Japan Urged to Destroy Abandoned Chemical WeaponsThe Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Wednesday reaffirmed that it holds the Japanese Government responsible for the destruction of chemical weapons the Japanese invading army abandoned in China during World War II.China has declared that the Japanese army had used and abandoned large quantities of chemical weapons in Chinese territory during its invasion of China in World War II and the Japanese Government has admitted to the use and abandonment of the weapons by its army and accepted the responsibility for their destruction, OPCW Deputy Secretary-General John Gee said during a press conference. Gee, who is in Singapore attending the Singapore Regional Forum 2000 on implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, noted that since Japan was the abandoning party, the Japanese Government should be held responsible for the destruction of the abandoned chemical weapons. But the first problem is to arrive at the right amount of abandoned chemical weapons because Japan declared fewer abandoned chemical weapons than China believes they are responsible for, he added. He said both China and Japan have made declarations to the OPCW and his organization is required to find the accuracy of these declarations. So far the OPCW has carried out at least nine inspections on abandoned chemical weapons in China, he said. |
| Please visit People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |