Chinese veteran stranded in Myanmar for 70 years

Zhang Jin China Plus Published: 2017-04-11 16:42:25
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Li Guangdian takes a walk in Myitkyina, Myanmar, on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. He usually goes out for a walk twice every day. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Li Guangdian takes a walk in Myitkyina, Myanmar, on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. He usually goes out for a walk twice every day. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Ninety-five-year-old Chinese veteran Li Guangdian has always longed for home during over 70 years living in Myanmar, reports the Beijing News.

Li joined the army and left his home in southwest China's Yunnan province in 1939. He was recruited into the Chinese Expeditionary Force in the 1940s to fight the Japanese invaders in Myanmar (then Burma) during World War II.

Li was stranded in Myitkyina, Myanmar after the war. He married a woman also from Yunnan, and has one son and three daughters.

Li Guangdian shows tax documents for his temporary residential permit of Myanmar in Myitkyina, Myanmar, in April, 2017. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Li Guangdian shows tax documents for his temporary residential permit of Myanmar in Myitkyina, Myanmar, in April, 2017. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Li holds a Myanmar temporary residential permit, which limits him to living in the turbulent north of the country. He also needs to pay tax every year for the permit. However, with the desire to go back to China someday, Li and his family members haven't taken Myanmar citizenship. "We are just guests in Myanmar," said Li.

His four children all went to Chinese schools, learned the Chinese language, accepted traditional Chinese education and live in a typical Chinese way.

Li visited China in the 1990s and wanted to move the family back to China. He got his Chinese ID card in 1997 after his wife died. However, his four children, because they were born and have grown up in Myanmar, could not be identified as Chinese citizens. Li eventually went back to Myitkyina as he didn't want to live alone in China.

Li Guangdian, wearing the medals he won for his contribution during World War II, tells his stories in Myitkyina, Myanmar, on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Li Guangdian, wearing the medals he won for his contribution during World War II, tells his stories in Myitkyina, Myanmar, on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Cherishing his Chinese identity, one of Li's comforts is a golden medal commemorating the 60th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Li received the medal from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar in 2005.

There used to be dozens of Chinese veterans like Li living in Myitkyina. Now all the others have passed away. Li has become the last one.

Li Guangdian pays tribute to the martyrs of the former 30th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, who were killed in the Battle of Myitkyina during World War II, in the Chinese Cemetery in Myitkyina, Myanmar, on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, one day after Chinese Tomb-Sweeping Day. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Li Guangdian pays tribute to the martyrs of the former 30th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, who were killed in the Battle of Myitkyina during World War II, in the Chinese Cemetery in Myitkyina, Myanmar, on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, one day after Chinese Tomb-Sweeping Day. [Photo: The Beijing News]

Having accepted the fact that he may not go back home to China, Li has prepared a tomb for himself together with his wife in the Chinese Cemetery in Myitkyina. The inscription on the gravestone tells his stories in the battlefields, as well as his love of his homeland.

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