PEOPLE from Northeast China's Liaoning Province protested against a Japanese court's rejection on a damages lawsuit filed by three Chinese survivors of the 1932 massacre, over the weekend.

The Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court ruling Friday, rejecting the suit by three survivors although acknowledging that the tragedy, caused by intruding Japanese army in Pingdingshan, a village in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, actually took place.

Fushun citizens from more than 10 communities Friday gathered for a memorial at the site of the 1932 massacre, also known as the Pingdingshan Tragedy, strongly condemning the unfair ruling of the court. People from Shenyang, the province's capital, also set up a group to support survivors and condemn court's judgment.

In the Pingdingshan Tragedy, the Japanese army rounded up about 3,000 people in the village and slew most of them. The Japanese soldiers burned the bodies and buried them under a landslide caused by a dynamite explosion. China excavated part of the site in 1970 and displayed the findings in a museum.

The three survivors, including Mo Desheng, Yang Baoshan, and Fang Surong, who were between 4 and 9 at that time, sought 20 million yen (US$18,728) each as compensation from the Japanese Government.

The trio, now in their 80s, filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court, and demanded that the Japanese Government apologize to Chinese victims.

In June 2002, the Tokyo District Court acknowledged the existence of the massacre by Japanese army - the first for a Japanese court. However, the court rejected the demand for compensation, saying that Japan was free of any responsibility for damage with regard to the exercise of state power at that time.

The plaintiffs did not agree with the ruling and appealed to the Tokyo High Court.

"The Tokyo High Court's recent unfair ruling once again hurt the victims and survivors in the tragedy," Professor Fu said, adding that Liaoning people would support the three's appeal to Japan's supreme court.

Editor: Wing