Two Chinese hotel workers were sentenced to life in prison yesterday for organising a sex romp involving hundreds of Japanese tourists in a case that hit a raw nerve in China and sparked public outrage.

Twelve other Chinese people were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years and police asked Interpol to help find three Japanese suspected of soliciting prostitutes for the orgy, which coincided with the 72nd anniversary of the start of Japan?s occupation of China, the official Xinhua news agency said.

State media have said the sex spree in mid-September, at a five-star hotel in Zhuhai in the southern province of Guangdong, involved hundreds of Japanese tourists and Chinese prostitutes. The scandal triggered outrage in China, where antagonism towards Japan has never been far below the surface since millions were killed or wounded during about 14 years of Japanese occupation before and during World War Two.

The case also led to the disciplining of 15 officials with Zhuhai?s police and the tourism bureau for negligence. Chinese prosecutors issued warrants for the arrest of Hirobe Isao, Takahashi Shunji and Fukunaga Koji and police asked French-based international police organisation Interpol to issue so-called ?red notices? on them, the news agency said.

The notice is not an arrest warrant but can be used by police to detain someone pending extradition. The 14 Chinese defendants went on trial behind closed doors on Friday. No Japanese have been indicted in the case so far. Xinhua said all the Japanese tourists had arrived in China on September 16 and left on September 18. It did not say if the three suspects went with them.

The Japanese construction company whose workers were reported to have been most involved said some employees were in the hotel at the time, but denied there had been an orgy. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called the incident ?odious?, but the government is eager to avert diplomatic fallout and has not fanned anti-Japanese sentiment.

The incident is an embarrassment to Japan and China, close trading partners that have shown signs of growing diplomatic solidarity in the face of the North Korean nuclear crisis.

John Ruwitch