A representative of descendants of Flying Tigers veterans pays floral tribute to the monument at the Nanjing Anti-Japanese Aviation Martyrs Memorial Hall in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, July 16, 2026. File Photo: Xinhua

The Chinese and US militaries on Tuesday held a ceremony in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, for the handover of US military remains, with China transferring to the US side a batch of remains of American airmen who aided China's resistance against Japanese aggression during World War II (WWII), according to China's Ministry of National Defense.

These remains were recovered in areas along the Hump Route. The Hump, or the "death route" over the Himalayan mountains was operated jointly by China and the US from 1942 to 1945 to transport military supplies from India to Southwest China.

The mountain ranges crossed by the Hump route have an average elevation of about 5,000 meters, with the highest peaks reaching 7,000 meters - altitudes that were at the limits of what transport aircraft of the time could handle, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Cooperation in searching for the remains of missing US military service members in China is a vivid testament to the history of China and the US fighting side by side against Japanese fascism during WWII.

For years, guided by humanitarian principles, China has assisted the US in locating the relevant remains. 

China stands ready to continue pragmatic cooperation with the US in this area, injecting positive impetus to the development of a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability.


Global Times