On Wednesday a Nanjing court began hearing the case of a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre against a Japanese writer and publishing company who had denied her account of events.
   
The hearing differs from previous suits not only because it has been taken to a Chinese court, but also because it targets those downplaying or denying the atrocities rather than the war criminals themselves.
   
The defendants, Toshio Matsumura and Teiunsya Corp. Ltd., had been served summonses in April but did not attend the hearing.
   
Xia Shuqin, the plaintiff, was only 8 years old in December 1937, the time of the massacre.
   
As many as 300,000 Chinese were killed, including 7 of Xia's family, and many more abused by Japanese troops when they overran Nanjing, the then capital.
   
"A Japanese soldier stabbed me in the left shoulder, left side and back with his bayonet, I passed out because of the severe pain," Xia said.
  
When she regained consciousness, she found that only she and her 4-year-old sister had survived. They hid in a room full of bodies for 14 days, eating scraps and drinking unboiled water. Later, they were taken to a home by an elderly woman.
   
Their experiences were recorded in John Magee's film and the wartime diaries of John Rabe.
   
In 1998, Teiunsya published Big Doubts about the Nanjing Massacre, compiled by Toshio Matsumura, which included claims that Xia was a false witness and a liar.
   
When learning of this through the media, Xia was deeply hurt and she decided to take legal action in November 2000.
   
She raised five demands in the lawsuit, that the defendants stop the defamation at once, restore her reputation, apologize to her in major newspapers in Japan and China, pay compensation of 800,000 yuan (US$96,386) and pay for the lawsuit.
   
A verdict is yet to be announced.
   
(Shenzhen Daily November 25, 2004)