China searching for remains of war dead on Korean Peninsula

China has started looking for and repatriating the remains of fallen Chinese soldiers buried abroad, including on the Korean Peninsula.

Beijing`s “project to preserve and manage the facilities of patriots overseas” includes the repatriation of the remains of war dead of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army buried overseas and repair of burial sites.

The number of China`s war dead buried overseas is an estimated 115,217, 99 percent of whom are reportedly buried on the Korean Peninsula.

Hence, Beijing has likely contacted or will contact Seoul or Pyongyang on this matter. Given the sensitivity of the project, the Chinese government is not advertising this project and conducting it behind the scenes.

This is the first time for Beijing, which has had little interest in recovering the remains of its war dead abroad, to try repatriating such remains. The move was apparently prompted by China`s desire to thoroughly honor the “sacrifices” of its soldiers as Western countries do, in tune with its increasing economic power.

○ Completion by 2014?

Phoenix Weekly, a Hong Kong news magazine, said in a recent issue that Beijing began several months ago conducting a survey of memorial facilities for its war dead buried abroad. The project involves the veteran affairs bureau of the Chinese Civil Affairs Ministry, an agency exclusively for veterans and their bereaved families, the Foreign Ministry, and the military.

A bureau official said, “We will complete the project to repatriate the remains of patriots buried overseas or fix their burial places before 2014, when the People’s Republic of China will mark its 65th anniversary.”

The Civil Affairs Ministry’s website announced that it has revised an executive ordinance on the honoring of patriots as part of its key projects for this year, and will start working to protect memorial facilities for war dead buried overseas.

The project will likely target the 115,217 Chinese soldiers buried overseas since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The number includes the bodies of an estimated 114,000 Chinese soldiers killed and buried on the Korean Peninsula in the Korean War; 1,117 who were dispatched to Vietnam to support the Vietnamese communists and died in the Vietnam War; and 100 bodies buried in other countries.

○ Most remains buried on Korean Peninsula

Soon after the Korean War, North Korea created monuments and burial sites at more than 200 places. The Hong Kong magazine said under orders from its founder Kim Il Sung, the North built a “Cemetery for Patriots of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army” at eight locations, including one in Hoechang Country, South Pyongan Province, and is managing the remains together with China.

Joint memorial ceremonies hosted by Pyongyang and Beijing are often convened at the Hoechang County Patriots Cemetery, some 100 kilometers east of the North Korean capital, on major memorial days of the two nations, including the day they formed diplomatic ties.

This cemetery is the burial site for 134 Chinese soldiers, including Mao Anying, the eldest son of Chinese leader Mao Zedong. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, accompanied by his third son and heir apparent Jong Un, paid a visit there in October last year.

Pyongyang, however, bans individual visits to burial sites for Chinese soldiers other than the Hoechang cemetery.

Remains of Chinese war dead are often discovered in South Korea as well. The remains recovery squad of the South Korean Defense Ministry has unearthed remains of Chinese and North Korean troops while searching for South Korean dead on battlefields of intense combat from the Korean War. The Chinese and North Korean soldiers` bodies are buried at an “enemy forces` cemetery” in Paju Country, Gyeonggi Province.

○ Project kept secret due to sensitivity of matter

The Chinese weekly said this work is a secret operation. A source at the Chinese veterans protection bureau said, “The central chapter of the Chinese Communist Party set a guideline to not advertise the project."

In the Two Meetings in March -- the National People`s Congress and People`s Political Consultative Conference -- China’s largest political events, deputy chief Liu Jiang-ru of the science, education, culture committee under the People`s Political Consultative Conference made the proposal that China repatriate the remains of People’s Liberation Army war dead from South Korea.

“It`s unfair that the remains of patriots are preserved in such a way in a enemy country (South Korea),” adding, “Remains should be repatriated and buried at a patriots’ cemetery to establish an image of living up to the rise of China’s national prowess.”

Another Chinese official said, “It is natural that all remains of People’s Liberation Army soldiers be repatriated to the mainland, and that we duly honor them.”

mungchii@donga.com