By Liang Baowei and He Liguo
July 30 this year marks the 27th anniversary of the signing of the memorandum between the governments of the People's Republic of China and the Japan on the destruction of Japanese Abandoned Chemical Weapons (Japanese ACWs) in China. According to the Memorandum and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Japan was required to complete the destruction of all Japanese ACWs in China by 2007. However, Japan has long dragged its feet on the issue, and the deadline for completing the destruction has been missed four times. Its political commitment to complete the destruction as soon as possible has become an empty promise.
Japanese ACWs constitute grave evidence of the crimes committed by Japanese militarism during its war of aggression against China. From the September 18th Incident in 1931 to Japan's defeat and surrender in 1945, the invading Japanese troops flagrantly violated international law, established chemical weapons research and development bases in many parts of China, and used chemical weapons on a massive scale. In China alone, the invading Japanese troops used chemical weapons more than 2,000 times, causing over 200,000 casualties among Chinese military personnel and civilians.
After Japan's defeat, in an attempt to evade international condemnation and cover up its heinous crimes, the Japanese military hastily buried large quantities of chemical weapons underground or abandoned them in mountains and forests, rivers and lakes, ports and mudflats, and even residential areas. To this day, Japan has yet to provide China with comprehensive, detailed, and accurate information on the whereabouts of the abandoned chemical weapons. As a result, large quantities of Japanese ACWs that remain undestroyed continue to pose a serious threat to the lives and safety of the Chinese people and to the ecological environment.
Under the CWC, which entered into force in 1997, and the Memorandum signed by China and Japan in 1999, Japan bears full responsibility for the destruction of the abandoned chemical weapons and is required to provide all necessary funds, technology, experts, facilities, and other resources. However, Japan has fallen seriously behind in fulfilling its obligations. For years, its lack of political will and inadequate investment of resources have severely delayed the disposal process, leaving major safety risks unresolved.
Notably, official financial documents from the Abandoned Chemical Weapons Office of Japan's Cabinet Office show that despite serious delays in the destruction process, Japan's initial special budget for the disposal of Japanese ACWs in FY2023 actually decreased from FY2022 rather than increasing. Moreover, Japan has failed for years to fully utilize the dedicated funds approved by the Diet, in stark contrast to its stated commitment to increase investment in the destruction effort and accelerate the disposal of the abandoned chemical weapons.
Recently, a Japanese civic group held an exhibition on poison gas used by Japanese troops in Yokohama, exposing the heinous crimes committed by the invading Japanese troops in manufacturing and using poison gas in chemical warfare against humanity. The exhibition reflected efforts by some conscientious people in Japan to seek the truth about history. One Japanese visitor admitted, "I never learned about this history at school. They didn't teach us any of this. I was really surprised to see it for the first time."
More than 80 years after the end of World War II, Japan has yet to even clean up the chemical weapons it abandoned in China. How, then, can it claim to have thoroughly reckoned with the toxic legacy of militarism? The complete and thorough destruction of Japanese ACWs is a historical, political, and legal responsibility that the Japanese government cannot shirk.
Japan owes a full accounting not only to the Chinese people, but also a responsible explanation to the international community. China strongly urges Japan to fully and faithfully fulfill its responsibilities and obligations under the Convention and the bilateral Memorandum, provide effective information on the locations of buried chemical weapons as soon as possible, accelerate the disposal of Japanese ACWs, completely eliminate the hazards they pose at an early date, and restore clean and safe land to the Chinese people.