Paulo Roberto de Almeida
Chinese Court Orders Seizure of Japanese Vessel
By AUSTIN RAMZY
The New York Times, April 21, 2014
A court in Shanghai has ordered the seizure of a Japanese ship over legal claims dating to before World War II, adding a point of contention to the sometimes rancorous relationship between Japan and China.
The ship, the Baosteel Emotion, is a bulk carrier owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, which the court says failed to pay an obligation resulting from a contract dating to the 1930s. The vessel is berthed at Majishan port, southeast of Shanghai. Calls to the port were not answered on Monday.
The Japanese government expressed concern on Monday that the court decision could undermine diplomatic and business ties between the two countries. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman sought to play down any tensions, however, saying the decision was a matter of contract law and not of wartime reparations.
In 1936, the Shanghai shipping tycoon Chen Shuntong leased two freighters to a Japanese company, Daido Shipping Co., for one year, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua. But in 1937 the Japanese occupation of parts of China developed into full-scale war and the vessels were not returned. Daido Shipping contends that the freighters were confiscated by the Japanese government and lost at sea during the war.
Even after the war, Mr. Chen did not receive compensation for the lost ships, Xinhua reported. The case was taken up by Mr. Chen’s son, and later by his grandsons Chen Zhen and Chen Chun.
In 2007, the Shanghai Maritime Court ruled against Mitsui O.S.K., which had merged with a successor to Daido, and declared that the company owed 2.9 billion yen, or about $28.3 million at current exchange rates, in compensation.
The court in Shanghai ordered the seizure of the Baosteel Emotion on Saturday after negotiations between the parties achieved no results. Mitsui O.S.K. “was seeking the possibility of out-of-court settlement when the vessel was suddenly impounded and we were notified of that fact,” the company said in a statement posted on its website.
Japan’s brutal occupation of China remains a source of friction between the two countries, and many people in China believe that Japan is not sufficiently remorseful for events that took place during the war. Japan considers the matter of reparations to have been settled by the joint communiqué in 1972 that re-established diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Beijing.
The seizure of the Japanese vessel on Saturday set off expressions of official concern in Tokyo. “This shakes the very foundations of our diplomatic normalcy with China,” the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said on Monday. “It will have a withering effect on Japanese businesses still operating in China. The Japanese government is gravely concerned and expects the Chinese to handle the matter appropriately.”
A spokesman for the Chinese government said that the court ruling should be seen as a commercial matter, and that China continues to abide by the 1972 communiqué.
“This case has nothing to do with Chinese-Japanese war compensation,” Qin Gang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at a regular news briefing.
Discussion of the move was muted on Chinese social media platforms, but there were some statements supporting the decision to impound the Japanese vessel.
“Although it’s just a commercial ship, that’s an improvement,” one commenter from Hubei Province wrote on his verified Sina Weibo account. He urged the Chinese authorities to seize a Japanese military vessel next.
Colin Moreshead contributed reporting from Tokyo and Bree Feng contributed research from Beijing.
The ship, the Baosteel Emotion, is a bulk carrier owned by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, which the court says failed to pay an obligation resulting from a contract dating to the 1930s. The vessel is berthed at Majishan port, southeast of Shanghai. Calls to the port were not answered on Monday.
The Japanese government expressed concern on Monday that the court decision could undermine diplomatic and business ties between the two countries. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman sought to play down any tensions, however, saying the decision was a matter of contract law and not of wartime reparations.
In 1936, the Shanghai shipping tycoon Chen Shuntong leased two freighters to a Japanese company, Daido Shipping Co., for one year, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua. But in 1937 the Japanese occupation of parts of China developed into full-scale war and the vessels were not returned. Daido Shipping contends that the freighters were confiscated by the Japanese government and lost at sea during the war.
Even after the war, Mr. Chen did not receive compensation for the lost ships, Xinhua reported. The case was taken up by Mr. Chen’s son, and later by his grandsons Chen Zhen and Chen Chun.
In 2007, the Shanghai Maritime Court ruled against Mitsui O.S.K., which had merged with a successor to Daido, and declared that the company owed 2.9 billion yen, or about $28.3 million at current exchange rates, in compensation.
The court in Shanghai ordered the seizure of the Baosteel Emotion on Saturday after negotiations between the parties achieved no results. Mitsui O.S.K. “was seeking the possibility of out-of-court settlement when the vessel was suddenly impounded and we were notified of that fact,” the company said in a statement posted on its website.
Japan’s brutal occupation of China remains a source of friction between the two countries, and many people in China believe that Japan is not sufficiently remorseful for events that took place during the war. Japan considers the matter of reparations to have been settled by the joint communiqué in 1972 that re-established diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Beijing.
The seizure of the Japanese vessel on Saturday set off expressions of official concern in Tokyo. “This shakes the very foundations of our diplomatic normalcy with China,” the chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said on Monday. “It will have a withering effect on Japanese businesses still operating in China. The Japanese government is gravely concerned and expects the Chinese to handle the matter appropriately.”
A spokesman for the Chinese government said that the court ruling should be seen as a commercial matter, and that China continues to abide by the 1972 communiqué.
“This case has nothing to do with Chinese-Japanese war compensation,” Qin Gang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at a regular news briefing.
Discussion of the move was muted on Chinese social media platforms, but there were some statements supporting the decision to impound the Japanese vessel.
“Although it’s just a commercial ship, that’s an improvement,” one commenter from Hubei Province wrote on his verified Sina Weibo account. He urged the Chinese authorities to seize a Japanese military vessel next.
Colin Moreshead contributed reporting from Tokyo and Bree Feng contributed research from Beijing.
