Beijing urges Japan to remove abandoned chemical weapons from China

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Beijing on Tuesday urged Japan to remove abandoned chemical weapons in China from the 1930s and ‘40s, remnants of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

"China urges the Japanese side to earnestly fulfill its responsibility under relevant convention, fully and faithfully implement the Destruction Plan Beyond the Year 2022 for the Chemical Weapons Abandoned by Japan in the People’s Republic of China in its entirety," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference.

"The Japanese army’s abandoned chemical weapons (ACWs) mark one of the gravest crimes committed by the Japanese militarist aggressors during the war of aggression against China," said Guo, emphasizing that although 80 years have passed since the war "the Japanese ACWs are still threatening and even jeopardizing the safety of people’s life and property and the environment of relevant regions in China."

Guo said that clearing the chemical weapons on Chinese soil is "Japan’s unshirkable historical, political and legal responsibility," as well as an international obligation stipulated by the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Tokyo with Beijing's aid has so far retrieved approximately 150,000 abandoned chemical weapons and destroyed about 120,000, said Guo.

The spokesman added that even with this effort the process is still behind schedule.

The war in question took place in 1937-1945 and is considered part of World War II.