A photo exhibition was held in east China's Nanjing City on Tuesday to commemorate the heroic deeds of the Flying Tigers aviators who fought in China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression during WWII.
In 1941, General Chennault organized the team of "Flying Tigers," officially known as the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Chinese people to fight the invading Japanese troops.
Over 2,000 American Flying Tigers aviators died in the war, and more than 200 were rescued by the Chinese civilians and farmers.
About 180 historical photos were displayed in the exhibition with Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation being a major contributor. Some of them were showed to the public for the first time.
The exhibition also showcased the latest research results on American air force participating in China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression collected over the recent years by Nanjing Memorial Hall of Fallen Aviators in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
"The Flying Tiger pilots over the last 30 years have been giving our foundation, these photographs, their stories. Each one was given to me by the pilot who told me what happened, where they were, the time and the day. So, they are remarkable records," said Jeffrey Greene, chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation.
At the exhibition's opening ceremony, a name list of 2,590 fallen U.S. aviators was released for the first time.
"I think it's a hard-won friendship between China and the United States. China and the U.S. should continue such friendship and pass down the spirit of Flying Tigers to the following generations," said Liu Yukang, a student of Jin Ling High School.
Photo exhibition held in Nanjing to commemorate feats of Flying Tigers
Amid growing concerns over the Trump administration's tariff policies, experts have warned that these measures could spark countermeasures from other countries and have serious consequences for the country's economy, including rising consumer prices, stock market volatility, and even a recession.
Despite widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" and higher rates on certain trading partners.
While Trump has long argued that tariffs would protect and create jobs in the country, economists widely believe that these policies could instead drive up unemployment and hurt consumers by pushing prices higher.
"In terms of the idea that this is just going to raise a lot of money, it's not clear how that happens without it being at the the cost of the U.S. consumer and some producers as well. Prices are going to go up for everybody. There will be job losses, probably," said Katherine Schmeiser Lande, professor of economics at Mount Holyoke College, in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) recently.
Experts also noted that as the U.S. enforces its tariff measures, other nations are likely to respond with countermeasures, and this could hit U.S. exports, particularly farm products like soybeans, which heavily rely on foreign markets.
Ultimately, they warned, such policies could harm U.S. farmers and businesses.
"It might lower the price for U.S. consumers, but we can't necessarily absorb all that excess. So this could be really problematic for farmers, and it could lead to a situation where they actually need government subsidies, which is a whole other issue," said Lande.
The stock market has already reacted sharply to tariff-related uncertainty.
In March, the indexes of Nasdaq and Standard and Poor 500 fell 8.21 percent and 5.75 percent, respectively, their worst monthly declines since December 2022.
Economists warn of further volatility as trade tensions continue to weigh on investor confidence.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs recently released a report stating that as U.S. tariff policies disrupt global trade and financial markets, the likelihood of a recession in the U.S. within the next 12 months has risen to 35 percent.
Since protectionism is at the heart of Trump's foreign policy, Malgorzata Bonikowska, president of the Center for International Relations in Poland, stressed that Europe will not bow to U.S. pressure, believing that the continent will respond firmly to its aggressive tariff measures.
"European Union does not want any trade war. We support World Trade Organization. We support multilateralism. So we don't like this approach of Trump administration and we regret. But if Trump pushes us, then we will look around. We have to do trade with other partners as well. So, it's not only the U.S. which is our trade and investment partner. We regret, but we definitely will not be weak in this regard," she said in another recent CCTV interview.
US “reciprocal tariffs” to harm itself, incur countermeasures: experts
