Chinese Seize Ship as Reparations

[Mike Oxlong]

China seizes Mitsui O.S.K. ship over unpaid wartime contract compensation

The Japanese government on Monday warned that the seizure of a Japanese ship in Shanghai over pre-wartime debts threatened ties with China and could undermine the basis of their post-war diplomatic relationship.

Authorities in Shanghai seized the large freight vessel in a dispute over what the Chinese side says is unpaid bills relating to the 1930s, when Japan occupied swathes of China.

The move is the latest to illustrate the bitter enmity at the heart of Tokyo-Beijing ties, with the two sides embroiled in a spat over the ownership of a small archipelago and snapping at each other over differing interpretations of history.

Shanghai Maritime Court said Saturday it had seized “the vessel Baosteel Emotion owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines… for enforcement of an effective judgement” made in December 2007.

“The arrested vessel will be dealt with by the law if Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd still refuses to perform its obligations,” the Maritime Court said.

Chinese and Hong Kong media said the seizure was related to a verdict by a court in Shanghai that said Mitsui had to pay about 2.9 billion yen ($28 million) in relation to the leasing of two ships nearly 80 years ago.

Reports said in 1936, Mitsui’s predecessor, Daido Shipping Co rented two ships on a one-year contract from Zhongwei Shipping Co.

However, the ships were commandeered by the Imperial Japanese Navy and were sunk during World War II, reports said.

A compensation suit was brought against Mitsui by the descendants of the founder of Zhongwei Shipping Co, and in 2007, a Shanghai court ordered Mitsui to pay about 2.9 billion yen in compensation.

Mitsui appealed against the court’s decision, but in December 2010, the Supreme People’s Court turned down their petition for the case to be retried.

Mitsui has argued that it is not liable for paying compensation given that the ships that Daido rented were requisitioned by the Japanese military during the war, Kyodo News said.

On Monday, Japan’s chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga said the seizure undermined the 1972 joint communique that normalised ties between Japan and China, in which Beijing agreed to renounce “its demand for war reparation from Japan.”

“It could also intimidate Japanese companies doing business in China as a whole and hence Japan is deeply worried and strongly expects China to take appropriate measures,” he said.

The case appears to be the first time the assets of a Japanese company have been confiscated in a lawsuit relating to wartime or occupation compensation, Kyodo reported.

But it comes as a set of lawsuits related to wartime forced labor in Japan have been filed in China against Japanese corporations.

China has long maintained a policy of not accepting such civil lawsuits. But a Beijing court for the first time has agreed to hear a lawsuit by Chinese citizens demanding compensation from Japanese firms over forced labor, their lawyer said last month.

“Including this incident, China’s set of policies on this issue could shake up in a profound way the spirit of normalising diplomatic ties between Japan and China, that is inscribed in the 1972 joint communique,” Suga said Monday.

The value of Japanese companies’ investment in China dropped by half in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier to about $1.21 billion, Chinese government data said.

[matsuki]

China seizes Mitsui O.S.K. ship over unpaid wartime contract compensation

The Japanese government on Monday warned that the seizure of a Japanese ship in Shanghai over pre-wartime debts threatened ties with China and could undermine the basis of their post-war diplomatic relationship.

Authorities in Shanghai seized the large freight vessel in a dispute over what the Chinese side says is unpaid bills relating to the 1930s, when Japan occupied swathes of China.

The move is the latest to illustrate the bitter enmity at the heart of Tokyo-Beijing ties, with the two sides embroiled in a spat over the ownership of a small archipelago and snapping at each other over differing interpretations of history.

Shanghai Maritime Court said Saturday it had seized “the vessel Baosteel Emotion owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines… for enforcement of an effective judgement” made in December 2007.

“The arrested vessel will be dealt with by the law if Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd still refuses to perform its obligations,” the Maritime Court said.

Chinese and Hong Kong media said the seizure was related to a verdict by a court in Shanghai that said Mitsui had to pay about 2.9 billion yen ($28 million) in relation to the leasing of two ships nearly 80 years ago.

Reports said in 1936, Mitsui’s predecessor, Daido Shipping Co rented two ships on a one-year contract from Zhongwei Shipping Co.

However, the ships were commandeered by the Imperial Japanese Navy and were sunk during World War II, reports said.

A compensation suit was brought against Mitsui by the descendants of the founder of Zhongwei Shipping Co, and in 2007, a Shanghai court ordered Mitsui to pay about 2.9 billion yen in compensation.

Mitsui appealed against the court’s decision, but in December 2010, the Supreme People’s Court turned down their petition for the case to be retried.

Mitsui has argued that it is not liable for paying compensation given that the ships that Daido rented were requisitioned by the Japanese military during the war, Kyodo News said.

On Monday, Japan’s chief government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga said the seizure undermined the 1972 joint communique that normalised ties between Japan and China, in which Beijing agreed to renounce “its demand for war reparation from Japan.”

“It could also intimidate Japanese companies doing business in China as a whole and hence Japan is deeply worried and strongly expects China to take appropriate measures,” he said.

The case appears to be the first time the assets of a Japanese company have been confiscated in a lawsuit relating to wartime or occupation compensation, Kyodo reported.

But it comes as a set of lawsuits related to wartime forced labor in Japan have been filed in China against Japanese corporations.

China has long maintained a policy of not accepting such civil lawsuits. But a Beijing court for the first time has agreed to hear a lawsuit by Chinese citizens demanding compensation from Japanese firms over forced labor, their lawyer said last month.

“Including this incident, China’s set of policies on this issue could shake up in a profound way the spirit of normalising diplomatic ties between Japan and China, that is inscribed in the 1972 joint communique,” Suga said Monday.

The value of Japanese companies’ investment in China dropped by half in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier to about $1.21 billion, Chinese government data said.

What a great place to do business!!

[Russell]

Looks like China is doing everything to make themselves unpopular to foreign investors...

[legion]

China jumps the shark

when this news item gets round they are going to look retarded on the world stage (in the true meaning of the word retarded)

[Russell]

BTW, South Korea is in the process of doing the same since one of their courts ordered a Japanese company to pay back-wages for forced labor in the war.

[IparryU]

About time for a Chinese shenanigans thread?

Sent from my SC-03E using Tapatalk

[Coligny]

BTW, South Korea is in the process of doing the same since one of their courts ordered a Japanese company to pay back-wages for forced labor in the war.

This is getting Tom Clancy level retarded...

[J.A.F.O]

BTW, South Korea is in the process of doing the same since one of their courts ordered a Japanese company to pay back-wages for forced labor in the war.

This is getting Tom Clancy level retarded...

Playing sandbox again... Think I'm gonna need some of your popcorn.

[matsuki]

BTW, South Korea is in the process of doing the same since one of their courts ordered a Japanese company to pay back-wages for forced labor in the war.

[Coligny]

BTW, South Korea is in the process of doing the same since one of their courts ordered a Japanese company to pay back-wages for forced labor in the war.

This is getting Tom Clancy level retarded...

Playing sandbox again... Think I'm gonna need some of your popcorn.

sure anytime d00d...

[legion]

how quickly we forget

[J.A.F.O]

reminds me of this little ditty

[yanpa]

About time for a Chinese shenanigans thread?

Sent from my SC-03E using Tapatalk

OK.

[BigInJapan]

And this just in from our pals over at NHK...

Mitsui O.S.K. pays deposit for seized ship

Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has paid a deposit of nearly 40 million dollars to a Chinese court after one of its ships was seized. The court is demanding the payment of compensation for unpaid fees on two Chinese ships leased nearly 80 years ago.

The Shanghai Maritime Court on Saturday impounded the iron ore carrier, the Baosteel Emotion, which was anchored at a port in Zhejiang Province.

In 2007, the court ordered Mitsui to pay about 30 million dollars to a Chinese family in compensation for unpaid leasing fees for 2 ships. A predecessor to the company used the ships around the time the Japan-China war broke out in 1937.

Mitsui officials say they paid the demanded amount plus interest as deposit money to the court on Wednesday.

The company apparently made the payment so as to have the seizure lifted promptly, due to concerns over the negative impact it could have on business.

[Coligny]

I always thought the rule was to never negotiate with terrorists !?

[matsuki]

LOL, how many more of these cases are going to pop up now?

[Russell]

To answer Choko's question...

Hundreds of Chinese families seek wartime compensation from Japan

As relations between China and Japan plumb a new low, the descendants of hundreds of Chinese men forced to work in wartime Japan are taking big, modern-day Japanese corporates to court. They are seeking millions in compensation.

Japan invaded China in 1937 and ruled parts of it with a brutal hand for the next eight years. Chinese historians say nearly 40,000 men were taken to Japan against their will to work in mines and construction. Survivors say living conditions were appalling. Many did not make it back to China.

In possibly the biggest class-action suit in Chinese legal history, about 700 plaintiffs lodged a case against two Japanese firms at a courthouse in eastern Shandong province in April, said Fu Qiang, a lawyer representing the families. Among the plaintiffs are several forced laborers, now in their 80s and 90s, and this might be their last chance to seek redress.

The suit was filed against Mitsubishi Corp (Qingdao) Ltd, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp, and Yantai Misubishi Cement Co, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corp and construction firm Mitsubishi Materials Corp, Fu said.

The plaintiffs are each seeking 1 million yuan ($160,100) in compensation, a public apology in several prominent Chinese and Japanese newspapers, as well as the erection of a memorial and monument in remembrance of the forced labourers, Fu said, adding that they also want the companies to fund their legal expenses.

It is unclear whether the lawsuit, with other smaller cases, will be accepted. But lawyers say there is a good chance they will be heard after a Shanghai court last month impounded a Japanese ship over a dispute that dates back to the 1930s war between the two nations.

The lawsuits could further irritate diplomatic relations. Late last month, China released previously confidential Japanese wartime documents, including some about comfort women forced to serve in military brothels. The files also contain details of the Nanjing Massacre, a major source of debate between the countries.

The number of plaintiffs, including families and surviving forced labourers seeking redress, total at least 940, with combined claims reaching at least 865 million yuan, lawyers say.

That figure could rise further as there were nearly 8,000 forced labourers from Shandong during the war, according to Fu.

The other two Japanese companies involved in the suits are coal producer Nippon Coke and Engineering Industry Co, formerly known as Mitsui Mining Co, and stainless steel maker Nippon Yakin Kogyo, the lawyers say.

“When we took the labourers to Japan to negotiate a settlement and listened to their speeches, they moved us to tears,” said Deng Jianguo, a lawyer involved in five of these lawsuits since 2007. “They (the Japanese companies) have the ability to compensate and make amends for (their) past mistakes, but they aren’t doing it. I think, morally, you can’t justify this.”

Similar suits would be filed in central Henan and northern Hebei provinces, Deng said.

More

This can get pretty much out of hand for Japan.

[Coligny]

I have this little itch telling me we are missing the big picture.
These lawsuits makes no sense for the courts, they certainly have no jurisdictions, it's not penal or civil, it's war crimes therefore should be ruled by La Haye's international penal court, the companies are gone, the country itself is no more (imperial japan) the war have been lost and settled, and whatever the crime sued about pretty sure it now falls under limitation period...

[matsuki]

I have this little itch telling me we are missing the big picture.
These lawsuits makes no sense for the courts, they certainly have no jurisdictions, it's not penal or civil, it's war crimes therefore should be ruled by La Haye's international penal court, the companies are gone, the country itself is no more (imperial japan) the war have been lost and settled, and whatever the crime sued about pretty sure it now falls under limitation period...

Well, they're going after the Japanese companies that have branches in China...in Chinese court...