China hands over remains of US airmen killed during World War II supply missions

China has handed over the remains of American airmen who were killed during World War II while carrying supplies over the Himalayas.

The Chinese and US militaries held a handover ceremony in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, on Tuesday to transfer remains excavated from sites along “the Hump”, a treacherous airlift route between India and China.

The Chinese defence ministry did not disclose how many sets of remains were handed over or whether the servicemen’s identities had been established.

The handover was the latest result of a decades-long effort to locate the remains of missing US service personnel.

“Over the years, China has consistently assisted the US in searching for the remains on humanitarian grounds,” the ministry said, adding that Beijing was ready to maintain practical exchanges to “contribute positively to building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability”.

The previous handover, involving remains excavated in August 2024 in Hengdong county in Hunan province, took place in April last year.

The Chinese defence ministry said at the time that such efforts “contributed positively to military-to-military relations”.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has estimated that at their peak, more than 100,000 US personnel were deployed to China during the war against Japan, with American aviators providing vital support to an outmatched Chinese air force.

The Hump served as a critical lifeline connecting Allied bases in India with southwestern China after Japanese forces severed overland supply routes.

Pilots had to brave unforgiving weather and terrain while flying over peaks with average heights of 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) and hundreds of men were lost during these missions.

SCMP Plus is a new premium news platform that gives you an

all-inclusive edge to stay ahead on China news.

To access our exclusive content you’ll need to subscribe.

Already a subscriber?

LOG IN

The US Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) estimates that roughly 690 American personnel who were lost in China remain unaccounted for.

The first joint search operations took place during the war, but they were halted by the Chinese civil war and did not resume until diplomatic relations were restored in 1979.

Civilian organisations have also helped in the search.

Fan Jianchuan, a tycoon who established a cluster of museums in Chengdu, told Cover News that museum staff had helped locate the remains handed over this week during a high-altitude search of Himalayan glaciers.

Fan’s team took part in a similar mission 11 years ago that found the wreckage of a US transport plane that was downed in Tibet in 1943. That search located 28 bone fragments that were transferred to the US authorities.

23:45

Highlights of China’s military parade marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender

In recent years, the joint searches were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and diplomatic tensions during Joe Biden’s presidency, but fieldwork resumed following a November 2023 summit between the US and Chinese leaders.

By January 2024, a DPAA team carried out surveys in Guangxi and Hunan – the agency’s first on-site missions in China since the pandemic. China’s defence ministry confirmed that the military had helped the US to carry out the surveys.