Dongji Island: A place where a heroic story began

The full-page advertisement published in British newspapers by Fang Li [Photo from Wechat account baojieuk]

Dongji Island, one of the Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang province, has become a hit after the debut of The Continent, a film made by the famous young Chinese writer Han Han.

The island's picturesque seaside scenery and unique fishing village customs have attracted countless tourists from home and abroad.

Yet the story of Dongji Island is much more than that.

In 1942, during World War II, a Japanese transport ship named Lisbon Maru with almost 1,850 British prisoners of war (POWs) on board was torpedoed by The Grouper, a US Navy submarine, and soon sank in the ocean about 3 nautical miles from Dongji.

Fishermen from the island risked their lives to rescue hundreds of British POWs with their fishing boats. The fishermen took them to their homes and gave their clothes and food to help the soldiers.

More than seven decades after the sinking of Lisbon Maru, a Chinese-US film producer, Fang Li, has made a documentary called The 828 Unforgotten to tell the story of these brave and warm-hearted fishermen from Dongji Island.

"The surviving witnesses are nearly 100 years old, so we really don't have much time," Fang said. "The whole process has cost a lot but I will keep going even if no one supports me."

In July 2018, Fang published full-page advertisements in three major British newspapers – The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian – headlined "Where are you? Looking for relatives of Lisbon Maru POWs".

The advertisements soon raised a lot of attention in Britain, and Fang became interviewed by many media outlets, such as BBC Radio 4 and The Times.

"Making a documentary is never for profit. The only purpose is to commemorate life," Fang said.

Fang is interviewed by BBC Radio 4. [Photo from Wechat account baojieuk]