Forty representatives from Zhejiang and Hunan provinces gathered in Shanghai for a seminar about the issue. The three-day seminar started on Sunday and ends Tuesday.

The group discussed with their Japanese lawyers and historians how best to carry on their fight at the event, held at the Institute of Politics and Law of East China.

"They (victims of Japanese germ warfare) should have the right to seek justice,'' said Wang Xuan, 48, chairwoman of the Chinese plaintiffs' group.

"Chinese victims have not at any time or in any form given up their fight for compensation from Japan,'' said Wang, who lost her uncle to Japanese germ warfare.

An in-depth study by Chinese and Japanese scholars shows that at least 270,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed by Japanese germ warfare troops between 1933 and 1945.

Twenty Chinese provinces were attacked by Japanese units, which spread deadly diseases, including typhoid, cholera, diarrhea fever, anthrax, lockjaw and gangrene.

Many details were recorded in the book "Factories of Death'' by Sheldon Harris, professor of history emeritus at California State University. The book provides an insight into Japan's notorious germ warfare experiments and the troops who carried them out --Unit 731. It also looks at the US cover-up in exchange for test results.

After years of preparation, in August 1997 108 survivors and family members from five districts in Zhejiang and one area in Hunan filed a lawsuit at Tokyo Local Court. They demanded that the Japanese Government acknowledge the damage and compensate each victim with 10 million yen (US$95,238).

Of the 30 suits filed with the Japanese court, this was the first concerning Japan's use of biological weapons during World War II.

The court case began in February 1998. Since then 15 court hearings have been held. Wang arranged for many witnesses and survivors to attend the hearings in Japan. Most of the costs came from donations from Japanese supporters and overseas Chinese.

Wang and the plaintiffs will go to Japan this September to attend the 16th hearing of the case. "We will fight on until the last minute,'' said Wang.

"Rights won't be handed down from above, we need to fight for them,'' said Wang.

(China Daily)