Twenty-five former leprosy patients in Taiwan sued the Japanese government yesterday, demanding compensation for being forcibly segregated during Japan's occupation of the country.
The elderly plaintiffs, most of whom still live in a sanatorium built under Japanese rule, said they had been subjected during the occupation to hard labor, forced sterilizations and abortions.
Japan systematically isolated leprosy patients, often on remote islands, under an 89-year policy which was abolished in 1996 long after it was established that the disease was not contagious.
The Japanese parliament in 2001 approved up to ?14 million yen (US$133,000) for each of the hundreds of leprosy patients who suffered abuse by the state.
But the health ministry in October ruled that the compensation did not apply to people of other nationalities affected by the Japanese policy on leprosy.
Japan colonized Taiwan from 1895 to 1945.
"Why are we not entitled to compensation even though we were forcibly interned like patients inside Japan?" plaintiff Chen Shi-shi (陳石獅), 81, told reporters.
He said the plaintiffs, who are aged between 72 and 84, were regarded as "Japanese citizens" when they were forced to live like prisoners.
Many still live at the Taipei sanatorium, which was built in 1930 by the then office of Japan's governor general in Taiwan, according to the suit.
During colonial rule, the sanatorium was surrounded by barbed wire and the inmates were fed meager food and prevented from going outside, the suit said.
In August, 111 South Koreans filed a similar suit seeking compensation for being moved to a remote island during Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
In Japan, 13 former leprosy patients on the southern island of Kyushu won ?1.8 billion in damages in 2001 for their internment.
Around 4,800 elderly former leprosy patients still live in 13 state-run homes in Japan, having spent an average of 40 years in them.
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
RSS