Chinese Forced Labor in Wartime Japan
In late October, it was announced that the Japanese Nishimatsu Construction Co. reached a $2.74 million settlement with Chinese wartime forced laborers.
The article “Assessing the Nishimatsu Corporate Approach to Redressing Chinese Forced Labor in Wartime Japan” in a recent issue of JapanFocus takes a look at the agreement. William Underwood, a Japan specialist, introduces the background of the case as well as articles by Kang Jian and Arimitsu Ken. Kang is a Chinese lawyer who asserts that the settlement was “an insincere agreement devoid of accountability and appropriate compensation that cannot bring about authentic reconciliation,” and inherently problematic given the absence of Chinese lawyers at the trial. Arimitsu Ken is the executive director of two Tokyo-based groups for post-war redress, and writes that the agreement was a positive, albeit belated, first step. In his second article, he notes that Japan ought to face its past in order to begin moving forward.
From Kang’s article, “Nishimatsu Settlement is Devoid of Facts and Accountability”:
Article 6 and Article 7 of the “Settlement Terms” state that the foundation set up to manage the “settlement” is named the “Nishimatsu Yasuno Friendship Foundation”. The foundation is subordinate to the Japan Civil Liberties Union, a civic organization in Japan. How can a “compensation” fund for Chinese victims be controlled and managed by a Japanese civic organization?
Maintaining friendly exchanges and building friendly relationships are the wishes of every good and honest person. In the Yasuno case, the “Settlement Terms” fail to indicate the fact that Nishimatsu Co. severely violated the human rights of the Chinese laborers and should assume liability. There is no basis to the so-called “friendship” that is being put on display. For the Chinese labor victims, seeing this usage of the term “friendship” is obviously like being forced to swallow a bitter pill. A friendly gesture without foundation cannot be regarded as friendship. Professor Liu Jiangyong at Tsinghua University told a reporter for The Beijing Youth Daily that we should “avoid creating a situation where [the Japanese] would rather pay money than face up to their historical responsibilities; otherwise, there will be bad consequences for the reconciliation between the two peoples.”
In contrast to the Nishimatsu Yasuno Friendship Foundation, the Remembrance, Responsibility and Future Foundation was established in Germany in 2000 to compensate the laborers enslaved in wartime. It squarely faced history and explicitly assumed responsibility, comforting the hearts of victims. This is the only way to face the future moving forward.
