Starting from Beijing: Events Marking the 115th Anniversary of John Rabe’s Arrival in Beijing

On September 11, “Starting from Beijing -- Friendship between John Rabe and the Chinese People -- the 115th Anniversary of John Rabe’s Arrival in Beijing” was held in Beijing Union University. The event was hosted jointly by Beijing Union University and Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and supported by China Germany Friendship Association, International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China Society for People’s Friendship Studies, and China Railway Museum.

Speakers at the event included Li Dehuang, deputy Party secretary of Beijing Union University; Wang Yanxia, vice president and senior counsellor of Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Shi Mingde, president of China Germany Friendship Association and former Chinese ambassador to Germany; Liu Xinsheng, president of China Society for People’s Friendship Studies; and Lv Hongwei, deputy director of the Department of European and Asian Affairs, Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Thomas Rabe, grandson of John Rabe, who is now a professor at Haidelberg University, came to China for this event and delivered a keynote speech.

According to Li Dehuang, John Rabe stayed in Beijing for 17 years in his three decades in China. Thanks to Mr. Thomas Rabe’s strong support, John Rabe Communication Centre Beijing was established at Beijing Union University in 2018 for the teaching of politics in the university, academic exchanges with foreign countries, academic research, and public education on patriotism and internationalism. Regarding Mr. Rabe as a family, rescuer, and friend of the Chinese people, the Centre studies the rationale behind Mr. Rabe’s actions to help 250,000 Chinese people in need based on his life and work experience in China, with an aim to advocate humanitarianism, develop the people-to-people friendship between China and Germany, and contribute to Beijing’s efforts to build itself into an international communication center of China.

Wang Yanxia said in her speech that Mr. Rabe was a deeply loved friend of the Chinese people and he had close ties with Beijing. In China, his second home, he observed how the Chinese people lived their life, felt the Chinese culture for himself, and developed strong compassion with the ordinary people here. This compassion drove him to throw himself into the breach when the Chinese people suffered from Japanese aggression. Beijing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries will strengthen cooperation with Beijing Union University and Mr. Thomas Rabe to disseminate Mr. John Rabe’s stories, advocate his spirit, enhance friendship between Chinese and foreign peoples, consolidate the foundation among the people for world peace and development, and write a new chapter in the friendship between people of China and Germany.

At the event, Professor Thomas Rabe gave a vivid presentation of how the close ties with the Chinese people spanned four generation in his family and expressed his will to carry on the great cause of peace and goodwill. Ren Guangji, secretary general of International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, announced the decision of recognizing John Rabe Communication Centre Beijing as an internationalism education base and the new plaque was unveiled by Shi Mingde, president of China Germany Friendship Association; Chu Guoqing, Party secretary of Beijing Union University; Thomas Rabe; and Michael Crook, president of International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives.

After the event, participants visited John Rabe Communication Centre Beijing and toured Beijing along Mr. Rabe’s footprints, visiting China Railway Museum, former Siemens office in Suzhou Hutong, and other sites.

About John Rabe

John Rabe (1882-1950) was an employee of Siemens AG China Corporation. He came to China in 1908 and successively worked for the company’s branches in Beijing, Tianjin and Nanjing. In 1937, shortly before the Japanese aggressors took Nanjing, he, together with around a dozen foreign nationals in China, established the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone and served as chairperson, providing a refuge for 250,000 Chinese civilians. For this, he was known as the “Good man in Nanking” and he has always been highly respected and praised by the Chinese government and people. Chinese President Xi Jinping once described Mr. Rabe as having great love for live and committed to the pursuit of peace.

John Rabe left five volumes of manuscripts, titled Beijing in my eyes. His writings give an objective description of what Beijing was like around a hundred year ago and contain images of the city at the time. Since his former residence is nowhere to find today, John Rabe Communication Centre Beijing, located in Beijing Union University, is the place where all relevant materials are kept and displayed. The centre is now a comprehensive platform for teaching, research and international exchanges.