A landmark ruling by the Niigata District Court which ordered the Japanese government and a company to compensate Chinese forced labor during World War II was overturned by the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday afternoon.

The presiding judge recognized Japan and Niigata-based Rinko Corp.'s infringement on the Chinese forced labor, however ruled that the 20-year limitation of their right for demanding compensation had expired and the state cannot be held responsible for actions taken before the National Redress Law went into effect in 1947.

The plaintiffs' renewed demand for higher compensation was also turned down.

Kang Jian, a member of the group of lawyers for the plaintiffs, said the ruling was a shame for the court and reflected Japanese justice's weird logic on the wartime history.

Xing Nianfang, one of the plaintiffs, was indignant at the ruling and vowed to file the suit to the final end until justice is realized.

Eleven Chinese forced labor filed the damages suit to the Niigata District Court in 1999. The court ruled in March 2004 that the Japanese government and the harbor transport company give 8 million yen (about 68,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation to each of them, marking the first ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in all the three wartime forced labor lawsuits filed by Chinese victims and their families so far.

The defendants and the plaintiffs, who demanded higher compensation, both appealed the ruling to the Tokyo High Court.

About 900 Chinese of their 20s were forcibly brought to a port in western Niigata by the Japanese invasion army in 1944. They were forced to do heavy work under bad conditions and endured severe physical abuses. One hundred and fifty-nine of them died in no more than one year.

Source: Xinhua