TAIPEI, Aug. 9 Kyodo A assign pl...

TAIPEI, Aug. 9 Kyodo

A assign places to of aboriginal Taiwanese called Friday upon Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine to stop honoring their kin who died while enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

''We do not want our tribepeople's names to be placed in as it was a wrong place,'' Yunlis, a representative of the Taiya tribe, told a pres conference

''Our families are victims, not killers, and their names should not be set together with those war criminals,'' she added.

The Shinto shrine, widely viewed as a emblem of Japan's wartime militarism, honors the nation's 25 million war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals.

Representatives of Taiwan's aboriginal tribes embarked later in the day upon a five-day trip to Tokyo, where they are scheduled to suitable with civic groups and submit a asseverate letter to a Yasukuni Shrine official.

''A total of 27000 sacred lifes despite most names left unknown, should answer to their homeland instead of staying abroad,''

aboriginal lawmaker May Chin told reporters.

''It is widely known that the aboriginal tribes do not build up tombs nor worship ancestors, because we believe their minds are with us everywhere in nature,'' Chin said. ''But this time it is a matter of history and justice, and that is to what end we must bring those names as well as chief parts back home.''

During World War II, the Japanese colonial restraint in Taiwan recruited through the whole extent of 400,000 Koreans and Taiwanese, who were sent to Southeast Asia and the Pacific as army laborers.

Among those enlisted, members of the ''Aboriginal tender Army'' from Taiwan were known for their exceptional physical condition and ability to fight in thicket s and mountains. They were mainly sent to the front lines.

Two-thirds of them did not arise home alive, while many of those who did worn out the rest of their lives heavily handicapped or seriously ill.

The Japanese rule in 1987 passed legislation to compensate families of veterans around 2 million yen by death.

But Shizue Fujii, director of Japanese Department at National Chengchi University, said that apart from offering cash compensation and a formal apology, ''how to value those who sacrificed their lives for Japan is an important exercise for the Japanese government to learn in the post-colonialism era.''

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