A lost medal and a granddaughter’s love help to rekindle US-China ties in Hong Kong

Tensions between China and America might be running high but that did not stop the United States’ top diplomat in Hong Kong making a dream come true for the family of a late Chinese military officer who was once decorated by a US president. Wang Yaowu, who rose to the rank of general in the Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist, army, was awarded the Legion of Merit and a citation certificate in 1945 by order of then US president Harry Truman for his contribution to fighting the Japanese. With the second world war over, Wang returned to the business of China’s civil war and fighting the Communists, led by Mao Zedong. That was a conflict the KMT would eventually lose, and in 1948 Wang was captured and taken prisoner. It was at that time that he also parted company with his precious medal and citation. Wang died in 1968, but in February of this year his granddaughter, Mary-Jean Wong, wrote to US consulate general in Hong Kong asking if the honours could be replaced. On Thursday, US consul general Kurt Tong presided over a ceremony to do just that. Are China and US racing towards military confrontation in outer space? “Many Americans as well as Hong Kong residents have their personal history in the second world war, it’s a particular connection to them,” Tong said at the event. The re-award ceremony was an opportunity for the consulate general and Wang’s family to “think again about the really warm history between the US and China”, he said. Wong said the ceremony was evidence of the close ties between the two countries. “Some people would say there is a lot of uncertainty about the relationship between the Chinese and the Americans, but I think the two countries have many cultural, military, economic and other ties,” she said. “I think when there is mutual respect and cooperation, people from both countries can share a lot of humanity.” John Cranston, the head of the consulate’s liaison administration office, said that after receiving Wong’s request in February his team got in touch with military departments in the United States to trace her grandfather’s records. After confirming the details, a decision was made to issue a replacement medal and citation certificate. “It’s a good reminder for us of the close ties America and China have had in the past,” he said. “During the second world war, there were so many Americans who actually fought in China. It’s good to remember our shared history, especially in modern times.” He said he felt “humble and grateful” for the opportunity to meet Wong’s family and to show his respect. Wong said that being reunited with her grandfather’s honours was a privilege and something the family could pass from generation to generation. “As a descendant of a war hero, I feel I have a mission to remember and pass on our elders’ glorious history of defending our motherland,” she said. Wong was joined at the ceremony by several members of her family, including her younger sisters, son and pregnant daughter-in-law. “Only in this way, can we commemorate and pass on the spirit that when your country needs you, you must sacrifice. This is a good lesson in civil duty for young people,” she said. General Wang was decorated more than 10 times for his military successes in fighting the Japanese invasion of China, which in turn contributed to the allies’ victory in the second world war. After the KMT was defeated in the Chinese civil war – and its leader Chiang Kai-shek had fled to Taiwan – Wang spent 11 years in prison and re-education as the Communists cemented their power as rulers of the newly founded People’s Republic of China. During the civil war, his wife, their six sons and one daughter had fled to safety in Hong Kong, and except for a brief meeting years later with his daughter and grandchild, Wang never saw them again. Thanks to the contribution he had made to fighting the Japanese, Wang was able to build a career for himself after his release, and in 1964 got a job with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the party’s top advisory body. It was his status within the CPPCC that enabled him to arrange for his daughter Louisa and then eight-year-old granddaughter Mary-Jean to visit him in Beijing. Sadly that would be the only time they met. When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, Wang’s KMT past meant he was quickly identified as a traitor and persecuted. In 1968, after two years of physical and mental abuse, he died of a heart attack, aged 64. “I am the only grandchild to have met our grandfather,” said Wong, who is now a member of the CPPCC in east China’s Shandong province. “His story is sad … but now we have accepted it. It is part of history.”