Date of letter:1992-12-20
Address of author:Shanghai City
Date of event:1943-06-28（lunar calendar）
Location of event:Shanghai City
Name of author:Wang Lingen
Name(s) of victim(s):Wang Lingen
Type of atrocity:Others (OT)
Other details:On the 28th of the 6th lunar month of 1943, my parent and I (ten-year-old), carrying a rice bag on my shoulder, were walking in the fields near Shanghai, when I was shot by Japanese and became disabled. For that I claim compensation from Japan.
Comrade Tong Zeng:
The following is a supplementary description of my suffering caused by Japanese invaders during the anti-Japanese war. As one of the victims, (I appreciate your endeavors.) Your act of pursuing justice for victims, revealing Japan’s war crimes against the Chinese people during its invasion of China, winning honor for the motherland and defending peace with your vigor and wisdom is antiwar in itself.
At the time (when the Chinese government signed the 1972 Joint Communique with the Japanese government), Prime Minister Zhou and Chairman Mao simply gave up reparations without considering the deeply-rooted grievances of Chinese people, the physical and mental suffering, hardship, damage and pain Japan inflicted on the Chinese victims, especially the victims who were crippled for life. [After careful examination of the language of the 1972 Joint Communique, Tong Zeng discovered that China only renounced its demand for war reparation, while leaving the claim rights of private Chinese citizens intact .] It would be reasonable for the government, NPC and CPPCC, people’s organizations and patriots to speak out and negotiate with Japan.
Japan has openly sent troops to Cambodia. Sometimes it even denied its war crimes against China. Your act of demanding compensation to victims against Japan is just and will be admired and supported by millions of people.
Wish you success with your work.
Victim
Wang Lin’gen
I retired in April 1993 as an associate professor from the Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Tech University. For the past 50 years, I’ve suffered greatly from severe disability in my legs caused by a damaged nervous system.
See Tong Zeng, It Is High Time China Sought Compensations from Japan, 1991, available at
Tong Zeng’s position is supported by the difference in the languages of the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique and the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty signed between Japan and the Allied Powers. Article 5 of the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique says: “The Government of the People’s Republic of China declares that in the interest of the friendship between the Chinese and the Japanese peoples, it renounces its demand for war reparation from Japan” while Article 14(b) of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty signed between Japan and the Allied Powers says: “the Allied Powers waive all reparations claims of the Allied Powers, other claims of the Allied Powers and their nationals arising out of any actions taken by Japan and its nationals in the course of the prosecution of the war, and claims of the Allied Powers for direct military costs of occupation.” (1951 U.S.T. LEXIS 516)
I am a retired teacher from the Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Tech University. For the past 50 years (during the rule of the Japanese puppet administration and the Kuomintang), I’ve suffered greatly from severe disability in my legs (two bullet hole scars on the front and back of my body) caused by the shooting of Japanese invaders. After Liberation, I have been politically emancipated, but (the wounds still cause) inconvenience to my study, work and life. My disabled legs become increasingly inconvenient as I grow old. All of this was caused by Japanese invaders, so I should claim for compensation against Japan.
The date and fact of my getting injured:
I was born on April 22, 1933. At the dusk of lunar June 28, 1943, the then 10-year-old me carrying about 8 kg rice walked from the No.7 bridge to the No. 6 bridge with a group of adults (also rice carriers) (on the field near Qibao (between No.7 bridge and No. 6 bridge) in the suburb of Shanghai. All of a sudden, a burst of gunfire came from the No. 7 bridge. We continued walking after the gunshot stopped. Unexpectedly, over 10 Japanese soldiers came towards us. I ran to a different direction. One Japanese soldier shouted at me, ran towards me and shot 7 bullets (I remember he used a box gun). There was a river before me, so I jumped into it (I couldn’t swim). But he wouldn’t let me go, and continued to shoot. I suddenly felt numb in my body. I gradually floated up (the water was only as high as my shoulder at first). I grabbed wild rice stems by the river to prevent myself from sinking. But I couldn’t move. At about 10 p.m., I was carried to the No. 6 bridge by another victim. The next day, my mother asked a neighbor to carry me into our home using a door plate. I have become disabled since then despite medicine. How painful I have been during the past 50 years!
Japanese invaders committed countless crimes at Qibao and Caohejing. At the No. 6 bridge, I witnessed a Chinese man being burned alive and at the No. 7 bridge, another Chinese was bundled with rice, pushed into the river and drowned. And there were more cases of Chinese women being raped. How cruel!
The blood debt must be paid and compensation is one way to do that. Charging Japanese invaders with heinous crimes in China and claiming for compensation means that our Chinese people have stood up instead of being insulted and victimized. Claiming for compensation is a just act.
Witnesses: Two uncles, mother, eldest aunt, aunt on my mother’s side, elder brother, younger brother and my then neighbors, etc.
Victim
Wang Lin’gen
December 20, 1992
