Chongqing Bombing survivors protest against Japanese court ruling

TOKYO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Victims of the Chongqing Bombing and some Japanese citizens protested against a ruling made by a Japanese court here on Thursday.

In the ruling, the Tokyo High Court said it would maintain the verdict of a lower court in 2015 which acknowledged damages caused by the air raids but refused to recognize the plaintiffs' right to seek damages.

Lin Gang, a chief lawyer of the plaintiffs, said that the plaintiff group will appeal the ruling to the Japanese Supreme Court.

Representatives of the plaintiffs and some Japanese citizens who sympathize with victims of the bombing held a gathering in a parliamentary building Thursday afternoon to protest against the ruling.

Three Chongqing Bombing survivors who are in their 80s attended the gathering and told their stories in tears to the audience.

Li Yuankui, head of the plaintiff delegation, said that the invading Japanese troops inflicted tremendous sufferings to the Chinese people before and during World War II and he was determined to appeal the unfair ruling to a higher court to seek justice.

Japanese warplanes indiscriminately bombed Chongqing, then China's provisional capital, and nearby cities more than 250 times between 1938 and 1944, killing and injuring more than 32,000 people.

The bombing along with the Nanjing Massacre are viewed as the most horrific atrocities committed by Japan during the war.

In 2006, 188 Chongqing Bombing victims filed a group lawsuit against the Japanese government with the Tokyo District Court, demanding an apology and compensation.

The court made a ruling in 2015 which acknowledged damages caused by the air raids but rejected the plaintiffs' demands. Enditem