MORE than 600 intellectuals and over 10,000 victims of the Japanese invasion of China have submitted a petition to the Chinese national legislature and top advisory body asking for help to get war reparations from Japan.
Sources close to the war reparation movement said at least three provincial delegations to the National People's Congress (NPC), due to open today, have received the petitions, and some delegates have agreed to raise the issue during the conclave.
The Congress is obliged to give a reply if more than 30 delegates jointly put forward a motion. Copies of the petition already have started to circulate among the delegates, sources said.
But they said no major protests had been organised. Last year, Beijing police detained hundreds of demonstrators who travelled from the provinces to the capital to show their indignation over the atrocities committed by the Japanese army during the invasion.
None of the signatories were prominent dissidents because organisers of the campaign wanted to maintain a distance from the activists.
According to sources, the petitioners asked the NPC and the advisory Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to organise a national celebration for the 50th anniversary of victory in the anti-Japanese war. They want to invite Tong Zeng, a leader of the war reparation movement, to take part in the celebration.
Mr Tong, a private campaigner, has organised and assisted thousands of the war victims to seek indemnities from the Japanese authorities.
