World heritage bid has to include fact of forced labor

Japan's recent bid to have 23 coal mines, shipyards and other industrial zones of the Meiji Reform period in the 1860s recognized as world heritage sites, was postponed in the ongoing meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Germany, due to the Republic of Korea and China opposing the bid because Japan insisted on excluding acknowledgment of the labor from China, the Korean Peninsula and other Asian countries that were forced to work at some of the sites. Comments:

The lawful appeals of many innocent victims of Japan's historical aggression remain unanswered. If Japan ignores the slave labor in these sites, what kind of message is the country sending to the international community? China urges Japan to acknowledge and properly respond to its concerns.

Hua Chunying, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry, May 14