Date of letter:1993-09
Address of author:Zhejiang Province
Date of event:1944, 1993
Location of event:Shanghai City
Name of author:Yin Qinglai
Name(s) of victim(s):Yin Guoxiong, Jiang Xueshan, Liu Chuyun
Type of atrocity:Air Bombings, Others(AB, OT）
Other details:In April 1993, Yin Guoxiong, Jiang Xueshan, and Liu Chuyun dug out a rusted bomb when building a house. One old man said it was left by the Japanese Army in 1944 when bombing Changning, and it failed to detonate back then. People thought it would not explode now, and they continued to dig the foundation. But the bomb suddenly exploded, thus three persons were killed, and 5 houses nearby was destroyed. Note: The envelope is missing
Claim for Damage Compensation by Chinese Civilians against Japan
The Japanese government:
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese Militarism waged all-out invasion war against China, wantonly bombed our territory, which brought deep suffering to Chinese people, my family members and relatives Yin Guoxiong, Jiang Xueshan, Liu Chuyun all died from the hidden hazard left behind by the war, five houses and furniture were all destroyed, for this reason, we specially demand the Japanese government to compensate seventy five million yen.
The details are as follows:
On April 9, 1993, when Yin Guoxiong, Jiang Xueshan, Liu Chuyun were laying foundation at the time of house construction, they dug out a bomb covered with red rust, one old man said: “This is an unexploded heavy-weight bomb dropped by the Japanese Army when were bombing Changning area in 1944, back then it was covered by dust and laid undiscovered, and was discovered now in digging the foundation.” All the onlookers said: “This bomb was rusted beyond recognition; it has been buried here for more than 40 years, and won’t explode.” As the novelty wore off, people all left, only the three persons of Yin, Jiang and Liu continued to dig the foundation. Suddenly, this bomb exploded, the three persons were instantly killed, five red brick tiled houses were reduced to powder, all furniture items were destroyed. Without the bombing of the Japanese Invasion Army, there would be no dust-covered and unexploded bomb, and today’s tragedy could have been avoided. Although the tragedy happened more than 40 years after Japan’s unconditional surrender, since it is by no means accidental, the Japanese government still has unavoidable responsibility for compensation.
On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered as a defeat country. According to a series of international laws such as “Yalta Agreement”, “Cairo Declaration” and “Potsdam Proclamation”: “The defeat county that wages invasion must assume responsibility for compensating all losses suffered by people of the invaded country.” Japan is a defeat country that waged war against China, therefore, it must compensate for all damage losses sustained by the Chinese people, there is no shirking the responsibility. Even Japanese expatriates in the United States and Canada have received damage compensation from two victory countries of the United States and Canada. What reason does Japanese government have not to compensate for all damages of Chinese people who suffered deeply during the Japanese invasion into China? This will not be tolerated by heaven!
I hereby request the Japanese government to seriously consider compensation, in order to benefit long lasting Sino-Japanese friendship.
Claimer: Chinese citizen Yin Qinglai
September 25, 1993
