The Chengdu Evening News (Chinese) reports that the Tokyo District Court is hearing a lawsuit brought by Chinese victims of the World War II bombing of Chongqing. Danwei summarizes:
At the Tokyo District Court yesterday, a judge heard the case of 22 Chinese victims of the bombing of Chongqing. The plaintiffs are demanding an apology from the Japanese government and compensation of 10 million yen each.
According to an earlier report, the victims, all of whom are from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, sued the Japanese government for the indiscriminate bombing of Chinese cities from 1938 to 1944, inflicting losses on their families and themselves.
In its analysis of the legal obstacles for the war compensation lawsuits against Japan, the article pointed out that one reason that many such cases are lost is that the Chinese government waived claims for war compensation in 1972 in a joint announcement with Japan. The announcement has been quoted frequently by the Japanese side in courts.
