A Japanese court on Tuesday rejected a damages suit filed by a
group of six Chinese who were forcibly brought to Japan into hard
labor during World War II.
The Yamagata District Court admitted that the Japanese
government and Sakata Kairiku Unso Co. illegally brought the six
Chinese to Japan and forced them into hard labor, but ruled that
their right to demand war reparations was abandoned under the 1972
Japan-China joint communique.
The plaintiffs said they planned to appeal to the Sendai High
Court and would continue to fight. They have demanded a total of
150 million yen (US$1.42 million) in compensation.
Three of the plaintiffs have died after they filed the suit in
December 2004. The other three are all in their 80s.
Last April, Japan's Supreme Court dismissed a wartime forced
labor damages suit and a "comfort women" damages suit filed both by
Chinese victims, citing the 1972 joint communique. The rulings have
been referred to as precedents in Japan in a series of similar
suits filed by Chinese victims.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2008)
