General Revisits Shanghai

I have known General Chi Haotian (born in 1929) for decades. When the World Expo Shanghai 2010 was approaching its finale in October， I talked to the 82-year-old veteran in a bid to convince him that the spectacular expo was indeed worth visiting. He considered my proposal. Three days later he called me saying that he was ready to go to Shanghai and pay a visit to the expo. He invited me along.

It was by no means Chi’s first visit to the metropolis. He came to Shanghai in 1949 as a political instructor of a company in the Third Field Army of the People’s Liberation Army. The PLA soldiers were instructed to minimize the possible damages to Shanghai， then the largest urban center in the Far East.

Chi’s company was to capture a bridge on Suzhou Creek. The battle seethed for more than 10 hours in the daytime. The PLA soldiers failed to move ahead， as they were ordered not to use heavy weapons. The KMT soldiers held the position. That night， Chi and two young soldiers penetrated the enemy’s camp by going through an underground culvert and wading across the creek. They stumbled upon the command post of Division 204 of the KMT army and captured its deputy commander. Chi bluffed and ordered the deputy commander to pull the soldiers back from the bridge. Totally confused by the surprise attack， the deputy commander thought the PLA were already in the city and obeyed Chi’s demand. The captain of Chi’s company was just wondering how Chi’s night sneak reconnaissance proceeded when he saw the enemy soldiers stopped firing and began withdrawing. The captain realized what was happening and ordered his soldiers to storm the bridge. The 20-year-old Chi was later awarded East China People’s Hero for his bold exploit， something rarely seen in the history of PLA.

Chi， a veteran who saw fierce battles and was injured five times and received nine medals of honors， rose in the army step by step. In 1987 he became Chief of General Staff of the PLA and in 1993 became Defense Minister. After ten years in the position， he stepped down in 2003 at the age of 74.

Chi was excited by the great changes he was seeing in Shanghai. We stayed in Yan’an Hotel， which was about a 30-minute drive from the World Expo site. We spent three days visiting the pavilions. Every time we traveled to and from to the expo， Chi watched and marveled at the great cityscape. At the expo garden， we visited China Pavilion， Saudi Arabia Pavilion， and Joint Africa Pavilion. We also visited Taiwan Pavilion， Petroleum Pavilion， and Automobile Pavilion. Chi was excited by the glory and glitz of the expo. In one car trip， he reminisced the past， saying that he was a survivor of the war that liberated China. He mourned fellow soldiers who had fallen for the new nation. Whenever he thinks of these heroes， he swears that he would serve the people heart and soul. On the evening of October 27， 2010， Chi Haotian received a medal from the WHF-foundation for his contribution to harmony.

Friendship

I first met with Chi Haotian in mid-October 1969 when the situation of the border between China and Soviet Union became extremely intense. With the instruction of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai， we ten journalists went to the border area to get a general picture of the border situation. At that time Chi Haotian was deputy director of the political department of the 27th Army. Chi was in charge of taking us around. He made sure that we lived well and worked well. We spent three months traveling and reporting. When my wife was about to give birth to our first child in Beijing， I was able to hitch a ride on a military plane when a general needed to visit the capital. I went back to Beijing carrying the first batch of news stories. I am always grateful to Chi for his thoughtful arrangements: I ran a business trip and found time to visit my wife in hospital and saw our first son.

I asked a Chinese military attaché in Chili to bring a copy of my book on the war in 1982 between Great Britain and Argentina over the Islas Malvinas to Chi Haotian when the attaché left for Beijing to report his work. When the attaché came back， he brought me a letter from Chi. Chi invited me to visit him whenever I came back to Beijing.

When Chi Haotian headed a Chinese military delegation to visit Brazil， Argentina and Chili， I was in Chili. When he came to Santiago and learned that I was there， he made arrangements for him and me to meet for one and half an hour.□