UK premiere of WWII atrocity documentary showing China-UK friendship

CGTN Europe

800 prisoners of war died in the sinking of the Lisbon Maru – but it could have been so many more had Chinese fishermen not saved hundreds of lives. Now a documentary tells the full story. Michael Voss reports from its UK premiere.   Read more: https://tinyurl.com/3fuv6dm5

Transcript

00:00More than a hundred relatives of British prisoners of war who'd been aboard the ill-fated ship

00:06attended the premiere of the Chinese-made documentary, The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru.

00:13This was a Japanese armed troop carrier carrying 1,800 British and Commonwealth prisoners of

00:19war.

00:20In October 1942, it was hit by a torpedo from an American submarine which thought it was

00:26a troop ship.

00:28As the boat started to sink, the Japanese troops locked the prisoners below deck.

00:34Many managed to escape, but were then shot at as they jumped into the sea.

00:39More than 800 prisoners died, but a flotilla of poor Chinese fishermen from a nearby island

00:45risked their lives amid the shooting and managed to take almost 400 survivors back to their

00:51small island.

00:55Before the screening, an organ recital, including a hymn to the Lisbon Maru, a moment of reflection

01:01for those on board and the Chinese fishermen who came to their rescue.

01:06The thing that comes across is, despite the politics, despite the aggravation that's in

01:12the world, when you get right down to it, people are friendly.

01:16I couldn't stop crying.

01:19I was just a sobbing mess.

01:21So emotional.

01:22They're so beautifully made.

01:26And all the individual stories, that's what really, really makes the film.

01:30The director, Fang Li, first learned of the incident 10 years ago.

01:34He launched a search for the sunken ship, as well as surviving relatives, which led

01:39to the documentary.

01:41We all should remember, between people to people, no matter it's British or Chinese,

01:46they're all, you know, civilians and friends.

01:51And I would say, people should remember, during the war time, during World War II,

01:56we were allies.

01:58The first draft of the documentary was completed two years ago and shown at British military

02:03bases, regimental headquarters of those units which had prisoners aboard the Lisbon Maru.

02:09Regimentally, of course, is a very important event, so we were delighted that it's been

02:14recognized at long last.

02:16Well, we live in a chaotic world.

02:18We can all recognize that.

02:21But I think it's always important to remember some of the factual human stories of where

02:25we've come together and where there is humanity.

02:28It's taken time to find a UK distributor for the film, but the sinking of the Lisbon Maru

02:34will go on general release in cinemas around the country later this week.

02:39Michael Voss, CGTN, London.

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