The women suffered at the hands of the Japanese army during World War II and China’s War of Resistance against Japan.

Among the victims are three women from Shanghai and one from Wuhan, according to Su Zhiliang, director of the Chinese Sex Slave Research Center.

The case will be heard after the completion of a series of investigations. “As well as the Washington case, the center has decided to contact other Chinese former sex slaves to lodge an appeal to a court in New York,” said Su.

In 1996 and 1998, Chinese victims appealed twice to a Japanese court in Tokyo for compensation, but were unsuccessful.

“I have felt hopeless about the Japanese court system since then,” said Su. "I think it’s useless to appeal to a Japanese court unless their government confesses to the crimes they committed during the war.”

The US Federal Court can judge cases in which the defendant is a foreign government. The case is the first time that authorities have sought justice for Chinese sex slaves.

“As a victimized country, China should do something for its victims,” said Su. “And it should be done as soon as possible because we don’t have much time left - every year more of these victims die of old age.

“We must remember this injustice by taking the matter to court. We can help the victims demand compensation.”

Records of the victims’ experiences, circumstantial evidence and local historical records will be presented before the court. Su said the case will preserve the victim’s history on the legal record.

There are at least 57 former sex slaves still living in China. “There must be more sex slaves in the country that we don’t know,” said Su. Most of the victims come from very poor areas.

“After being a so-called comfort woman, I was physically unable to give birth to a child. I hate the Japanese. They destroyed my life,” said Lu Xiuzheng, 84, a former sex slave now living in Chongming Island in suburban Shanghai.

“I also suffer from mental depression because I am afraid others will avoid me because of my past,” she added.

Although the Chinese government gave up the right to demand compensation from Japan when the two countries established diplomatic ties in the 1970s, non-governmental payments are essential for victims, said Su and his partner Zhu Miaochun, a local lawyer.

But Su said he has no certainty about winning the case. “Sex crime committed against women during the war seems to have been ignored by the law for a long time. All we can do is to try our best,” said Su.

At the moment, Su and his assistants have had the documents of the three former “comfort women” from Shanghai notarized.

They said they still need humanitarian and legal help in order to win the case while the victims are still alive. “It’ll be a shame of human kind to let such crimes go unpunished.”

(China Daily 02/21/2001)