Beijing court accepts wartime case
Print Edition
A BEIJING court has, for the first time, agreed to hear a lawsuit by Chinese citizens demanding compensation from Japanese firms for World War II forced labor.
Kang Jian, an attorney for the plaintiffs, yesterday confirmed the decision by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court, which follows several failed attempts to bring such cases in China and Japan.
The move comes in defiance of Tokyo, which argues such cases are barred by international agreement, and with relations at their lowest point in decades.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described the decision as “seriously” worrying. Japan’s top spokesman reiterated the country’s apology for forced labor yesterday but said the case could worsen ties further.
China’s Foreign Ministry renewed its call for Japan to “properly handle this issue left over from history.”
Kang told reporters: “We received a notice from the court that the case has been accepted.” She added: “Based on the evidence and the facts at hand, there’s no reason it shouldn’t rule that the companies are responsible.”
Two survivors and 35 people whose relatives were forced laborers filed the suit against Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and Nippon Coke & Engineering Company, formerly Mitsui Mining, late last month.
Kang said yesterday an additional three relatives had joined the suit, taking the total number of plaintiffs to 40.
The laborers and their relatives are demanding 1 million yuan (US$161,000) compensation for each worker, as well as apologies printed in Chinese and Japanese newspapers.
Tens of thousands of Chinese were forcibly sent to Japan to work in factories and mines to fill a manpower shortage arising from Japan’s massive World War II military mobilization.
Japan invaded China and many other Asian countries during the 1930s and 1940s.
Japanese courts have rejected numerous similar cases filed there over the years, with the country’s Supreme Court ruling in 2007 that Chinese individuals could not demand compensation from Japan.
Suga yesterday expressed remorse for forced labor, but said a 1972 joint communique nullified Chinese rights to demand war-related compensation.
“Regarding the forced recruitment and labor of Chinese people, the government cannot deny that many people fell into unfortunate situations in those days,” Suga told reporters. “We think it was extremely regrettable that (Japan) caused unbearable suffering and sorrow for many people, even though it was in the abnormal situation of war.”
But he added: “We cannot help worrying seriously about the possible impact on the war settlement between Japan and China and bilateral economic relations as it could trigger similar cases in China.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei called on Tokyo to reflect on its wartime misdeeds and said the decision to accept the case was “made by Chinese courts in accordance with the law.”
“Forced recruitment of laborers was a serious crime committed by Japan during World War II, which caused great damage to the physical and mental condition of Chinese victims,” Hong said.
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