Police broke up a news conference Monday as a Chinese woman told foreign reporters about her ordeal as a forced sex slave of the Japanese military during World War II.
At least one of the organizers of Wang Aihua's news conference was held for questioning, said a participant who, fearing arrest, requested anonymity.Organizers had hoped to increase pressure on the Japanese government to provide compensation to war victims. The raid underscored the Chinese government's unwillingness to offend Japan, its largest trading partner and creditor.
In Japan, lawsuits were filed against the government Monday on behalf of 15 Chinese, including Wang. They demand about $2.2 million for each in compensation for wartime suffering at the hands of Japanese soldiers.
The plaintiffs include five women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers, two survivors of Japanese attacks and eight relatives of three victims of biological experiments conducted by the Japanese army.
The two lawsuits were the latest in a series related to the war. About 25 such lawsuits are pending, including some by Korean and Filipino former sex slaves. The Japanese government has refused to pay compensation.
Wang, forced to serve Japanese soldiers as a "comfort woman," started to cry as she began speaking to foreign reporters in a small conference room at a Beijing hotel.
The room suddenly went dark, and about 10 uniformed and plainclothes security forces crowded in, taking the names of reporters, confiscating film and making sure no one took pictures. Two officers guarded the elevator.
Wang, other war victims and Tong Zeng, an activist leading a compensation drive for war victims, were allowed to leave.
Reporters who were there said they were told not to write stories about the unauthorized news conference and the police action.
Li Dingguo, a campaign activist and spokesman for Monday's news conference, was taken away by police. His whereabouts could not immediately be determined.
China's security forces usually detain dissidents and activists regarded as troublemakers before or after they meet with members of the foreign media.
Only rarely are foreign reporters physically confronted by the security forces who it is assumed monitor their movements and tap their phones, offices and homes.
Although China relinquished claims to war reparations when it restored formal relations with Japan in 1972, the government maintains private citizens may seek compensation, but it has hindered the compensation movement.