LONDON, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom (UK) hosted a special reception in London on Saturday for the families of the Lisbon Maru survivors, commemorating the heroic rescue during World War II and celebrating the Spring Festival.
In October 1942, the Lisbon Maru, a cargo vessel requisitioned by the Japanese army to transport more than 1,800 British prisoners of war (POWs) from Hong Kong to Japan, was struck by U.S. forces off the Zhoushan Islands in China's Zhejiang Province. As the ship sank, local fishermen risked their lives to rescue over 300 POWs.
