三菱綜合材料與中國勞工達成和解

A Chinese lawyer suing a Japanese company for reparations over wartime forced labour said on Thursday that despite a settlement deal for a few ageing victims, her two-decade quest would continue.

起訴一家日本公司、爲戰爭期間被擄勞工索賠的中國律師週四表示，儘管該公司與幾名年事已高的受害者達成了和解協議，但她不會停止持續20年的努力。

“It’s not over. From the point of view of the plaintiffs it’s not over,” Kang Jian told the Financial Times. The settlement announced this week was not representative, she said. “Mitsubishi Materials shouldn’t play these word games.”

康健向英國《金融時報》表示：“這件事並未結束。從原告的觀點來說，它並未結束。”她說，本週宣佈的和解協議不具有代表性。“三菱綜合材料株式會社(Mitsubishi Materials Co)不應玩弄這些文字遊戲。”

Her remarks came after the Japanese company agreed to pay Rmb100,000 ($15,000) and apologise to each of three former labourers who were taken to Japan and forced to work in the company’s mines.

康健發表上述言論之前，三菱綜合材料同意向被強擄至日本、並在其礦山做苦役的3名勞工每人支付10萬元人民幣（合1.5萬美元），並向他們道歉。

The settlements have raised the prospect of healing a longstanding sore in Sino-Japanese relations but Ms Kang’s remarks are a reminder that thousands of potential cases remain outstanding in China.

該和解協議提升了治癒中日關係長期“傷疤”的前景，但康健的言辭提醒人們，中國的數千宗潛在案件依然尚待解決。

Mitsubishi Materials said “it continues to seek a comprehensive and permanent solution with all of its former labourers and their families”. The company is setting up a fund in China to search for other former labourers and build memorials.

三菱綜合材料表示，“繼續尋求與所有被擄勞工及其家屬達成全面而永久的和解協議”。該公司在中國設立了一家基金，以尋找其他被擄勞工並修建紀念碑。

Mitsubishi Materials is the corporate successor to Mitsubishi Mining Corporation, which used 3,765 Chinese workers in mines such as Hashima — known as “Battleship Island” or “Hell Island” — where they worked under brutal conditions.

三菱綜合材料的前身是三菱礦業株式會社(Mitsubishi Mining Corporation)，後者在端島(Hashima)等礦山使用了3765名中國勞工，強迫他們在惡劣條件下勞動。端島也被稱爲軍艦島或地獄島。

A similar agreement with all the ex-workers and their families would cost Rmb376.5m.

與所有被擄勞工及其家屬簽署類似協議將花費3.765億元人民幣。

The settlement is limited to Chinese men who were tricked or coerced into working in Japan during the war, not the millions who worked in Japanese-operated mines or factories in occupied Chinese territory.

該協議僅限於在二戰期間被騙或被迫在日本工作的中國人，而非數百萬在中國被佔領土的日資經營礦山或工廠工作的勞工。

When the survivors returned to China after the war their names and addresses were all registered, making the claims relatively easy to verify.

當倖存者在二戰後返回中國的時候，他們的姓名和地址全都被登記下來，這讓索賠請求相對容易覈實。

Nonetheless, when Ms Kang went looking for the forced labourers in the 1990s she had to drive from village to village in Shandong province, because the turmoil of subsequent decades left the mens’ original addresses of little use.

然而，當康健在上世紀90年代尋找這些被擄勞工的時候，她不得不驅車在山東省的各個村子尋訪，因爲隨後數十年的動盪讓這些人最初的地址幾乎沒用。

After decades of avoiding the issue, Mitsubishi Materials has been trying to reckon with its wartime past. Last year it made a historic apology to American prisoners of war forced to labour in its mines.

在數十年迴避該問題之後，三菱綜合材料近年試圖正視自己的戰時歷史。去年，該公司向當年被迫在其礦山勞作的美國戰俘做出了歷史性的道歉。

China absolved Japan of any wartime claims in a 1972 communique normalising relations. That allowed Japanese investment and development aid to flow into China.

中國在1972年中日關係正常化公報中放棄了對日本的任何戰爭索賠權利。這使得日本投資和發展援助流入中國。

But as relations between the two countries has deteriorated in recent years, partly because of disputes over wartime history, activists in Korea and China have pursued private cases against companies.

但隨着兩國關係近年惡化——部分原因是圍繞戰爭歷史的糾紛——韓國和中國的活動人士尋求個人對公司的索賠。

In 2014 a Beijing court accepted a suit brought by 40 former forced labourers against Mitsubishi Materials and Nippon Coke & Engineering. They claimed damages of about $40m. Ms Kang has another 1,000 families and survivors signed up if the court agrees to accept a class action.

2014年，一家北京法庭受理了40名被擄勞工對三菱綜合材料和Nippon Coke & Engineering提起的訴訟。原告請求獲得約4000萬美元的損害賠償金。如果法庭同意受理集體訴訟，康健還會代理1000名家屬和倖存者提起訴訟。

However, with many of the victims elderly, ill or dead, and Mitsubishi Materials offering an apology as well as money, more families may be willing to accept the settlement.

然而，隨着許多受害者年事已高、生病或者去世，隨着三菱綜合材料做出道歉並支付賠償，更多家屬可能願意接受和解。