Chinese workers who served on the Western Front during World War I are being honored in an exhibition in Beijing that opened on June 13.
“Honor and Sacrifice: The historical experience of Chinese Workers in World War I”, organized by the Overseas Chinese History Museum of China and the Shandong Overseas Chinese Museum, pays homage to the devotion and hard work of Chinese workers, in many cases at the cost of their own lives, during World War I.
During World War I, about 140,000 Chinese workers left China to serve on the Western Front in Europe, undertaking strenuous field logistics tasks for Allied Forces including those of Britain and France. With their tenacity and hard work they made great contributions to the victory of the Allies and to postwar reconstruction.
About 20,000 of them died abroad, and of those who survived, more than 3,000 remained in France, becoming the first generation of Chinese immigrants in Europe. After the war their historical achievements and great sacrifices were increasingly overlooked, barely known to the public.