China Worried by Chemical Weapons Destruction PaceChina on Monday in Brussels expressed its concerns about the slow pace of destruction of chemical weapons, abandoned chemical weapons in particular.The Asian country expressed its "deep concern" about the fact that "no major development has been registered in addressing the numerous important issues which have a bearing on the implementation" of the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons. One of China's concerns is the chemical weapons left by Japan inside China. Over 10,000 pieces of Japanese abandoned chemical weapons (ACW) were newly discovered in Nanjing. The ACWs are posing serious threats to both the safety of local people and to the ecological environment, said Li Yongwu, chief of the Chinese delegation attending the fifth session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague, Netherlands. Li said: "We should not forget the irreparable damage brought by wars and the use of weapons of mass destruction. The advent of chemical weapons in the early 20th century once resulted in more than 1 million casualties." "Comprehensive prohibition and thorough destruction of these weapons have become a common goal of humanity," he added. |
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