Chinese slave laborers receive compensation
( 2001-09-27 16:25 ) (8 )

Twenty-one Chinese survivors of World War II Japanese labor camps have received wartime compensation from a foundation in Beijing.

The Hanaoka Foundation for Peace and Friendship gave 250,000 Japanese yen (US$2,000) to each person on September 27 who worked in the Hanaoka labor camp for Japan's major construction firm, Kajima Corp., during the war.

On June 30, 1945, more than 700 Chinese laborers, forcibly brought to the camp by Japanese troops in China, staged an uprising that eventually was suppressed by Japanese military police. More than 130 laborers were killed in what is now called the "Hanaoka Incident."

Compensation for other survivors or their relatives will proceed gradually, according to an official with the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC).

RCSC will participate in the management of the Hanaoka Foundation in accordance with the reconciliation agreement reached by the two sides.