Claims against Japan

Bob Choi

7 December 2011

It has just been announced that Germany has agreed to pay compensation pension to an additional 16,000 Jews who were ill-treated during the Second World War. This brings the total number of Jews receiving monetary compensation to 66,000 worldwide.

Now what the Japanese did during their occupation of China might or might not be on the same level as the Nazis did to the Jews in Europe, but I have not heard of even one single Chinese civilian receiving any compensation from Japan!

It's often said that China has signed some sort of treaty that in effect will prevent Chinese civilians from filing claims against Japan. I intend to research into the history and legality of such a treaty. Can a government sign away the rights of its citizens to file claims against crimes committed by foreign soldiers? Remember, some treaties can be considered illegal by present-day standards. But first, someone has to be challenging it in court.

What I don't understand is that the Jewish state (Israel) didn't exist until after the war, and the Jews filed their claims as individuals without the backing of any country. So what is stopping Chinese from doing the same: filing individual claims against Japan? I have a lot of questions some of which might never have answers, but it will be interesting to start digging for them. It will be time worth spending.

If any of you already have some of the answers, please share with us.