The Lisbon Maru: Chinese and British Friendships Forged

Brief Introduction/ Background to the Topic

Background to the speaker’s interest; how Fang Li came across the story and developed a passion for the subject – at very considerable personal cost; the significance of the story; the success of the film; the connection with President Xi Jinping; the memorials in both the UK and China and the relationship between Ambassador Zheng Zeguang and the relatives of the Lisbon Maru POWs; the future?

Brief Biography: Brian Finch

Commissioned into The Middlesex Regiment in 1960; became aware of the Lisbon Maru atrocity; posted to Hong Kong to learn Chinese; spent some 15 years in Hong Kong learning about China and Hong Kong; met members of The Lisbon Maru Association of Hong Kong and discovered their links to the fishermen of Zhoushan; translated into English a book the Association had written (in Chinese) about the incident as told by the fishermen; became Military Adviser to Fang Li’s documentary film “The Sinking of The Lisbon Maru”; helped build a Lisbon Maru Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum; helped Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang and the Embassy develop friendships with relatives of POWs who were on the Lisbon Maru.