The detaining of Japanese bulk carrier Baosteel Emotion by the Shanghai Maritime Court, is the result of two Chinese brothers' winning a civil lawsuit against the Japanese company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd.

The story behind this case epitomizes the misery Japanese aggression brought to Chinese people, while the litigation process, which has lasted more than 60 years, points to the difficulty that China's first ship tycoon Chen Shuntong and his son and grandsons have gone through in getting justice delivered.

Chen leased two cargo ships to the Japanese company Daido Shipping Co Ltd in October 1936, which according to the contract acquired the right to use the ships for 12 months.

With the outbreak of the war against Japanese aggression in 1937, Chen was unable to get his ships back after the contract expired. The Japanese shipping company wrote him a letter in 1940 claiming that the two ships had been confiscated by Japan's Ministry of Transport, which leased the ships to it. But one of them actually sank in 1938 when it hit some rocks. The other ship sank in 1944, when it hit a mine.

Chen failed to get compensation after the war and died in 1949, leaving his son to seek compensation from Japan. His son began writing to the Japanese government for compensation in the early 1960s and he even lodged a lawsuit against the Japanese government, but to no avail.

Now the ship tycoon's grandsons have finally won a lawsuit against Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, into which Daido Shipping Co Ltd had been incorporated through another shipping firm.

Had the Japanese government and politicians seriously reflected on the miseries caused to people in China and other Asian countries by the war they had launched Chen would have received the compensation he was due.

Had his grandsons filed their lawsuit in a Japanese court, as the tycoon's son did in the early 1960s, it would still be dragging on the same as other litigation proceedings Chinese individuals have launched against Japanese firms or the Japanese government in pursuit of damages as a result of Japan's wartime actions.

The war that ended in 1945 should never stand in the way of friendship between the two countries and the two peoples. But that does not mean we should forget it or deny the miseries it caused. Neither does it mean that a Japanese firm or the government should refuse to pay compensation for wartime wrongs.

(China Daily 04/21/2014 page8)