By Joe McDonald



Dec. 17, 2003 | BEIJING (AP) --


A Chinese court sentenced a hotel worker and a prostitute to life in prison on Wednesday for organizing a three-day-long sex party for Japanese tourists -- a case that outraged Chinese and reignited anger over Japan's wartime conduct.


Twelve other people were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, and China said it had issued arrest warrants for three Japanese accused of organizing the event, asking Tokyo to help detain them.


According to earlier Chinese reports, the incident in September involved as many as 400 Japanese men and 500 Chinese prostitutes at a hotel in the southern city of Zhuhai.


Its final day fell on Sept. 18, the anniversary of a Japanese attack in 1931 on a city in China's northeast that Chinese regard as the start of World War II. The timing, which appeared to be coincidental, angered Chinese, many of whom believe Japan hasn't atoned for wartime brutality -- including mass rapes.


Chinese already were upset following a disaster in August involving chemical weapons left by Japan's army in 1945. One person died and 33 were sickened in the city of Qiqihar after construction workers broke open a buried canister of poison gas.


All 14 of those convicted in the sex party case by the Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court were Chinese citizens, Xinhua reported. They included employees of the Zhuhai International Conference Center Hotel, prostitutes and pimps, known in Chinese as "mami."


Those sentenced to life were Ye Xiang, assistant to the hotel's general manager, and Ming Zhu, a prostitute, Xinhua said. It said they were the main organizers of the event.


The hotel's deputy sales manager, Liu Xuejing, was sentenced to 15 years. Another defendant, prostitute Zhang Junying, was sentenced to 12 years. The 10 others received between two and 10 years in prison, Xinhua reported.


Prostitution, though illegal, is common in China and often practiced openly in tourist hotels in major cities.


China complained officially to the Japanese government in September, calling the incident "extremely odious criminal case." It demanded that Tokyo teach its people to respect the laws of other countries.


Beijing's pursuit of Japanese suspects threatened to complicate their relations further.


Xinhua identified the three Japanese as Isao Hirobe, Shunji Takahashi and Koji Fukunaga, employees of an unidentified construction company in Osaka, a city in western Japan. It cited testimony that they "clearly requested sexual services" from hotel managers while arranging a business meeting for the company.


A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Tokyo said the government had received a request for "cooperation" from China and conveyed it to police. She did not give details, and Japan's National Police Agency declined comment.


Another Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman noted that the two governments lack an extradition treaty.


Japanese law doesn't allow the government to turn over any citizen to a country without such a treaty, said Kenki Okada, an official of Japan's Justice Ministry.


Many of the Japanese were said to be employees of the Japanese construction company. Japan's Foreign Ministry says it acknowledged paying for "companions" at a reception but denies sponsoring the events that followed.


The trial began Friday and ended Saturday amid tight security in the Zhuhai Intermediate Court. The public and nonessential employees were barred from the courthouse by officials who cited privacy concerns.

Let's see, The Chinese Government wants the Japanese Government to hand over several Japanese businessmen for possible life sentences for porking (consensually) several hundred chinese hookers, that they, the Japanese Governement paid for?

Japanese comments "So sorry" "no expedition treaty"

Meanwhile there probably laughing their butts off.

The only ones who go to jail here are the Chinese (hookers and hotel staff)

Now how stupid is that.

Yeah were going to teach you Japanese a lesson for the Rape of Nanking in 31 when you had sex (unconsensually) with thousands of Chinese women by imprisoning a hundreds of Chinese women for having sex with Japanese businessmen consensually.

Yeah!!That'll teach you.

Stupid commies!

OG

a case of trying not to loose face, but someone looses their ass