China urges Japan to accelerate disposal of abandoned chemical weapons

BEIJING, July 30 (Xinhua) -- China strongly urges Japan to provide effective information about burial sites of the chemical weapons it abandoned in China during World War II and speed up the disposal process, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Thursday.

To this day, Japan's abandoned chemical weapons continue to pose a hazard to the safety of the Chinese people's lives and property, as well as to the ecological environment, Mao said at a regular news briefing.

Japan should have completed the destruction and disposal process of these weapons by 2007 in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and the memorandum of understanding between the two countries' governments. However, due to insufficient sincerity and input, the Japanese side failed to complete the destruction four times, in 2007, 2012, 2016 and 2022.

"The destruction process is far behind schedule," Mao said.