ID :
165638
Thu, 03/03/2011 - 14:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/165638
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Maehara apologizes to former Australian POWs over wartime forced labor
TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo - Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara on Thursday apologized to five former Australian prisoners of war and their families in Tokyo over forced labor during World War II.
''I hope we are able to create friendship and accommodation,'' while bolstering ties between Japan and Australia, Maehara said at the beginning of the meeting. The former POWs and their families are visiting Japan on a trip through Wednesday sponsored by the Japanese government.
Representing the former POWs, Charles Richards, 94, expressed gratitude to Maehara, saying the government's invitation would contribute to enhancing bilateral ties, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Richards was involved in building the Burma Railway after being held prisoner in Singapore. He was in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, when the war ended.
The former POWs are scheduled to visit Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture and Kure in Hiroshima Prefecture, where they were held during the war, on Friday and Saturday, they said.
''I hope we are able to create friendship and accommodation,'' while bolstering ties between Japan and Australia, Maehara said at the beginning of the meeting. The former POWs and their families are visiting Japan on a trip through Wednesday sponsored by the Japanese government.
Representing the former POWs, Charles Richards, 94, expressed gratitude to Maehara, saying the government's invitation would contribute to enhancing bilateral ties, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Richards was involved in building the Burma Railway after being held prisoner in Singapore. He was in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, when the war ended.
The former POWs are scheduled to visit Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture and Kure in Hiroshima Prefecture, where they were held during the war, on Friday and Saturday, they said.
