Japanese court rejects compensation to Chinese
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-13 14:32

In move that could stir anti-Japanese sentiment in China, Tokyo High Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit for compensation filed by three Chinese survivors of the 1932 massacre by Japanese soldiers.

Chinese survivor of Japan's atrocities, Yang Baoshan, 82, center is all smiles as he meets his supporters following the Tokyo High Court ruled out his appeal in Tokyo, Friday, May 13, 2005. Yang is seeking Japanese government for compensation for damage done by Imperial army in 1932 as massacre took place in Liaoning province, former Manchuria. At right is Yang's son in law Liu Chuanli. [AP]

The ruling, confirmed by court spokeswoman Miho Tanabe, backed up an earlier rejection by a lower court in 2002. The suit called for 60 million yen (US$562,000) in compensation.

In what is known as the Pingdingshan Incident, the Japanese Imperial Army allegedly rounded up 3,000 villagers in northern Liaoning province on September 16, 1932 and opened fire on them for conspiring with Chinese guerrillas against the Japanese.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs _ Yang Baoshan, Mo Desheng and Fang Surong _ said they would appeal.

"The ruling is very unfair," Yang, 83, told reporters. "I was 10 at the time of the incident and now I am 83." During this period, the Japanese government has not acknowledged the truth.

Anti-Japan protests erupted in China last month over approval of a Japanese history textbook that critics say whitewashes Tokyo's atrocities during its war in China in the 1930s and 40s.

The court on Friday provided no details on the reasoning behind the ruling, but the Japanese government has often argued that such compensation claims were settled with the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and its former wartime victims in the postwar period.

In 1931, Japan established its puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria, and its conquest of China led to the 1937 "Rape of Nanking," when Japanese troops are believed to have killed thousands of civilians.

China says the victims of the 1932 massacre, most of them mining workers, were killed in retribution for their alleged support for a guerrilla attack on a nearby mine the night before. The bodies were ditched and burned. The bones are now on display at a state-owned museum in China.

Yang said this was not an issue between Japan and the Chinese government, but a personal case.

"I am not representing China. I am doing this for the souls of 3,000 dead," he said. "What I want is not money, but true justice."

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