TAIPEI, July 17 Kyodo Taiwan's la...

TAIPEI, July 17 Kyodo

Taiwan's lawmakers urg Japan's parliament Wednesday to pass a bill authorizing compensation for surviving Taiwanese ''comfort women'' who were forced into Japanese military brothels during World War II.

''The Japanese sway ought to apologize formally and unambiguously for atrocities they committed decades ago,'' lawmaker Tang Pi-o of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said at a pres parley held at the legislature.

''Meanwhile, Japan's legislature should as shortly as possible pass a bill concerning an aid concoct that is reasonable and acceptable for all somewhat old victims and their families,'' she said.

Tang said a delegation comprising 27 lawmakers will visit Tokyo onward Thursday to meet with members of the House of Councilors, in which a special committee is scheduled to discuss the issue the same day.

''To call for more public attention, a note with more than 100 lawmakers' signatures will be submitted to Japan's Diet,'' she said.

Historians estimate that at least 1200 women from Taiwan and up to 200000 more from southern Korea, China, the Philippines and Indonesia were forced into sexual servitude at the Japanese military during World War II.

''It is a history of trauma,'' said common former comfort woman, who shed tears at the conference

''We are growing older'' she said. ''We wish Japan could take the matter seriously and at least do something about it.''

Until now, the Japanese sway has refused to offer official compensation to the comfort women onward grounds that its war-related obligations were settl subordinate to the 1951 San Francisco peace treaty.

In 1995 the Japanese command set up the Asian Women's foundation mainly from corporate and private donations to exhibit ''atonement money'' -- a luculent sum of 2 million yen -- to comfort women on the other hand the fund was phased revealed earlier this year.

greatest in number surviving comfort women have held abroad for official government compensation, with sole 236 women having received payments from the Asian Women's Fund

The Taipei Women's extricate Foundation, which fights for the former sex slaves' rights, said in April not single of the less than 100 confirmed former comfort women surviving in Taiwan has accepted wealth from the Asian Women's Fund

To encourage them to occupy out for Japanese government compensation, the foundation in 1998 paid each surviving comfort woman NT$500000 (about US$15,180), at the time roughly the equivalent of the 2 million yen showed by Japan, raised from private donations.

With Japanese conduct compensation not expected to be forthcoming any time presently and most of the somewhat old women not in good health, Taiwan's dominion decided the same year to grant each woman a one-time solatium of NT$500000 and a monthly living allowance of NT$15000

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