Former forced laborers sue Japanese govt, companies

Nine people who were forced to work in Japan during World War II on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in north China's Hebei Province, demanding an apology as well as compensation from two companies and the Japanese government.

Yan Zizhen, 88, and his eight fellow complainants, brought their complaint to the Tangshan City Intermediate People's Court., requesting Coke Industry Co., Ltd. of Japan (formerly Mitsui Mining Co., Ltd.), Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (formerly Mitsubishi Mining Co., Ltd.) and the Japanese government pay 1.8 million yuan (290,000 US dollars) as compensation for forced labor.

They also asked the defendants to apologize to them and other victims through newspapers and on television.

Yan said he has 17 scars left from when he was forced to work in Japan from 1943 to 1945.

More than 4,000 workers like him were caught in Tangshan and brought to Japan to work. Only 1,700 survived and returned home.

"What my father wants more than compensation is an apology. Meanwhile, the lawsuit will be instructive for our next generation," said Yan Min, the son of Yan Zizhen.

The court has not accepted the case.

Pan Guoping, the group's lawyer, said that since 1995 there have been 14 lawuits filed in Japan by Chinese forced laborers, but all lost. Therefore, they started to seek justice at home.

On March 18, the Beijing Intermediate People's Court accepted a lawsuit against the two Japanese companies over the matter, in the first such case in China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said following the case that Japan should seriously address issues of forced labor, take a responsible attitude and seriously treat and properly handle the issues left over from history.

Hong said recruiting labor by force was a severe crime committed by the Japanese military during World War II and deeply undermined Chinese victims' dignity and legitimate rights.

However, as there are no regulations on war indemnity in Chinese law yet, the lawsuits may have no legal basis for a just ruling, according to Lei Shiyin, a national political advisor.

To address the problem, nearly 20 political advisors jointly submitted a proposal during the annual session of the national political advisory body earlier this month, advising lawmakers to legitimize civilians' lawsuits over Japan's actions during World War II.