Japanese Court Rejects Chemical Weapons Lawsuit

The Tokyo High Court has rejected a lawsuit by five Chinese citizens who say they were injured by chemical weapons abandoned by Japanese troops at the end of World War Two.

The court upheld a lower court ruling that had dismissed the suit.

The Chinese were seeking about 680-thousand dollars from the Japanese government for injuries and health problems they say they suffered.

Japan's military left behind hundreds of thousands of chemical weapons after its occupation of China ended in 1945.

Japan has been helping to recover the weapons for nearly a decade, but China's government says the process is too slow and that thousands of people have been injured or killed in accidents involving the chemicals.

东京高等法庭驳回了5位中国公民提出的法律诉讼。这5个人说，他们被日军在二战结束的时候遗弃在中国的化学武器所毒害。

东京高等法庭的这一裁决维持了一家下级法庭拒绝受理此案的原判。

这些中国公民基于他们所说的伤害和健康问题向日本政府索赔68万美元。

日军1945年结束对中国的占领后，把数十万件化学武器留在了中国。

日本在过去将近10年来一直在协助中国回收那些化学武器，但是中国政府表示，这一过程过于缓慢；成千上万的民众已经由于这些化学武器引发的事故而受伤甚至死亡。