Commemoration of International Friend Michael Lindsay Held in Beijing

his year of 2014 marks the 105th anniversary of the birth and 20th anniversary of the death of Mr. Michael Lindsay， an outstanding international friend from Britain. On August 20， China Society for People’s Friendship Studies （PFS）， the Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， China Radio International， Yuanpei School of Peking University， and Information Research Institute of Xinhua News Agency jointly held a commemoration meeting in Beijing.

James Lindsay， his son who was born in the revolutionary base of Yanan， Susan Lawrence， his granddaughter， and Anna Lindsay Brookes， his great granddaughter， came to China especially for the occasion. PFS President Ma Canrong and Adviser Qian Yongnian， He Liliang， widow of former Vice Premier Huang Hua who had known Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay since the Yanan days， and 99-year-old Professor Isabel Crook， who enjoyed a half-century-long friendship with the couple， also joined about a hundred people from all walks of life in Beijing.

Mr. Michael Lindsay， an Oxford graduate， was invited by Yenching University （now Peking University） to teach in China in 1937. This was the era when Japan launched a war in China and occupied large areas of its territory， and the Chinese people rose to fight them.

Mr. Lindsay had close contact with progressive students and supported their revolutionary action. He saw clearly that the Japanese imperialists had greater ambition than just seizing China， and that was to rule the whole of Asia by colluding with fascist Germany in an attempt to carve up the world.

He witnessed the heroic spirit of the Chinese people under extremely difficult conditions. Inspired by the righteousness of the Chinese people’s struggle， he made a visit to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area in 1939 together with Lai Puwu， Xiao Zaitian and Zhao Ming. At the end of 1941， Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor， triggering war with the United States. Japanese military police came into Yenching University to arrest Michael and his new wife， Hsiao-li. The couple managed to escape from the campus and were helped to reach the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army where they met the Commander-in-Chief Zhu De.

After that， Michael Lindsay joined the Chinese People’s War of Resistance. Working as a technical adviser of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Command， he helped build radio communication systems. In the guerrilla area under Japanese occupation， he and his wife Hsiao-li shared weal and woe with the soldiers led by Zhu De， Peng Dehuai， Nie Rongzhen and Lu Zhengcao.

Applying his knowledge， he made radio transmitter receivers with electronic parts taken from radio sets captured from the Japanese and trained many telegraph operators. He also risked his life to send medicine， communication equipment and other military materials in extreme short supply to the Eighth Route Army and the guerrillas.

Over a period of more than two years， the couple moved from unit to unit and finally reached Yanan in May 1944.

The 18 months Michael Lindsay spent there became the most memorable in his life. He often talked about his work with Mao Zedong， Zhou Enlai， Zhu De and other leaders of the Communist Party of China （CPC） and socialized enthusiastically at dance parties. They even shared the harvest of each other’s vegetable gardens.

Michael said approvingly： “Under any circumstances， the practice and working style of the Communist leaders are first rate.” He and Hsiao-li took part in the reception of the Chinese and foreign journalists and the United States Army Observer Group in Yanan. He also had a long talk with Patrick Hurley， a personal envoy from US President Roosevelt who came to Yanan for coordination. He saw that the CPC members served the people wholeheartedly and put other’s interests above their own and firmly believed that this fine style of work was the guarantee for the final victory of the Chinese revolution.

At the request of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De， Michael Lindsay successfully built a 1kW transmitter that could send signals to the US West Coast， enabling the English Daily Bulletin from Yanan to reach the United States directly. This marked the formal beginning of the New China News Agency， or Xinhua， China’s official news agency， going global. Meanwhile， he wrote and helped revise and proofread articles for overseas broadcast， and sometimes even took part in broadcasting himself， making major contributions to enabling the world to understand China.

Being an economist， he made a thorough study of the politics， economy and education of the wartime China and studied the banking， financial and economic systems in the local region. He wrote a book The Taxation System of Shansi-Chahar-Hobei Border Region， and other political books such as Notes on Education Problems in Communist China， China and the Cold War and The Unknown War： North China 1937-1945， and many articles. The Unknown War： North China 1937-1945 was translated into Chinese by Comrades Yang Chongguang and Hao Ping and published by the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House. Hsiao-li Lindsay also wrote a book Bold Plum： With the Guerrillas in China’s War Against Japan. Not long after Michael passed away in February 1994， Hsiao-li moved to live in China. She died in Beijing in April 2010.

A commemorative meeting for her was also held on August 22 in Lishi District of Luliang City， Shanxi Province， her hometown.