Japan court rejects germ war compensation
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-19 15:30

Tokyo - A Japanese high court has rejected appeals by 180 Chinese demanding compensation for damage caused by Japan's World War II germ warfare program.

He Fuxin, 86, whose legs and feet have rotten due to an anthrax infection, cries at his home in Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang Province July 5, 2005. He is of the survivors of the germ-warfare launched by Japanese troops during World War II. Starting from October 1940, Japanese troops launched an extensive germ-warfare in China, spreading bacterium of plague, cholera, typhoid fever, anthrax and glanders in Jinhua and Quzhou of Zhejiang, killing more than 60,000 Chinese. [newsphoto]

Separately, however, the government announced it would take responsibility for cleaning up decaying wartime chemical weapons found in southern China last month that injured three people.

China's 68-year-old Wang Jinhua holds a banner after a legal judgement in front of the Tokyo High Court in Tokyo July 19, 2005. [Reuters]

Upholding a lower court verdict on Tuesday, the Tokyo High Court acknowledged damage was caused by Japan's germ warfare in China but ruled that the Japanese government is not responsible for compensating the Chinese victims, a court spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

The plaintiffs, all Chinese citizens, filed the case in 1997, demanding an apology and 10 million yen (US$89,300) each from the Japanese government.

The plaintiffs claim at least 2,100 Chinese died in outbreaks of cholera, dysentery, anthrax and typhoid that were allegedly mass-produced by the Imperial Army's notorious Unit 731, based in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin.

In an August 2002 ruling, Tokyo District Court acknowledged that Japan used biological weapons before and during World War II.

But the court rejected the Chinese plaintiffs' demands, saying foreign citizens cannot seek compensation directly from the Japanese government under international law.

It also said Japan had already paid compensation under postwar peace treaties.

The case has unearthed details about the country's biological warfare program that the government and U.S. occupation forces kept secret after the war.

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