The following article, which we reprint from the Xinhua News Agency, reports on a commemorative event held in Shijiazhuang, the capital of China’s Hebei Province, on December 21, 2024, to honour the memory of Canadian internationalist surgeon and member of the Communist Party of Canada, Norman Bethune.
November 12, 2024, was the 85th anniversary of Bethune’s death at the age of 49 from blood poisoning, while assisting the Chinese people in their war of resistance against Japanese aggression. Earlier he had served in the International Brigades supporting the Spanish Republic in the fight against fascism.
December 21, 2024, marked the 85th anniversary of the publication of Mao Zedong’s article, ‘In Memory of Norman Bethune’, one of the most famous writings of the late Chinese leader.
The Xinhua article highlighted the participation in the commemoration of Michael Crook. The son of internationalist communist fighters David and Isabel Crook, Michael is the Chairman of the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives (known as ‘Gung Ho’) and a member of the Friends of Socialist China advisory group.
“My father met Norman Bethune in Spain during his recovery from battle injuries. Influenced by him, my father aspired to come to China, where he met my mother and later had me,” the article quotes Michael as saying.
We also reproduce – from the Marxist Internet Archive – Chairman Mao’s article, in which he writes:
“What kind of spirit is this that makes a foreigner selflessly adopt the cause of the Chinese people’s liberation as his own? It is the spirit of internationalism, the spirit of communism, from which every Chinese Communist must learn. Leninism teaches that the world revolution can only succeed if the proletariat of the capitalist countries supports the struggle for liberation of the colonial and semi-colonial peoples and if the proletariat of the colonies and semi-colonies supports that of the proletariat of the capitalist countries. Comrade Bethune put this Leninist line into practice. We Chinese Communists must also follow this line in our practice. We must unite with the proletariat of all the capitalist countries, with the proletariat of Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany, Italy and all other capitalist countries, for this is the only way to overthrow imperialism, to liberate our nation and people and to liberate the other nations and peoples of the world… Comrade Bethune’s spirit, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self, was shown in his great sense of responsibility in his work and his great warm-heartedness towards all comrades and the people.”
Death anniversary of Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune commemorated in China
A commemoration event was held in north China’s Hebei Province on Saturday to honor Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune for his selflessness and spirit of internationalism.
Titled “Memories Through Time and Space,” the event was hosted by the North China Military Martyrs Cemetery in the provincial capital Shijiazhuang.
Around 100 people, including soldiers, students and individuals from various walks of life, attended the event.
This year marks the 85th death anniversary of Bethune, who died of blood poisoning at the age of 49 on Nov. 12, 1939 in China while aiding the Chinese people in their fight against Japanese aggression. His remains were relocated to the cemetery in 1953.
The commemoration began at 10 a.m., with participants bowing before the surgeon’s tomb and presenting flower baskets.
“My father met Norman Bethune in Spain during his recovery from battle injuries. Influenced by him, my father aspired to come to China, where he met my mother and later had me,” said Michael Crook, chairman of the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives.
His parents, David and Isabel Crook, played an important role in training a large number of foreign-language professionals for China.
“The spirit of Bethune has not faded with time; instead, it has been widely inherited and carried forward in both China and Canada,” said Hu Jinqiang, director of the North China Military Martyrs Cemetery.
Hu noted that today Bethune is not just a name but a symbol of internationalism, humanism and selfless dedication. “We commemorate him to inspire more people to remember history and carry forward his spirit.”
In memory of Norman Bethune
Comrade Norman Bethune,[1] a member of the Communist Party of Canada, was around fifty when he was sent by the Communist Parties of Canada and the United States to China; he made light of travelling thousands of miles to help us in our War of Resistance Against Japan. He arrived in Yenan in the spring of last year, went to work in the Wutai Mountains, and to our great sorrow died a martyr at his post. What kind of spirit is this that makes a foreigner selflessly adopt the cause of the Chinese people’s liberation as his own? It is the spirit of internationalism, the spirit of communism, from which every Chinese Communist must learn. Leninism teaches that the world revolution can only succeed if the proletariat of the capitalist countries supports the struggle for liberation of the colonial and semi-colonial peoples and if the proletariat of the colonies and semi-colonies supports that of the proletariat of the capitalist countries.[2] Comrade Bethune put this Leninist line into practice. We Chinese Communists must also follow this line in our practice. We must unite with the proletariat of all the capitalist countries, with the proletariat of Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany, Italy and all other capitalist countries, for this is the only way to overthrow imperialism, to liberate our nation and people and to liberate the other nations and peoples of the world. This is our internationalism, the internationalism with which we oppose both narrow nationalism and narrow patriotism.
Comrade Bethune’s spirit, his utter devotion to others without any thought of self, was shown in his great sense of responsibility in his work and his great warm-heartedness towards all comrades and the people. Every Communist must learn from him. There are not a few people who are irresponsible in their work, preferring the light and shirking the heavy, passing the burdensome tasks on to others and choosing the easy ones for themselves. At every turn they think of themselves before others. When they make some small contribution, they swell with pride and brag about it for fear that others will not know. They feel no warmth towards comrades and the people but are cold, indifferent and apathetic. In truth such people are not Communists, or at least cannot be counted as devoted Communists. No one who returned from the front failed to express admiration for Bethune whenever his name was mentioned, and none remained unmoved by his spirit. In the Shansi-Chahar-Hopei border area, no soldier or civilian was unmoved who had been treated by Dr. Bethune or had seen how he worked. Every Communist must learn this true communist spirit from Comrade Bethune.
Comrade Bethune was a doctor, the art of healing was his profession and he was constantly perfecting his skill, which stood very high in the Eighth Route Army’s medical service. His example is an excellent lesson for those people who wish to change their work the moment they see something different and for those who despise technical work as of no consequence or as promising no future.
Comrade Bethune and I met only once. Afterwards he wrote me many letters. But I was busy, and I wrote him only one letter and do not even know if he ever received it. I am deeply grieved over his death. Now we are all commemorating him, which shows how profoundly his spirit inspires everyone. We must all learn the spirit of absolute selflessness from him. With this spirit everyone can be very useful to the people. A man’s ability may be great or small, but if he has this spirit, he is already noble-minded and pure, a man of moral integrity and above vulgar interests, a man who is of value to the people.
NOTES
1. The distinguished surgeon Norman Bethune was a member of the Canadian Communist Party. In 1936 when the German and Italian fascist bandits invaded Spain, he went to the front and worked for the anti-fascist Spanish people. In order to help the Chinese people in their War of Resistance Against Japan, he came to China at the head of a medical team and arrived in Yenan in the spring of 1938. Soon after he went to the Shansi-Chahar-Hopei border area. Imbued with ardent internationalism and the great communist spirit, he served the army and the people of the Liberated Areas for nearly two years. He contracted blood poisoning while operating on wounded soldiers and died in Tanghsien, Hopei, on November 12, 1939
2. See J. V. Stalin, “The Foundations of Leninism”, Problems of Leninism, Eng. ed., FLPH, Moscow, 1954, pp. 70-79.
