A Chinese official said Friday that Japan's unilateral interpretation of the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement was illegal and invalid.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks in response to a Japanese court verdict rejecting the compensation appeal by eight Chinese women forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese forces during World War II.

Media reports said that Japan's supreme court ruled Wednesday the Chinese women's appeal for compensation from the Japanese government as invalid, upholding the verdict in the first and second trials.

The first trial said that the Chinese women "had overstepped the time limit of rights of compensation, even if they had one" while the second trial insisted "China gave up any individual's rights for compensation in the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, which meant the women lost these rights."

"The Sino-Japanese Joint Statement is a serious political document between the two governments. Any interpretation by the Japanese court unilaterally is illegal and invalid," Qin said.

Forcing Chinese women to serve as sex slaves, known as "comfort women," during World War II was a severe crime that the Japanese committed in nations it invaded including China, said Qin.

It was also a grave humanitarian crime in human history that lingers to this day, with victims suffering unbearable physical and mental agony, Qin said.

"The Japanese side have the moral responsibility to properly resolve the issue quickly and give justice to the victims," said Qin.

An estimated 200,000 women were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese forces during World War II. Sixty-five years after the ending of the war, victims are still trying to get compensation from the Japanese government.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2010)