China urges Japan take responsibility for germ warfare
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-20 15:44

China has demanded Japan take responsibility for the actions of its military in World War II after a Tokyo court rejected damages for Chinese victims of Unit 731, Japan's notorious germ warfare unit.

Tan Jialin of China holds up a sign with his father's portrait and a demand for an apology and compensation written in Japanese and Chinese during a protest, after a legal judgement, in front of the Tokyo High Court July 19, 2005. A Tokyo court on Tuesday rejected demands from Chinese plaintiffs for compensation and an apology from Japan's government for biological warfare conducted in China before and during World War Two. [Reuters]

"Germ warfare is one of the serious crimes committed by the Japanese military during World War II. The Japanese government should hold an honest attitude to bear the responsibilty," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"It should sincerely deal with the reasonable demands of the victims and properly handle this issue."

The Tokyo High Court Tuesday upheld a 2002 lower court decision that recognized wrongdoing by imperial Japan but said any compensation had to be made by the government.

The lawsuit was brought by 180 Chinese who said they were survivors or relatives of the victims of Unit 731, which conducted human experiments and bombed cities with the plague, cholera and other germs.

The plaintiffs, who were in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces from 1940 to 1942, had demanded the court order the government to apologize and grant them each 10 million yen (90,000 dollars) in compensation.

China accuses Japan of whitewashing its past, pointing to the approval in April of a textbook that makes little mention of its wartime atrocities.

The book sparked three weekends of major anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, which has said relations were at a three-decade low because of the history issue.

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