Hong Kongers demand WWII compensation

Ng Yat-hing (middle) and Thekla Lit (right) challenge a Japanese diplomat

By Rose Tang
CNN.com Writer

HONG KONG, China -- A group of Hong Kong residents are demanding compensation from Japan for military currency issued during its occupation half a century ago.

Members of the Reparation Association of Hong Kong submitted a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori at the embassy on Monday.

They demand Japan reimburse the military notes the Army imposed on Hong Kong residents as it was the only currency permitted during the four year occupation.

Ng Yat-hing, chairman of the Reparation Association, told CNN.com that Hong Kong residents were forced to exchange their money, gold and jewelry into military yens or face execution.

The Japanese army sent capital gathered in Hong Kong back home or used it to buy supplies in Macau.

Military notes fade but war memories remain fresh

When troops pulled out of the territory in 1945 they left behind their worthless currency.

Ng's organization, representing 3,500 Hong Kong families, has lodged class actions with various courts in Japan since 1999, demanding Japan repay military notes they claim are worth about $142 million.

They lost the case in a Tokyo district court and a higher court maintained the ruling earlier this month.

Ng vows to appeal in the Supreme Court. "My father and grandfather lost all their money to the military notes. At his deathbed, my father asked me to get the repayment from the Japanese," he said.

He said the Supreme Court imposed a bond before lodging the case. "This is unprecedented. There have been more than 40 cases in Japan for war compensation, and none of them had to pay bond," he said.

"They (Japanese courts) use the legal technicality to obstruct demands for compensation," said Thekla Lit, president of the Canada-based Association for Learning and Preserving the History of World War Two in Asia.

The compensation case is being financed by a group of Japanese lawyers after Ng unsuccessfully appealed for assistance from the Hong Kong and Beijing governments.

The Japanese consulate declined to comment.

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Association for Learning & Preserving the History of World War II in Asia
Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong

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