Global Security Newswire

Japan has initiated disposal of chemical munitions its military left behind in China at the close of World War II, Kyodo News reported Friday (see GSN, May 25).

Japanese Cabinet Office Senior Vice Minister Hideo Hiraoka said during an event at the Mobile Destruction Facility in Nanjing that Tokyo would work to quicken the pace of munitions elimination, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

"Today's move marks a new phase in the disposal of abandoned chemical weapons in China, in which the work has shifted from excavation and recovery to destruction," Hiraoka said. "This is the result of years of efforts made by Japanese and Chinese authorities, and will have far-reaching effects on the bilateral relationship."

Under a 1999 deal with Beijing, Tokyo agreed to supply the funds, equipment and structures needed to dispose of the abandoned chemical munitions. The Chemical Weapons Convention obligates Japan to finishing destruction of the arms by April 2012.

The two nations have carried out in excess of 120 joint search and recovery operations leading to the excavation of more than 40,000 old chemical arms. The total number of weapons left underground or discarded in lakes and rivers remains a point of contention, with guesses varying from hundreds of thousands to millions.

The Japanese government has also been hit with lawsuits by Chinese citizens exposed to the decades-old chemical warfare materials (Kyodo News/Japan Times, Sept. 3).