Reuters AlertNet
September 2, 2993

Japan to compensate war gas victims in China-paper

TOKYO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Japan will provide compensation for people in China poisoned last month by chemical weapons left behind by the Japanese army after World War Two, a Japanese newspaper said on Tuesday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun said the Japanese government was considering offering a total of around 100 million yen ($858,200) for the victims and the family of one man who died in the incident, as well as for the local medical team taking care of the victims.

A total of 43 people were taken to hospital after five barrels of mustard gas were unearthed at a construction site in the northeastern city of Qiqihaer on August 4. One later died.

Japan apologised for the incident and sent a team of doctors to help treat the victims, but has refused calls for compensation on the grounds that the war compensation issue with China was settled when they established diplomatic ties in 1972.

To sidestep that problem and avoid any payment being seen as compensation money, the funds will come from a budget earmarked for the disposal of chemical weapons, the newspaper said.

"We have been in touch with China and are taking care of the issue in a sincere manner. While no future steps have been decided yet, we will continue to cooperate with them," top government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference.

The incident has threatened to fray bilateral ties, which had shown signs of improvement with recent visits to China by Japanese cabinet members.

Japanese and Chinese officials are keen to mend the relationship, strained after Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to a controversial war shrine honouring Japan's war dead.

But many Chinese still resent what they see as Japan's failure to admit to atrocities its forces committed in China, an important political factor for the Chinese leadership. ($1=116.51 Yen)