A landmark war reparations ruling that forced Japan’s Mitsui OSK to pay millions of dollars to the descendants of a Chinese shipping tycoon has been stymied by that most prosaic of reasons: family squabbling over how to split the spoils.
2014年一项具有划时代意义的战争赔偿判决，迫使商船三井(Mitsui OSK)向一名中国船王的后人支付数千万美元。但这项判决至今却仍未能执行，就因为一个最平常的原因：围绕如何分割这笔赔偿产生的家族争斗。
The row broke out after a 70 year battle pursued through the courts of Tokyo and Shanghai ended with the award of ￥4bn compensation to the descendants of Chinese shipping tycoon Chen Shuntong, whose ships had been commandeered by the Japanese navy and lost during the war.
这场官司在东京、上海两地的法院打了70年，最后以中国船王陈顺通的后代获得40亿日元赔偿告终，没想到家族纠纷却随之而来。二战期间，陈顺通的船被日本帝国海军征用后全部损失。
But rather than bring cheer, the victory has sown discord among the growing ranks of descendants and creditors. Those suing for a share of the spoils included a creditor claiming to be owed money by Chen’s grandson — in a case since rebuffed — and another claiming to be an illegitimate grandson.
诉讼胜利并没有带来欢呼，反而在越来越多的陈氏后人及债权人中间播下了争执的种子。要求分割赔偿的起诉者包括一名债权人，此人声称陈顺通的孙子欠自己钱——此案已被驳回——另一人则声称自己是陈顺通的非婚生孙子。
Meanwhile the branch of the family that remained in mainland China is threatening to challenge Chen’s decades-old will that handed any proceeds from the case to the descendants of the eldest son, who reside in Hong Kong. They argue it violates mainland law on equal division of property to women.
同时，留在中国内地的陈氏家族分支威胁要质疑陈顺通几十年前留下的遗嘱。根据这份遗嘱，本案所有赔款均交由陈顺通长子的定居香港的后人。内地陈氏后人认为，这违反了女性后代平等分配财产的内地法律。
“We respect the legal process,” David Chen, the tycoon’s great-grandson, said. “We were the plaintiffs, now we are the defendants. After we won the case we proceeded according to the law but these other people have presented themselves.”
陈顺通曾孙陈中威(David Chen)说：“我们尊重法律程序。我们之前是原告，现在成了被告。我们赢了这件案子后，我们依法走程序，但这些人出现了。”
The will survived a challenge in Shanghai 20 years ago, but the mainland family branch is now seeking to reintroduce the case as an issue of inheritance law.
20年前在上海，陈顺通的遗嘱曾成功顶住质疑，但内地的陈氏家族分支正争取依据中国《继承法》重启本案。
“I think it’s a very interesting legal question,” said their lawyer, Jiang Xian of Shanghai United Law Firm, referring to which law should be applied: that of the pre-1949 Republic of China or the current People’s Republic of China which requires family property to be divided equally among male and female survivors.
内地陈氏后人代理律师、上海市联合律师事务所的江宪在谈及应适用什么法律时表示：“我认为这是一个非常有意思的法律问题。”是应该适用1949年以前的中华民国法律，还是现行的中华人民共和国法律？如果依照后者，家产应平等分配给男女继承人。
“China’s strengthening is the reason that there was finally compensation for my father’s ships leased to the Japanese,” said Chen Gankang, the tycoon’s younger son, who grew up in Shanghai. “I have confidence that the stronger legal system now will also mean the results can be equally divided.”
陈顺通的小儿子陈乾康从小在上海长大，他说：“因为中国强大了，我父亲租给日本人的船才最终获得赔偿。我相信现在更强大的法律体系也意味着，赔偿可以被平等分配。”
China, South Korea and other governments waived reparations in return for Japanese aid when they normalised relations after the war. Individuals seeking compensation for personal abuse suffered at the hands of invading Japanese armies have had very little success in Asian courts. The Chen case is an exception, because it is technically a commercial dispute over the terms of a 1930s lease.
二战结束后，中国等国家在与日本实现邦交正常化时，放弃了赔偿以换取日方的援助。在亚洲各国法院，遭遇入侵日军人身虐待的个人寻求赔偿时，几乎没有成功的先例。陈家的案子是个例外，因为在技术层面上，这是围绕20世纪30年代租船合同的条款发生的一起商业纠纷。
Activists and lawyers seeking reparations from Japanese companies for other Chinese citizens said the fight over the Chen money was as unusual as Chung Wei Steamship Co’s original claim. The amounts sought in other claims are much smaller, they said, and the elderly plaintiffs have far fewer descendants.
一些帮助其他中国公民寻求日本企业赔偿的活动人士和律师表示，陈家后人的赔偿争夺战与中威轮船公司(Chung Wei Steamship)最初的索赔一样不寻常。他们表示，其他索赔案件要求的金额要少得多，而且那些年长的原告们也没有这么多后代。
Tong Zeng, a rights activist who electrified China when he first proposed individual reparations in the early 1990s and advised the Chen family in its complaint against Mitsui OSK, called the dispute “regrettable”.
维权人士童增在20世纪90年代初首次提议由个人争取索赔，当时在中国引起轰动，他还曾在陈家诉商船三井案中提供建议。他表示，陈家的这场纠纷“令人遗憾”。
“I’m happy to help with lawsuits against the Japanese,” he said. “But I can’t help them settle the problem of how to divide it.”
童增说：“我很高兴能在对日诉讼案件中起到帮助作用。但我无法帮助他们解决赔偿分割问题。”