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We're very excited to have our second cohort of China India Scholar-Leaders here in NYC for their month-long CISLI Fellows residency.

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Ahmed Diiriye
· July 9, 2017
It can become a more evailable for my own vision
Gary Zaetz
· June 8, 2014
An Open Letter to China's Foreign Minister, Mr. Wang Yi
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Dear Foreign Minister Wang,...
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We, the undersigned family members and supporters of America's unrecovered deceased MIA (missing in action) servicemen in Arunachal Pradesh, write to you to respectfully seek your Government’s cooperation in returning their remains to their country and their families.
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These families just want the mortal remains of their loved ones returned from their documented crash sites in Arunachal Pradesh, but the Chinese Government has created a huge impediment to this recovery by publicly attacking, in state-run media, operations intended to recover their remains.
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These heroic airmen lost their lives in World War II serving in the US Army Air Force and defending China against Japanese Imperial aggression, and the Chinese Government has honored their sacrifice by establishing memorials to them throughout China, for which we are grateful.
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As you are well aware, for decades, the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has considered India’s administration of Arunachal Pradesh to be illegal, claiming that the entire territory of Arunachal Pradesh actually belongs to China. The PRC Government, in fact, refers to Arunachal Pradesh as “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” and prefers to call it “Southern Tibet.” The PRC Government does not recognize the passports of Indians who reside in Arunachal Pradesh, and publicly protests whenever senior Indian Government officials like India’s Prime Minister or Defence Minister visit Arunachal Pradesh.
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On March 25, 2008, shortly after the announcement of a US-India agreement to permit recovery operations in Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of Northeast India, the Chinese Government publicly alleged on China Radio International (CRI) that US efforts to recover their remains from Arunachal Pradesh are intended to "restrain” China. The radio commentary “described New Delhi’s motivations in this regard as attempting to strengthen military ties with Washington and legalise the status of Arunachal Pradesh as an Indian province, expecting that this would contribute to an increase in India’s weight in the ongoing negotiations with China on the disputed border. The US motivations, according to the Commentary, were to further develop its military relations with India...” (B. Raman, "Meanwhile, in Arunachal", Outlook India, June 7, 2012 )
This China Radio International commentary, by attributing ulterior motives to American MIA recovery operations in Arunachal Pradesh, is extremely inaccurate and misleading. In reality, the only reason for these operations is humanitarianism and observance of the law of war codified in the Geneva Conventions: to locate the remains of American airmen at their crash sites in Arunachal Pradesh and return them to their families, who have been waiting for decades to be able to finally bury their loved ones. MIA recovery operations in Arunachal Pradesh are purely humanitarian in motivation, and are not the least bit targeted against China.
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To allege that the US interest in these MIA recovery operations is to “restrain” China simply ignores the facts. After the turn of the millenium, the US Government showed very little interest in Arunachal Pradesh at all. It wasn’t until 2003-2007, when a private American investigator started locating US World War II crash sites in Arunachal Pradesh, that the families of these men started approaching the US Government about recovering their remains from these crash sites.
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In fact, the US Government for many months rejected these families’ requests, including my own family’s requests, that their loved ones’ remains be returned. The US Government had to be vigorously pushed by the families of these men to show any interest whatsoever in sending teams into Arunachal Pradesh to recover MIA remains. In fact, the US Defense Department cited numerous reasons to these families for NOT pursuing MIA recovery operations there. Only when the mass media in the US and India started publicizing the efforts of these families were the US and Indian Governments embarrassed into acting.
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Furthermore, there is no evidence that the US has ever sought any kind of permanent military presence in Arunachal Pradesh. While there have been many joint US-Indian military exercises over the years, not a single one has ever been conducted in Arunachal Pradesh.
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Nonetheless, the fact that the Government of China verbally attacked US remains recovery operations in Arunachal Pradesh in its 2008 China Radio International commentary is most probably why the only crash site recovery operation ever started in Arunachal, at my uncle’s B-24 crash site, was prematurely halted in late 2009, before any remains could be recovered. Both the Indian Government and the new US Administration evidently did not want to risk antagonizing the Chinese Government by continuing the recovery operation, according to many well-informed scholars and journalists. Up to the present day, crash site recovery operations have not been permitted by the Indian Government anywhere in Arunachal Pradesh, out of fear of negative Chinese reaction.
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The Chinese Government needs to acknowledge this purely humanitarian dimension of the US-China relationship by stating publicly that it has no objections to the US Government sending recovery teams into Arunachal Pradesh to recover our relatives' remains. Until the Chinese Government makes that statement, the families of these heroes and their supporters will be compelled to put a large part of the blame on the Chinese Government for the current deadlock on resuming recoveries there.
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The current Chinese policy, unchanged since the China Radio International commentary of March 25, 2008, is interfering with purely humanitarian MIA recovery operations, and causing great distress to the families of these MIAs, who just want the remains of their loved ones returned after so many years.
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As relatives of the more than 400 American Army Air Force aviators whose remains are kept in limbo by this unjust policy, we respectfully request that the Chinese Government, in the interest of international humanitarianism, observance of the law of war, and good relations between the US and Chinese peoples, publicly deny that it has any objections at all to the resumption of MIA recoveries operations in the Arunachal Pradesh region of India.

Sincerely,

Gary Zaetz, nephew of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz and spokesperson for this family group
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Jana Churchwell, “family researcher for the missing military members in the China-Burma-India theater of operations”
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Janet Porter, “family member who is more than anxious for the return of Arunachal MIA USAAF Capt. John Lawrence ‘Blackie’ Porter yet in my lifetime”
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Larry Zaetz, younger brother of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz
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Carolyn Etherington Hornback, niece of Arunachal MIA USAAF Sgt. H. C. Jones, from B-24 41-23791
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John Hornback, husband of Carolyn Etherington Hornback
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Clem Clapp, relative of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Harvey M. Nix
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Joyce Carol Dougal, relative of Arunachal MIA USAAF Flight Officer Sheldon Chambers
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Regina Zaetz, wife of Gary Zaetz
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Daniel Zaetz, great-nephew of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz
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Matthew Zaetz, great-nephew of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz
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Laura Zaetz, great-niece of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz
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April Zaetz. great-niece of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz
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Heidi Briley, niece of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Irwin Zaetz
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Bill Roan, nephew of Arunachal MIA USAAF 1st Lt. Robert Eugene Oxford
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Merrill Hannah Roan, wife of Bill Roan
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Bill and Anne Scherer, son and daughter-in-law of CBI MIA 1st Lt. William K. Scherer, MIA since January 6, 1945
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Bill Verhaegen, nephew of Arunachal MIA USAAF Staff Sgt. Louis F. Verhaegen
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Rick Ryan, second cousin of Arunachal MIA USAAF Staff Sgt. Charles D. “Buck” Ginn
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Carla Charter, freelance journalist
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Gary E. Earls
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Jack Gross
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Heather Hornus-Corace
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Debbie Baud
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Anand S. Kumar
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Venkatesh Chittarvu
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Jen Slater
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Michael Minard
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Lenzing Pertin
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Er Arnab Jan Deka
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