Japan's leprosy victims to get paid

HUMAN RIGHTS: Leprosy has long been known to be a curable, difficult-to-transmit disease, and Japan is to accept responsibility for abusing sufferers of the illness

THE GUARDIAN , LONDON

Japan is to compensate Taiwanese and South Korean leprosy patients who were incarcerated during Japanese colonial rule, it was reported on Sunday.

Compensation suits filed by the foreign patients were mired in confusion last week after one judge at the Tokyo district court ruled in favor of the Taiwanese plaintiffs while, on the same day, a different judge at the same court threw out similar claims by the South Koreans.

Although the Japanese government is expected to appeal against the ruling on the Taiwanese patients, the health and welfare ministry plans to reach a court-mediated settlement with both groups of patients, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported.

More than 400 Taiwanese and South Korean patients forced to live in segregated sanitariums by the Japanese authorities are eligible for compensation. The exact sum has yet to be agreed, although one estimate puts the total figure at ?3.5 billion (US$29.8 million).

The move is an apparent attempt to reconcile the conflicting rulings involving 25 Taiwanese and 117 South Korean plaintiffs and to atone for decades of forcibly segregating leprosy patients, a policy that was also pursued in Japan until 1996. In a report compiled earlier this year, the health ministry admitted that Japan had "infringed on the human rights" of leprosy patients in its colonies.

Japan occupied the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945, and Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 until the end of World War II.

The men and women in the recent cases -- most of whom are in their 80s -- claim they are entitled to redress under a 2001 landmark ruling by a Japanese court. The government claims, however, that the law does not apply to patients overseas, even though they were locked up by Japanese colonial authorities.

As in Japan, patients in Taiwan and South Korea were confined to special isolation centres, despite evidence that leprosy -- which is now known as Hansen's disease -- was curable and very difficult to pass on.

The residents, who included young children, were forcibly prevented from leaving the institutions. Those who wanted to marry were sterilized and women who became pregnant were forced to have abortions.

Conditions in Taiwan and South Korea were often worse, with the residents suffering additional abuse as subjects of colonial Japan.

They included 84-year-old Chang Gi-jin, who has lived in Sorokto hospital, a South Korean leprosarium built in 1916 by the Japanese, since he was in his early 20s. Chang, who is one of only 700 remaining residents, said that he was stunned by the court's ruling last week.

"We have little time left," Chang said. "What am I going to tell my companions at Sorokto?"

Taiwan and South Korea both ended the forced segregation of leprosy patients during the 1960s, in line with international norms, but Japan did not abolish its quarantine policy until 1996.

In 2001, one of Junichiro Koizumi's first acts as prime minister was to meet some of the former patients and apologize to them in person.

The government has since paid out compensation of more than ?42 billion to 3,475 people.

Ma is distorting the facts

By Deeann Kuo

In his Oct. 25 piece in the China Times, Taipei Mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, with great rhetorical skill and subtle distortion, misrepresented Taiwanese history and the beliefs about one of Taiwan's most respected democracy pioneers.

Ma asserted that my grandfather Kuo Yu-hsin (1908-1985), a dangwai ("outside the KMT") leader and tireless advocate of democracy and freedom, did not support Taiwanese independence. This claim is patently false, and appears to be either a calculated effort by Ma to distort the legacy of Kuo for political purposes; or an uninformed -- and therefore irresponsible -- rewriting of history. The public record reveals unequivocally that Kuo Yu-hsin supported an independent Taiwan.

In his written statement presented to the US Congress during hearings on Taiwan before the Committee on Foreign Affairs on Feb. 7 and 8, 1979, entitled "The People of Taiwan Demand Self-Determination and Independence," he stated: "The future of Taiwan should be determined by the people of Taiwan alone, in accordance with the principle of self-determination. Given a free chance, we will reject domination by People's Republic of China and continued dictatorship by the KMT. Meanwhile, we will undeniably promote democratic institutions a la America, British or Swiss style, pursue a free, equitable economic system, seek peace with all nations, and safeguard independence -- de facto and de jure -- for Taiwan, our sacred homeland."

In 1978, Kuo Yu-hsin ran by proxy against Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in the indirect presidential election. His election platform, printed in the the Washington Post on Feb. 28, 1978, stated:

"The future status of Taiwan must be determined only by the people who live in the island of Taiwan. We, the Taiwanese, repudiate the present Nationalist [KMT] regime who, in the name of China, perpetuates a repressive minority rule in Taiwan. We also repudiate the People's Republic of China for its political and territorial ambitions over Taiwan.

"The right to self-determination of the Taiwanese people is not negotiable. We firmly believe that when the people of Taiwan are permitted to openly and freely express their political choice, they will overwhelmingly choose to establish a new and independent country of their own, in which freedom, equality, justice, and democracy prevail."

Kuo Yu-hsin spent most of his life fighting for human rights, freedom and democracy. After serving 25 years in the Provincial Assembly, where he championed social legislation on behalf of farmers, workers, the elderly and the handicapped, he made an unsuccessful bid for the legislature in a campaign that has been well-documented as fraught with election fraud by the KMT.

After years of living under constant surveillance and the threat of assassination by the KMT, Kuo moved to the US in 1977 in self-imposed exile. There, he founded the Overseas Alliance for Democratic Rule in Taiwan and lobbied the US Congress for support on the establishment of democratic rule and human rights in Taiwan.

More than 25 years ago, before even the formation of the Democratic Progressive Party, Kuo Yu-hsin already understood that Taiwan was a de facto independent country. He believed that given a choice -- one made without fear and coercion -- the people of Taiwan would overwhelmingly support a declaration and establishment of formal independence. Kuo Yu-hsin's vision for Taiwan was an independent, internationally recognized Taiwan Nation.

DeeAnn Kuo

Fairfax, Virginia

Don't fret over Senegal

By Raymond Dai, YUNLIN

I agree with your editorial "Diplomacy isn't just about numbers" (Oct. 28, page 8). We must not only focus on the number of our allies, but also review our foreign policy pragmatically in the face of China's effort to isolate Taiwan.

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade visited Taiwan many times. But to our surprise, he made the crude and astonishing announcement, "There are no friends between nations, only interests."

Even though we have done our best to assist Senegal to develop its economy with an agricultural technology corps, we cannot rival China's dollar diplomacy.

Therefore, we should wake up to the reality that China's efforts to undermine Taiwan through dollar diplomacy aren't likely to stop. China will keep on bullying Taiwan and blocking our diplomatic efforts.

From this point, all people in Taiwan should be cautious and stay alert instead of being lured by China's "goodwill," such as offering pandas and importing Taiwanese fruit.

We cannot become demoralized because of the temporary diplomatic failure. Rather, we must take advantage of our economic and strategic edge and show our determination to defend the country.