Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (R) meets with veterans and relatives of the Flying Tigers in Washington, US, November 10, 2018. (Photo: Chinese Defense Ministry)

Chinese people will never forget their old comrades-in-arms and old friends, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe said during a meeting with Flying Tigers veterans and their relatives in Washington on Saturday. 

During the meeting, Wei spoke highly of the great sacrifices made by the veterans of the Flying Tigers squadron for the cause of safeguarding the world peace, China News Service reported. 

"Time or distance will never thwart the China-US friendship," Wei noted.

The veteran pilot Jay Vineyard, who transported supplies between India and China and did 87 perilous round trip missions over the eastern Himalayan "hump route," and the granddaughter of Flying Tigers commander US General Claire Lee Chennault, Nell Calloway, attended the meeting. Calloway told the press during the event that she appreciated it very much that Chinese people still remember the Flying Tigers.

In 1941, close to 300 young Americans registered to join the American Volunteer Group (AVG) and were deployed to Asia.

Organized and commanded by US General Chennault, the AVG, who came to be known as the Flying Tigers, helped China fight invading Japanese troops during the WWII.

From December 1941 to July 1942, the AVG shot down 299 planes in over 50 battles against the Japanese, forcefully defending critical air space on China's rear front. Their bravery penned a celebrated chapter in China-US friendship, the Xinhua News Agency reported in December 2017.