On September 25, Caledonian Club held an event in commemoration of British Olympic Champion Eric Liddel. Over a hundred of the members of the Club attended the event. Chargé D’affaires Cong Peiwu attended and addressed the event.

Mr. Cong made a positive comment on Eric Liddel’s deep insight in the Olympic Spirit, his useful help to the Chinese education and sports undertakings and his touching story of sharing the hard time with the Chinese people during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The Chargé D’affaires said that this year marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of Eric Liddel. His story is still widely spread in China instead of fading with time. The Chinese people are also commemorating this envoy of friendship between the Chinese and British peoples in various ways. Mr. Cong hoped that the people of the two countries would take this opportunity of recalling Mr. Liddel to further enhance their mutual understanding and friendship.

The President of Caledonian Club thanked Chargé D’affaires Cong for introducing Eric Liddel from a Chinese perspective. He said that this make the audience present feel closer to Eric Liddel as an envoy of China-UK friendship and to China, a country he was devoted to.

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Eric Liddel was a famous British sprinter in a Scottish family. He was born in Tianjin in 1902. In 1924, he won the gold medal in men’s 400 metres race at the Paris Olympic Games. After that, Eric Liddel returned to China and devoted himself to education. He was imprisoned by the Japanese troops during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and died from illness in the Japanese camp of war prisoners in 1945.

Caledonian Club was founded in 1891. Its members are Scottish or those in deep association with Scotland.