Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t36.2

v2.c14.s4.t36.2

As his many speeches and writings show, Bose greatly respected the Chinese people and also sympathised with their predicament for much of his active political life. He was a great admirer of Sun Yat-sen, whom he considered a consistent anti-imperialist and supporter of the Indian struggle for independence. When Japan invaded first Manchuria and then the Chinese mainland, Bose openly expressed sympathy for the Chinese in the following words: “Our whole heart goes to China in her hour of trial. China must still live – for her own sake and for humanity. Out of this ashes of conflict she will once again rise phoenix-like as she has so often done in the past.” As President of INC in 1938, he played a key role in organising the dispatch of the Indian Medical Mission to help war-torn China. He also tried to visit Chongqing in 1939 but was not given a passport by the British. Placed