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Honor guards escort coffins containing the remains of the Chinese People's Volunteers martyrs at Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 22, 2026. The remains of 12 Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs who lost their lives during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953) were returned to China from the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Wednesday. A Chinese Air Force Y-20B large transport aircraft carrying the remains of the fallen soldiers and 146 of their personal effects landed at Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province. After it entered China's airspace, the Y-20B transport aircraft was escorted by four J-20 fighter jets. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

SHENYANG, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The remains of 12 Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs who lost their lives during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953) were returned to China from the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Wednesday.

A Chinese Air Force Y-20B large transport aircraft carrying the remains of the fallen soldiers and 146 of their personal effects landed at Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

After entering China's airspace, the Y-20B transport aircraft was escorted by four J-20 fighter jets. Upon landing at the airport, it was given a water salute in tribute to the fallen heroes.

As honor guards carried the caskets off the plane, a remembrance ceremony was held at the airport, attended by more than 1,800 people, including representatives from the military, war veterans, and relatives of CPV martyrs.

The caskets were draped with the five-starred red flag, and participants bowed three times in solemn silence to the martyrs' remains.

The remains will be laid to rest in a martyrs' cemetery in Shenyang on Thursday.

More than 70 years ago, the CPV crossed the Yalu River and fought alongside the army and civilians of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) against the ROK army and U.S.-led UN forces. China sent 2.9 million CPV soldiers to assist the DPRK during the war, of whom more than 360,000 were killed or injured. Most of the fallen CPV soldiers were buried on the Korean Peninsula.

According to an agreement between China and the ROK signed in late 2013, the two sides consult every year on the handover of remains of Chinese soldiers found in the ROK.

Since 2014, China and the ROK have completed 13 consecutive handovers involving the remains of 1,023 CPV martyrs. Wednesday's mission also marks the first time the Y-20B has been deployed for repatriation duties.

Among the representatives who attended the ceremony at the airport were teachers and students from Pui Kiu Middle School in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The school was among the first in Hong Kong to raise the five-starred red flag after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. It has also organized five patriotic education trips to Shenyang to take part in the commemorative event. During the war, more than 20 students from the school signed up for recruitment and went to the battlefield.

"The heroic deeds of our predecessors are worthy of respect," said Cheung Hoi Ching, a third-year junior high school student from the school. "I want to learn from their devotion and carry forward their love and loyalty to the motherland."

After the ceremony, a convoy of 70 police motorcycles escorted the procession from the airport to the cemetery, a distance of roughly 30 km. Thousands of people stood solemnly along the route, their eyes following the fleet as it passed.

Billboards and LED screens along the roads displayed slogans welcoming the return of the remains of CPV martyrs. As the vehicles passed the entrance to the cemetery, Nan Qixiang, a veteran volunteer soldier, sounded a military bugle in salute to welcome his comrades home. His bugle calls were echoed by the melodies of brass trumpets and harmonicas.

"Today I did not sound the charge, but the victory call," said Nan, who served as a bugler on the battlefield during the war. "Brothers, I'm here to take you home."

In recent years, China has intensified efforts to identify the remains of CPV martyrs, including the creation of a DNA database for martyrs and their relatives, offering solid technical and data support to help more families find their missing loved ones.

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs has been seeking the relatives of the martyrs and analyzing their belongings. As of October 2025, the identities of 36 martyrs had been successfully confirmed and their relatives have been found, according to the ministry.