Chinese-American collector Pedro Chan, head of the American Flying Tigers Institute, has received the second Guangdong Friendship Award for his decades of preserving Flying Tigers artifacts and promoting China-U.S. people-to-people ties.
"I am very pleased to receive this Friendship Award issued by Guangdong Province. For me, it feels especially warm and familiar," he said. Within Guangdong, Chan estimates he has donated more than 3,000 items, including over 2,000 Flying Tigers pieces to venues such as the Guangdong Overseas Chinese Museum, Jiangmen Wuyi Overseas Chinese Museum and Taishan Overseas Chinese Museum.
In 2007, he brought 11 Flying Tigers veterans—nine from Taishan and two from Kaiping—along with family members, 49 people in all, to Guangzhou, Jiangmen and Taishan, handing over hundreds of uniforms, medals and letters. Taishan's highlights include two autographed letters from General Claire Chennault to a Chinese-American doctor invited to serve as an AVG medical officer. Chan's fuller collection also covers overseas Chinese anti-war and migration history starting from the 1850 gold-rush period and the U.S. Civil War.
Commenting on recent China-U.S. talks, Chan said the meeting "reached what looked like about eight points of consensus" and welcomed President Xi's pledge to invite 100,000 young Americans to China, following an earlier 50,000-youth initiative.
Next April he plans to bring 20 to 30 Flying Tigers descendants to Kunming, Guilin, Guangzhou and Taishan. "The Flying Tigers spirit is cooperation and creating a win-win outcome," Chan said—a message he hopes young people on both sides will inherit.
Reporter: Guo Zedong
Script: Guo Zedong
Cameraman: Pan Jiajun
Video & Poster: Pan Jiajun
