China Urges Japan to Eliminate Chemical Weapons

China’s envoy to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Tuesday that Japan has not destroyed any of the chemical weapons it left inside China after World War II, China Daily reported (see GSN, Apr. 9).

“Despite some progress made in this regard, not a single abandoned chemical weapon in China has been disposed of till date,” said Xue Hanqin, China’s ambassador to the Netherlands and the country's representative to the organization, which is responsible for enforcing the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“We urge the Japanese side to heighten their sense of urgency, speed up their efforts and ensure the safe, complete and timely destruction of the [abandoned chemical weapons].  China will, as always, provide full cooperation,” she said, according to the Web site of the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands.

China has reported to the OPCW Executive Council on the status of efforts to eliminate abandoned Japanese chemical weapons and gave a presentation during the group’s chemical weapons destruction briefing.

“The disposal of [abandoned chemical weapons] is an integral and important part of the convention,” Xue said (China Daily, Sept. 28).

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