
In 1941, Japan launched the Pacific War, which immediately swept through southeast Asia, and the following year, with 60,000 troops directly approaching Burma, Burma was in danger, so China and Britain signed the "Sino-British Mutual Defense Agreement on the Burma Road", and China formed an expeditionary force to fight in Burma!
The elderly Lee Kwang-tung was a member of the expeditionary force
Li Guangdian is a native of Xuanwei, Yunnan, joined the army in 1939, joined the army in 1942 with the troops, served as the platoon leader of the 82nd artillery platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 83rd Regiment, 28th Division, 71st Army of the Expeditionary Army, in 1944, during the Great Counteroffensive of the Expeditionary Force, Li Guangdian was unfortunately wounded, and then stayed in the Longling Huangcaoba Military Headquarters to recuperate, missing the time to return to China.
After recovering from his injuries, Lee Kwang-tin heard that there was a civil war in the country, and he was already tired of the war, so he decided to stay in Burma for a while and return to China after the war was over.
During this period, he met Yang Zengfen, a Chinese woman who fled to Burma to escape the war, and when he met his compatriots in a foreign country, he naturally felt very kind, the two helped each other, supported each other, and finally married and gave birth to a son after marriage.
Resolutely do not become a Burmese citizen
Although Lee Kwang-tung stayed in Burma, he has always refused to enter the Burmese nationality, in his heart, he will always be a Chinese, how can he join the nationality of other countries again, then will he not become a generation of "counting and forgetting his ancestors"!
Lee Kwang-tung not only did not enter the Burmese nationality himself, but also did not allow his wife and children to enter, he always taught his son: "We are Chinese, always will, one day we will return to our motherland, how can we join the nationality of other countries?"
Because of his lack of nationality, Lee Kwang-tung can't find a serious job, he can only work odd jobs to make a living, his life is extremely hard, his children and grandchildren are also unable to receive a good education because they are "black households", and what is even more tragic is that in order not to be expelled by the Myanmar government, Lee Kwang-tung's family needs to pay a large fee every year, which makes their already difficult life even more embarrassing!
But all this can not change Lee Kwang Tin's original intention, even if life is hard, he is not willing to give up the identity of Chinese, and has always sought to return to the motherland.
Over the years, Lee Kwang-tung returned to the motherland three times in total: the first time was in the 1990s, when he returned to China with his wife as an overseas Chinese, but as soon as he returned to China, his wife suddenly fell ill and died; the second time was in 2008, when he returned to the motherland with the help of some well-wishers, but because of unclear policies, he only stayed for eight days and returned to Myanmar; the third time was in 2015, when the country launched the "Activity to Recover Anti-Japanese War Veterans", Lee Kwang-tung was invited to return to the motherland again. This time, he once again expressed his desire to move his family back to China!
After knowing the wishes of the elderly Li Guangdian, the Yunnan Charity Federation personally coordinated with the Tengchong County CPPCC, the Foreign Affairs Office and the United Front Work Department, plus the Tengchong County Public Security Department Special Office, the elderly Li Guangdian and his son finally took the shuttle bus from Tengchong to Kunming on March 30, 2015, and after arriving in Kunming, they could return to their hometown of 70 years - Xuanwei!
Although the road back to his hometown was difficult, the old man Li Guangdian finally achieved his long-cherished wish and returned to China to settle down, and after the victory of the War of Resistance, three thousand expeditionary troops remained in Burma to settle down, but now only the old man Li Guangdian is alive, that is to say, he is the only witness to the years of the expedition!
The local government has opened a household registration for the elderly Li Guangdian, and the hukou problem of his son and grandson is also being resolved as soon as possible.
brief summary:
"The young man left home and returned to the old man, the hometown voice did not change the sideburns", the old man Li Guangdian went abroad at the age of eighteen, and returned to his hometown at the age of ninety-three, everything in his hometown is human, there is no trace of his memory, but for the old man Li Guangdian, no matter how much Xuanwei has changed, this is his hometown, it is the place where he was born and raised, it is his root, although he has lived in Myanmar for a long time than his hometown, but he has no sense of belonging in Myanmar, he knows that it is not his home.
The old man Li Guangdian finally returned to his hometown, although it was a little late, but he finally caught up!
Reference: People's Daily, Sino-British Agreement on Joint Defense of the Burma Road
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