Interview: My father risked his life to provide Chinese fighters with medicines during anti-Japanese war: Jean-Louis Bussiere

"During the Anti-Japanese War in China, my father, the French doctor Jean Augustine Bussiere (1872-1958), risking his own life to cross Japanese army lines, sent medicines, bandages from Beijing and St Michel hospital to a clinic in the hills," Bussiere's son has said recently in an exclusive written interview with Xinhua.

Jean-loui Bussiere, a cardiologist, said his father secretly transported weapons to the fighters of the Eighth Route Army and helped the Chinese wanting to fight Japanese cross enemy lines. He provided British radio batteries which have enabled Chinese troops hidden in the hills of staying in touch with Yan'an.

In a long letter to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1954, the French doctor regarded himself as "a Chinese patriot," added the French cardiologist.

Jean-Augustin Bussiere already had 20 years of experience in many parts of the world and worked with the Pasteur Institute and its many researchers, before he came to China.

He had a solid experience on epidemics of smallpox, plague, cholera, accumulated on his posts in Saigon, Persia, India. He considered it his duty to pass on the experience he gained throughout his career, his son told Xinhua.

Jean-Louis Bussiere thanked the Chinese government for inviting him to come to China to commemorate the end of the war against Japan and the end of World War II.

"I am proud that my father had been able to make humanitarian and patriotic contribution to the Chinese people during that very difficult time," Bussiere the son said.

"I hope these celebrations will honor those who fought and died on the battle field, serve as examples to future generations to build a more peaceful world and that former enemies can be reconciled," he added.

The French cardiologist said he has decided to create Jean Augustine Bussiere Association, with the help of his children, "to further develop cultural and artistic exchanges between (France and China)," as his father and his artist mother Wu Sidan did in their literary salon in Beijing.

In March 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a visit to France, said that the French doctor Jean Augustine Bussiere "risked his life and transported by bicycle precious medicines to the anti-Japanese base areas." Endit