Chinese sue Japan, firm over slave labour in war time

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 28, 2003

Chinese sue Japan, firm over slave labour in war time

Four Chinese forced to work as slave labourers by Japanese invaders between 1937 and 1945 flew to Japan yesterday to sue the Japanese Government and the Mitsubishi Corp.

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Four Chinese forced to work as slave labourers by Japanese invaders between 1937 and 1945 flew to Japan yesterday to sue the Japanese Government and the Mitsubishi Corp.

Also acting on behalf of another six victims, they are expected to file a formal lawsuit today at the Nagasaki District Court against the government and the Mitsubishi conglomerate for forcing them to work in slave-like conditions during the War of Resistance against Japan.

They will ask the Japanese Government and the Mitsubishi Corp to acknowledge the fact that they captured and maltreated the Chinese labourers, apologize to the victims and their relatives and pay compensation, Chinese lawyer Chen Yanjiang told China Daily Thursday.

In addition, they will urge memorial halls be built in China and Japan in memory of the victims, Chen, a lawyer with Shijiazhuang-based Sanhe Shidai Law Firm in North China's Hebei Province, said in a telephone interview.

She said her firm accepted the victims' appeal in August and has decided to offer them assistance in judicial proceedings.

Chen's firm helped the 10 plaintiffs sign an entrustment agreement with Japanese lawyers to deal with the lawsuit.

According to the lawyer, the 10 victims, mostly from Hebei Province, were compelled to work as forced labourers in coal mines owned by the Mitsubishi Corp together with another 800-plus Chinese civilians during World War II.

Among them, 96 died of overwork and 27 were killed by the A-bomb in 1945, when they were thrown into a Nagasaki jail, said 80-year-old Li Qingyun, one of the representatives of the victims.

Sun Lique, another representative was quoted by the Beijing News as saying that the Chinese victims lodged complaints to the Mitsubishi Corp in July of last year, but the conglomerate rejected their demand by saying it bore no responsibility since it was national policy to employ Chinese labourers.

This is the 24th appeal the Chinese civilians have lodged against the Japanese Government although Japan has snubbed demands for compensation for atrocities committed during their invasion in China.

Last April, 20-plus Chinese labourers and their relatives in Central China's Henan Province won compensation from the Japanese side after eight years of appeals. Each was paid 250,000 yen (US$2,270).

Statistics from Qingdao Archives in East China's Shandong Province indicate more than 700,000 Chinese civilians were forced to work as slave labourers by the Japanese invading army during the war.

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