Japan's germ war case fails

A Tokyo court has rejected compensation for Chinese victims of Japan's notorious World War II germ warfare unit.

The judge rejected the lawsuit but acknowledged the Japanese military had engaged in germ warfare, said a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Jun Ogino.

"This is an unfair ruling that rejected compensation, although it acknowledged the facts [of germ warfare]," Ogino said.

The lawsuit was brought by 180 Chinese plaintiffs who said they were survivors or relatives of the victims of germ warfare.