Mitsubishi apologizes to wartime slaves

Japan's Mitsubishi Materials will apologize and pay compensation to the Chinese victims of forced labor during the World War II, the company told the Global Times on Friday, but some groups representing Chinese victims said that they have not reached an agreement on the terms of the apology and the amount of compensation. The planned apology to Chinese forced laborers, first reported by Kyodo News earlier on Friday, came after the unprecedented apology on Sunday to US prisoners of war (POW) used as forced labor by the company. If realized, it will mark a first positive step by the company to seek reconciliation with Chinese forced labor victims, the Xinhua News Agency said. According to an apology letter revealed by the China Federation to Demand Compensation from Japan on Friday afternoon, "The company honestly admits the historical facts that the human rights of Chinese laborers were infringed and expresses deep remorse." Data from the Japanese government showed that there about 39,000 Chinese laborers were forcibly taken to Japan, and 3,765 of them were sent to Mitsubishi Materials' wartime predecessor Mitsubishi Mining Co. "Some 722 Chinese laborers died and this problem remains unsolved," according to the letter. The company said that it would offer all the 3, 765 Chinese with a compensation of 2 million yen ($16,000) for each and sincere apology for its wartime wrongdoings to the victims. Mitsubishi will also erect a memorial monument and spend about 200 million yen to investigate in relevant issues, said Kyodo News. A media relations spokesman with the company in Tokyo said there are still lawsuits proceeding in China by the Chinese labor workers against the company; therefore it no details will be released until the legal charges close. Among the 3,765 Chinese laborers, only 1,500 survivors or their relatives were found, the Kyodo News said, adding that Mitsubishi and the group of Chinese plaintiffs have agreed to settle the forced labor case through apology and compensation. However, a group of 126 lawyers representing nearly 40 Chinese victims, including laborers and families of deceased laborers, sent an announcement to the Global Times on Friday, saying that they do not consider Mitsubishi's apology letter and 2-million-yen compensation as acceptable. "We will not consider the revealed apology letter being a reconciliation reached between our plaintiffs and the company," said Li Haiyan, one of the 126 lawyers representing the 30-plus Chinese victims, adding they would not drop the lawsuit. The 126 lawyers sued the company in February 2014 in Beijing No.1 Intermediate Court and the plaintiffs demanded $163,000 dollars of compensation each. Li said it's not only a problem of money. "On many other aspects the two sides failed to reach consensus…those who take this apology as a settlement were clouded by the company." However, Zhu Huizhong, a secretary with the China Federation to Demand Compensation from Japan, which claims to represent over 1,000 Chinese forced laborers and their families, told the Global Times that the apology letter and compensation plan should be considered a good start by the Japanese company. Zhu said that the lawyers' group could not represent all the Chinese forced laborers used by Mitsubishi and many victims she reached value a sincere apology more than the amount of compensation. "Legal procedures are likely to last for years, but many of those workers are very old now, so they want to see and hear the company admitting and apologizing and reflecting when they're alive," Zhu said. Since the 1990s, Chinese survivors have filed a series of lawsuits against Japanese companies seeking damages for wartime wrongs. Some 30 lawsuits have been filed by Chinese victims in Japan against the Japanese government and companies over wartime actions, but Japan's Supreme Court in 2007 ruled against the victims, saying their rights to claims were relinquished after a 1972 Sino-Japanese declaration that normalized ties between the two countries. Experts believe the settlement of the forced labor cases would help China and Japan improve their relationship. "Since the normalization, many in Japan have argued that the historical problems between the two countries are solved," Haruki Wada, historian and professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, told the Global Times. "However, I believe the issue of forced labor along with that of comfort women are among the most important conflicts with lasting impact on the two countries' relations," he said. Earlier reports also said that Mitsubishi Materials will apologize to former British, Dutch and Australian WWII POWs.