第二次世界大战，英国凭借什么“保持冷静，继续前行”（Keep Calm and Carry On）？硝烟刚刚散去，为什么这个国家就对曾经出生入死的战友除之而后快？那些被拆散的家庭，一夜之间失去丈夫的妻子，被送入孤儿院的孩子，忍受了何等痛苦，骨肉分离，含恨离世？英国政府为何至今不肯正式道歉？造成了无数人间悲剧的种族主义恶魔今天又如何为祸世间？

CGTN独家纪录片探访二战期间英国商船上中国船员的后人，翻阅档案，揭秘80年前那场《隐秘的背叛》。

CGTN digs into a dark chapter of the UK's wartime history, where racial prejudice in some of the highest echelons of government resulted in broken families, lost heritage and a fight to make British authorities apologise for a shameful past.

 

 

 

背叛猝不及防

海上补给线是英国在第二次世界大战中的生命线，穿梭于大西洋上的商船队和海员们直面德国U型潜艇的鱼雷攻击、暴风雨、极寒天气、饥饿和脱水，将物资源源不断送往英伦三岛，被称为“第四军种”，是英国国家精神的象征。鲜为人知的是，这些英雄海员中，有1/7来自中国。中国海员们勤劳、勇敢、质朴，在战时，他们曾经是英国媒体广为称颂的英雄。

然而，硝烟刚刚散去，英国政府即秘密出台政策，将近万名中国海员驱逐出境。几个月前的亲密战友一夜之间成了“不受欢迎的多余人员”。为了达到目的，英国政府秘密修改海员岸上停留规则，动用政治警察，搜查住所，秘密抓捕并强制遣送。大批海员已在当地安家，与英国妇女结婚生子，一个个家庭被无端拆散，妻子再也见不到丈夫，襁褓中的孩子没有了父亲。

Heroic sailors braved the stormy seas and battlefronts of the North Atlantic to keep Allied forces supplied during the Second World War, defying U-boats and freezing weather to bring them food and other materials.

More than one in seven of the men risking their lives in those supply convoys were Chinese, recruited by the British government who said they were 'making history under fire'.

The seamen made new lives in Liverpool, a port city with a proud seafaring past and home to Europe's oldest Chinatown. Many of them married British women and had children, often returning to sea to bolster the Allied wartime effort.

图说：大西洋英国商船上的中国船员

 

生命在谎言和失望中枯萎

没有人告诉妻子和孩子家里的男人去哪了，他们就这样“凭空”消失了。家庭失去了生活来源，官方档案把中国海员的妻子标记为“妓女阶层”，政府拒绝给予她们任何生活补贴，公民权利被取消。由于家庭无力抚养，多数孩子被送去了孤儿院。

But once the war ended and British forces returned home triumphant, the Chinese sailors who were such a vital part of their victory were betrayed.

The government forcibly repatriated thousands of them, rounding them up from their homes, lodging houses, mahjong parlours, chip shops and bars, and forcing them on ships.

Hundreds of men vanished overnight, leaving behind wives, partners and children without any explanation of where they had gone and why.

CGTN speaks to sons, daughters and grandchildren of the sailors, whose families were torn apart and often left destitute after the Chinese seafarers disappeared.

英国政府、轮流执政的保守党和工党把这个见不得光的秘密严严实实地隐藏了70多年。无数生命在漫长的岁月里流逝，那些郁郁而终的妻子，那些死于贫病的孩子，他们永远等不到真相了。时至今日，活下来的人们什么都没有，除了心中无限的痛苦。他们甚至难以融入当地华人——他们的文化血脉被切断了，既不是华人，也不是英国人。他们的根丢了。

Some of their wives - who lost their British nationality as soon as they married an 'alien' - never recovered from the shock, while others were forced to give up their children for adoption or social care.

Many families were left struggling with feelings of pain and anger, led to believe that they had been wilfully abandoned.

Many in their late seventies and eighties feel they have little time left to get the answers they are owed, and hope speaking now will increase pressure on the government to respond.

 

图说：中国船员的后人接受CGTN采访

 

恶魔抬起了它丑恶的头

国会议员莎拉·欧文一语中的：“说到底就是种族歧视。”更令人不安的是，种族歧视的恶魔从未离开。莎拉认为，过去一两年在新冠疫情大流行的背景下，针对中国人的种族歧视并不是什么新鲜玩意儿，只不过是70多年前英国那些丑行的翻版。莎拉和另一位议员金·约翰逊加入了海员后人的抗争，不仅仅是为了那些曾经为英国出生入死却遭到无理驱逐的海员，不仅仅为那些含恨死去的妻子和孩子，不仅仅为了给还活着的人一个说法，更重要的是不让种族主义的毒瘤再侵蚀下一代，让孩子们不再受到种族主义霸凌。然而，路漫漫其修远兮，抗争者上下求索却难以得到一个满意的答案。

CGTN speaks to the people who would like simple answers for what happened to their Chinese fathers and grandfathers, with cautious hope of reconnecting with any relatives who may exist.

图说：中国船员的后人翻阅老照片和历史资料

英国欠他们一句“对不起”

“我对英国政府不报什么希望，”被驱逐海员的第三代凯丽·安告诉CGTN记者，“但他们总应该发声，为什么不能为过去的错误道歉呢？”而第二代朱迪·基宁更加悲观：“政府就等着我们这些老人一个个都死掉，到那时候他们就不用给任何人什么交代了。”

在不断的抗争下，英国政府终于在一份未公开的文件上承认了遣送政策的种族主义性质，内政部的一位部长半遮半掩地写道：“我非常遗憾，部分在二战中服务于商业舰队的人员，受到如此待遇。”然而，无论是英国政府、执政的保守党，还是反对党工党，都未对遣送政策进行正式道歉。

官方档案上登记的被遣送人员姓名并不准确，运送他们的船只也无从查找，有的人甚至没有登记姓名，而是被登记为“货物”。没有人知道他们之所终。他们的后人已届耄耋之年，也许他们永远也等不到答案了。

This film highlights how racism can have a multigenerational legacy of pain and injustice. As UK member of parliament, Sarah Owen told Jamie Owen, racism doesn't just go away. "Racism against Chinese and East Asians reared its ugly head again during the past two years with COVID." She reminds us that work still needs to be done to make sure that future generations are not subject to the same racism that the older generations have been.

图说：中国船员后人在利物浦中国船员纪念碑旁回忆往事

纪录片《隐秘的背叛》于2022年12月16日在CGTN英语、法语、西班牙语、阿拉伯语、俄语各电视频道播出，在CGTN网站及各社交平台同步推出。如有线索，请致信sailors@cgtn.com，我们将努力帮助中国海员后人寻找在国内的亲人。愿逝者安息，愿离散的家庭再相聚，愿种族主义的恶魔不再侵蚀下一代的心灵。

This is a story of a 70-year shame that the British government has only recently acknowledged, but has failed to apologise for. It's also about family - and a broken community's fight to reclaim histories and identities that were robbed from them.

Families of the repatriated sailors hope that people seeing the documentary may know something about what happened to their missing men.

Do you know more about this story? Email: sailors@cgtn.com