A Japanese court on Monday ruled compensation demand by 13
Chinese nationals for damage caused to their health by chemical
weapons left over in China by Japanese invading troops during World
War II.
The Tokyo District Court ruled the Japanese government should
pay in compensation around 190 million yen (US$1.7 million) to
these victims.
In the ruling, presiding judge Yoshihiro Katayama said it is
possible for the Japanese government to provide the Chinese
government with information about the abandoned chemical weapons so
as to realize an early and appropriate disposal.
He said it is "against the notion of justice and fairness" to
reject the compensation claim on the ground that some of the claims
were raised after the due 20-year period for filing lawsuit. The
same court also turned down certain claims by Chinese victims in
May, saying it is impossible for the Japanese government to collect
the abandoned weapons in a foreign country.
The lawsuits, brought up in 1996, involve leakage of toxical
chemical agent and shell explosion from 1974 to 1995.
The ruling "got back the justice for the Chinese, got back the
justice for the victims," said 59-year-old Li Chen. He and three
colleagues were hurt by mustard gas leaking from a shell which was
found in the course of dredging in October 1974 in China's northern
Heilongjiang Province.
Liu Min, 27, said, "I am grateful to Chinese and Japanese
lawyers for their persisting efforts over the past eight years. I
hope the Japanese government can pay attention to the issue of
abandoned chemical weapons and dispose of them appropriately to
avoid further similar tragedies."
Her father was seriously injured after trying to dismantle a
remaining Japanese shell in August 1995, and died later.
Japan left about 700,000 chemical weapons in China at the end of
World War II in 1945, and promised to dispose of them under a 1997
international convention.
In a latest case, the fatal leakage from abandoned Japanese
chemical weapons killed one and injured 42 others when barrels of
mustard gas were dug up at a construction site in August in the
city of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province.
The event triggered Chinese people's protests and demands for
Japanese compensation.
(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2003)