Nine Chinese victims of Japanese chemical weapons, left in China during WWII, are taking their case to Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Nine Chinese victims of Japanese chemical weapons, left in China during World War II, are leading a petition delegation of Japanese and Chinese lawyers that will head to Tokyo this Friday.
The nine victims were all injured in August 2003, in Qiqihar, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, when five barrels of mustard gas were dug up at a construction site.
The gas leak killed one and injured 43 others, one of the worst accidents involving chemical weapons left by Imperial Japanese troops in China during World War II.
Luo Lijuan, one of the Chinese lawyers in the delegation, said the victims will present a detailed report in Tokyo of the tragedy to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
"Our aim is to urge the Japanese Government to give better treatment to these victims and step up its efforts to dispose of chemical weapons Japanese troops left in China," she told China Daily.
"What we want to see is a change in their attitude towards this event."
Medical experts say exposure to mustard gas can result in life-long suffering.
Among the nine victims who will go to Japan this time, Wang Cheng, 25, a worker in a refuse recycling station, is said to be the most severely injured of all the victims.
Large areas of Wang's skin on his lower limbs are necrotic and he is unable to have children.
Three minor victims, Feng Jiayuan, Gao Ming and Chen Ziwei, are also joining the delegation.
The report is the result of a two-year joint-effort by lawyers from China and Japan. The Chinese lawyers collected evidence while the Japanese lawyers wrote the report and dealt with legal procedures.
Altogether 43 individual files carefully record the victims' injuries and the treatment they have received.
Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted
provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and
a notifying email
is sent to us.
RSS 
Home
Producer:
Xie Qiao 
Foreigners in China have to pay income tax if they earn over US$592 per month.
Golf courses and gas stations in Beijing will be under close watch.
