China urges Japan to accelerate disposal of abandoned chemical weapons

China on Friday once again called on Japan to speed up the disposal of chemical weapons abandoned in China following World War II.

Responding to reports about a civilian exhibition in Yokohama focusing on Japan's wartime poison gas program, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Japan bears an undeniable historical responsibility and a binding international legal obligation to eliminate the dangers posed by the chemical weapons it left behind in China after the war.

China has insisted that the Japanese government should fully implement its commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention and relevant bilateral memoranda, and intensify disposal efforts in order to eliminate the long-term risks these weapons continue to pose to public safety and the environment.