scotsamurai comments

xyberc You are wrong or just don't know what you are talking about. This case has been well reported and discussed in international legal journals since its inception.

Daido leased the hulls (ships) but the ships were then seized by the Imperial Navy, i.e., the Japanese government. Then they were sunk by torpedos. Mitsui had insurance on the cargo, which paid off the cargo owners, but didn't have insurance on the hulls (ships) because no one would issue it during those terrible times. Mitsui filed claims for compensation against the wartime Japanese government in order to pay the lease amount to the ship's owners, but didn't get any money.

In any event, under settled international and maritime law, Daido/Mitsui's obligations to pay the lease money to Zhongwei were suspended when the ships were seized by the Japanese Imperial Navy (government) under the doctrine of force majeure. If Daido/Mitsui had gotten the ships back from the Navy, or if they had won their lawsuit for compensation against the Japanese government, then they would have had to pay that money to Daido. However, since Daido/Mitsui never got any compensation, and because the ships were sunk by torpedos, Maritime law - which is international in scope - says that under the doctrines of "impossibility" or "commercial frustration of purpose" that Daido/Mitsui is not responsible for payment to Zhongwei. Basically, the seizure of the ships, plus their destruction, means that Daido/Mitsui doesn't have any obligations to pay. (every country but China follows this maritime rule of law.)

The ugly part of this lawsuit, however, is that the plaintiffs had tried to sue the Japanese government, which is the real responsible party, but because of the 1972 Joint Communique no further claims could be made against the Japanese government for war-related actions. With urging from the Communist Party however, the plaintiffs then took the lawsuit directly against Mitsui instead of the Japanese government. Because the Chinese "judges" are merely pawns of the Communist Party, of course they wrongly ruled in favor of Zhongwei descendants. This "legal" case is nothing but a political, xenophobic action to stir up anti-Japan sentiment in the face of declining economic conditions in China. Nothing new there.

BTW Mitsui just paid the $28 mil ransom demanded by the Communist Party to get their ship back. Piracy.