'Forgotten' laborers of war honored

20,000 Chinese lost their lives during WWI while helping the French effort

France paid tribute on Wednesday to an often-forgotten corps of 140,000 Chinese laborers, many of whom lost their lives while helping France in World War I by digging trenches and working in weapons factories.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, France's defense minister, laid a wreath in front of a commemorative stele in a park in Paris' Chinese district to honor the little-known contribution of the laborers. A military band then played Le Marseillaise.