第二次世界大戰，英國憑藉什麼「保持冷靜，繼續前行」（Keep Calm and Carry On）？硝煙剛剛散去，為什麼這個國家就對曾經出生入死的戰友除之而後快？那些被拆散的家庭，一夜之間失去丈夫的妻子，被送入孤兒院的孩子，忍受了何等痛苦，骨肉分離，含恨離世？英國政府為何至今不肯正式道歉？造成了無數人間悲劇的種族主義惡魔今天又如何為禍世間？
CGTN獨家紀錄片探訪二戰期間英國商船上中國船員的後人，翻閱檔案，揭秘80年前那場《隱秘的背叛》。
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.
海上補給線是英國在第二次世界大戰中的生命線，穿梭於大西洋上的商船隊和海員們直面德國U型潛艇的魚雷攻擊、暴風雨、極寒天氣、飢餓和脫水，將物資源源不斷送往英倫三島，被稱為「第四軍種」，是英國國家精神的象徵。鮮為人知的是，這些英雄海員中，有1/7來自中國。中國海員們勤勞、勇敢、質樸，在戰時，他們曾經是英國媒體廣為稱頌的英雄。
然而，硝煙剛剛散去，英國政府即秘密出台政策，將近萬名中國海員驅逐出境。幾個月前的親密戰友一夜之間成了「不受歡迎的多餘人員」。為了達到目的，英國政府秘密修改海員岸上停留規則，動用政治警察，搜查住所，秘密抓捕並強制遣送。大批海員已在當地安家，與英國婦女結婚生子，一個個家庭被無端拆散，妻子再也見不到丈夫，襁褓中的孩子沒有了父親。
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.
生命在謊言和失望中枯萎
沒有人告訴妻子和孩子家裏的男人去哪了，他們就這樣「憑空」消失了。家庭失去了生活來源，官方檔案把中國海員的妻子標記為「妓女階層」，政府拒絕給予她們任何生活補貼，公民權利被取消。由於家庭無力撫養，多數孩子被送去了孤兒院。
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.
英國政府、輪流執政的保守黨和工黨把這個見不得光的秘密嚴嚴實實地隱藏了70多年。無數生命在漫長的歲月裏流逝，那些鬱鬱而終的妻子，那些死於貧病的孩子，他們永遠等不到真相了。時至今日，活下來的人們什麼都沒有，除了心中無限的痛苦。他們甚至難以融入當地華人——他們的文化血脈被切斷了，既不是華人，也不是英國人。他們的根丟了。
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.
惡魔抬起了它醜惡的頭
國會議員莎拉·歐文一語中的：「說到底就是種族歧視。」更令人不安的是，種族歧視的惡魔從未離開。莎拉認為，過去一兩年在新冠疫情大流行的背景下，針對中國人的種族歧視並不是什麼新鮮玩意兒，只不過是70多年前英國那些醜行的翻版。莎拉和另一位議員金·約翰遜加入了海員後人的抗爭，不僅僅是為了那些曾經為英國出生入死卻遭到無理驅逐的海員，不僅僅為那些含恨死去的妻子和孩子，不僅僅為了給還活着的人一個說法，更重要的是不讓種族主義的毒瘤再侵蝕下一代，讓孩子們不再受到種族主義霸凌。然而，路漫漫其修遠兮，抗爭者上下求索卻難以得到一個滿意的答案。
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.
英國欠他們一句「對不起」
「我對英國政府不報什麼希望，」被驅逐海員的第三代凱麗·安告訴CGTN記者，「但他們總應該發聲，為什麼不能為過去的錯誤道歉呢？」而第二代朱迪·基寧更加悲觀：「政府就等着我們這些老人一個個都死掉，到那時候他們就不用給任何人什麼交代了。」
在不斷的抗爭下，英國政府終於在一份未公開的文件上承認了遣送政策的種族主義性質，內政部的一位部長半遮半掩地寫道：「我非常遺憾，部分在二戰中服務於商業艦隊的人員，受到如此待遇。」然而，無論是英國政府、執政的保守黨，還是反對黨工黨，都未對遣送政策進行正式道歉。
官方檔案上登記的被遣送人員姓名並不準確，運送他們的船隻也無從查找，有的人甚至沒有登記姓名，而是被登記為「貨物」。沒有人知道他們之所終。他們的後人已屆耄耋之年，也許他們永遠也等不到答案了。
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.
紀錄片《隱秘的背叛》於2022年12月16日在CGTN英語、法語、西班牙語、阿拉伯語、俄語各電視頻道播出，在CGTN網站及各社交平台同步推出。如有線索，請致信[email protected]，我們將努力幫助中國海員後人尋找在國內的親人。願逝者安息，願離散的家庭再相聚，願種族主義的惡魔不再侵蝕下一代的心靈。
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.