www.montereycountyweekly.com october 12-18, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 19 ed a thank you by mail to the Chinese government. A month later, he received a reply. “I truly feel from the Stilwell family the friendly sentiments of the American people toward the Chinese people,” read the note. It praised Stilwell’s efforts during the war and declared him an old friend. “The people form the foundation of the ChinaU.S. relationship,” the letter continued, “and people-to-people friendship is the source of its growth.” The sentiment may be surprising, considering the strained relationships between the U.S. and China. But it is made more extraordinary by its author—Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China. “I don’t know of any other precedents of Xi Jinping—or other Chinese presidents—writing letters to foreign private citizens,” reports Dr. Vincent K.L. Chang, a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands and senior research fellow at the Leiden Asia Center, by email. “At the same time, I also don’t know how often American citizens have sent friendly letters to the Chinese president. The recent developments strike me as rather unique and trend-breaking.” The anniversary celebration and the exchange of pleasantries—Xi’s letter ends with a conversational “you are all welcome to visit China more often”— mark a transformation in the country’s diplomatic approach to the U.S. For Stilwell’s descendants, who still have close ties to Monterey County, the softening tone seems to be bringing this diplomatic relationship full circle. In the aftermath of the communist victory over Chiang Kai-shek’s forces in 1949 that saw the nationalists flee to Taiwan, the official version of China’s involvement in World War II was framed as a distraction from the more significant class struggle that brought the communists to power. But that began to change in the 1980s, as the state began to drop the ideological narrative in favor of a national struggle by an embattled, long-suffering people. According to professor Chang, this message was given greater refinement and emphasis starting in the 2000s, first by Hu Jintao’s government and then under the direction of Xi. Central to this telling are the Chinese people united against a common foe and the Communist Party’s contribution to the global coalition against Axis aggression. The Stilwell museum was established in 1991, on the 45th anniversary of the general’s death in 1946. Along with a museum dedicated to the Flying Tigers, it became an important part of establishing this story, with renovations to the Chongqing facility occurring periodically, beginning in 2000. “In today’s China, these historical narratives ultimately must fit within the centrally drawn bounds,” Chang relates. “But in this case, top-down and bottom-up dynamics are not conflicting. I personally know several people in Chongqing who have been involved in the curation of the Stilwell Museum exhibition, and they are all strongly dedicated to keeping this aspect of the city’s history alive and accessible.” That spirit, when applied on an international scale, is known as “people’s diplomacy,” a bottom-up tool for improving state-to-state relationships. Xi also wrote a complimentary letter to surviving members of the Flying Tigers and China’s envoy to Washington, Qin Gang—outfitted in an American flying jacket of the era—addressed a reunion of the airmen who volunteered to fight in China. Yuan Jiajun, a member of China’s 24-person Politburo, was on hand at the Stilwell Museum celebration, greeting Susan Cole and Nancy Millward—Easterbrook’s daughters and the general’s great-granddaughters. In an email, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., explains the significance of Xi’s letter to Easterbrook. “President Xi noted that to grow China-U.S. relations, the hope is in the people, the foundation lies among the people, and the future lies with the youth,” Liu writes. “The letter fully reflects the high importance that President Xi Jinping places on closer exchanges and communication between the people of the two countries.” Liu notes there are 284 pairings between Chinese and American jurisdictions, like sister city relationships. While these cultural connections might look like they matter just at the surface level, they represent something Above: Joseph Stilwell with his giant schnauzer, Gary, at the family’s home in Carmel. Right: Chinese President Xi Jinping sent this Aug. 29 letter to John Easterbrook, Stilwell’s grandson. (He included an accompanying English translation.) “General Stilwell was an old friend of the Chinese people,” Xi wrote. “The Chinese people will always remember this.” “For a drop of kindness, we will pay you back with a river of gratitude.” Courtesy John Easterbrook
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