China urges Japan to treat seriously and handle properly the issues left over by history, including the forced laborers issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing Tuesday.

A high court in Japan on Monday denied redress to a group of 15Chinese men forced to work in Japanese coal mines during World War II amid a series of lawsuits former Chinese forced laborers have filed in Japan.

"The forced labor is one of the most grave crimes committed by Japanese militarists during the Japanese war of aggression against China, and China urges the Japanese government to handle properly the issue in a responsible way," Liu told a regular press conference.

The Fukuoka High Court rejected the demand for compensation because of limitation of actions, thus overturning the Fukuoka District Court ruling in April 2002 that ordered Mitsui Mining to pay 10 million yen for each forced worker.

In the Fukuoka High Court suit, the 15 Chinese men, now in their 70s and 80s, demanded 23 million yen each in compensation be paid by the state and the company, as well as apologies be published in newspapers.

Source: Xinhua