Four Chinese forced to work as slave laborers by Japanese
invaders between 1937 and 1945 flew to Japan Thursday to sue the
Japanese government and Mitsubishi Corp.
Also acting on behalf of another six victims, they are expected
to file a formal lawsuit Friday 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 Mitsubishi Corp to
acknowledge the fact that they captured and maltreated the Chinese
laborers, 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 laborers in coal mines
owned by 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 Beijing
News as saying that the Chinese victims lodged complaints with
Mitsubishi Corp in July of last year, but that the conglomerate
rejected their demand by saying it bore no responsibility since it
was national policy to employ Chinese laborers.
(China Daily November 28, 2003)