China urges Japan to accelerate destruction of abandoned chemical weapons

China has urged Japan to accelerate the destruction of abandoned chemical weapons (ACWs) left in China after World War II.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the call on Friday.

Lin made the remarks following reports that a civic group in Japan had organised an exhibition in Yokohama City highlighting the Japanese military’s wartime production and use of poison gas, as well as its chemical warfare against China and Southeast Asian countries.

He said Japanese militarists had developed and used chemical weapons extensively in China and other Asian countries during World War II.

According to Lin, the use of chemical weapons constituted a blatant violation of international law and caused immense suffering in several countries.

“In China alone, there were more than 2,000 cases of Japanese forces using chemical weapons, causing more than 200,000 casualties among Chinese military personnel and civilians,” he said.

Lin said that after Japan’s defeat, large quantities of chemical weapons were abandoned in China in an attempt to conceal the crimes committed during the war.

He said the abandoned weapons had so far caused more than 2,000 casualties and continued to pose a serious threat to people’s lives and the ecological environment.

The spokesperson said Japan had shown insufficient sincerity and provided inadequate resources in fulfilling its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention to completely destroy the abandoned weapons.

“China urges the Japanese government to fulfill its responsibilities under the relevant convention and accelerate the destruction of the abandoned chemical weapons,” Lin said.

He also urged Japan to heed calls from people in its own country and neighbouring nations.