Four Chinese forced to work as slave laborers by Japanese invaders between 1937 and 1945 flew to Japan Thursday to sue the Japanese government and Mitsubishi Corp.

Also acting on behalf of another six victims, they are expected to file a formal lawsuit Friday at the Nagasaki District Court against the government and the Mitsubishi conglomerate for forcing them to work in slave-like conditions during the War of Resistance against Japan.

They will ask the Japanese Government and Mitsubishi Corp to acknowledge the fact that they captured and maltreated the Chinese laborers, apologize to the victims and their relatives and pay compensation, Chinese lawyer Chen Yanjiang told China Daily Thursday.

In addition, they will urge memorial halls be built in China and Japan in memory of the victims, Chen, a lawyer with Shijiazhuang-based Sanhe Shidai Law Firm in North China's Hebei Province, said in a telephone interview.

She said her firm accepted the victims' appeal in August and has decided to offer them assistance in judicial proceedings.

Chen's firm helped the 10 plaintiffs sign an entrustment agreement with Japanese lawyers to deal with the lawsuit.

According to the lawyer, the 10 victims, mostly from Hebei Province, were compelled to work as forced laborers in coal mines owned by Mitsubishi Corp together with another 800-plus Chinese civilians during World War II.

Among them, 96 died of overwork and 27 were killed by the A-bomb in 1945, when they were thrown into a Nagasaki jail, said 80-year-old Li Qingyun, one of the representatives of the victims.

Sun Lique, another representative, was quoted by Beijing News as saying that the Chinese victims lodged complaints with Mitsubishi Corp in July of last year, but that the conglomerate rejected their demand by saying it bore no responsibility since it was national policy to employ Chinese laborers.

(China Daily November 28, 2003)