An expert from the Office of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Chemical Weapons Abandoned by Japan in China, and soldiers, pack bombs dug out at an excavation site of World War II chemical weapons abandoned by Japan, in Ning'an, China's Heilongjiang province, July 5, 2006. [Reuters]

TOKYO - The Tokyo High Court rejected an appeal Tuesday by a group of Chinese seeking compensation for injuries caused by leaks from chemical weapons abandoned by retreating Japanese forces at the end of World War II, a court official said.

The court upheld a Tokyo District Court ruling in May 2003 that rejected the demands of the five Chinese for damages totaling 80 million yen (US$682,000; euro518,400), a court spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

She refused to provide any other details of the ruling.

None of the Chinese plaintiffs could attend court Tuesday because of lack of time to prepare for the trip, their lawyers said. One of the plaintiffs had died after the 2003 ruling and was represented in court by five relatives, their lawyer, Akira Izumisawa, said.

Tuesday's ruling acknowledged that the Japanese government had illegally abandoned the potentially dangerous chemical weapons, Izumisawa said. But the court ruled that because the weapons were in Chinese territory, it was impossible for subsequent Japanese governments to adequately clear them.

"The court confirmed the injuries were caused by the poison gas abandoned by Japan. The government must clean them up properly and provide compensation for the damage," the lawyer said, adding that he planned to appeal to the Supreme Court after consulting with his clients.

In a similar lawsuit in September 2003, the Tokyo District Court awarded 20 million yen (US$170,400; euro129,520) to another group of Chinese injured by Japanese chemical weapon leaks.

The invading Japanese Imperial Japanese Army abandoned an estimated 700,000 chemical weapons in China after its World War II defeat. About 38,000 have been recovered, according to the government.

Under a 1997 chemical weapons convention, Japan is obliged to remove its abandoned chemical weapons by 2012.