China urges Japan to accelerate disposal of abandoned chemical weapons

China on Friday urged the Japanese government to speed up the disposal of abandoned chemical weapons left in China from World War II.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a question about a recent exhibition on Japanese military poison gas held by a civil group in Yokohama, Japan.

The exhibition showcased how the Japanese military produced poison gas and chemical weapons during World War II and used them in China and other Southeast Asian countries.

Lin said Japanese militarism openly violated international law during World War II by developing chemical weapons on a large scale and using them in China and other Asian countries, bringing severe suffering and disasters to people across the region.

"After its defeat, Japan left behind a large number of chemical weapons in China in an attempt to cover up its crimes," Lin said, adding that these abandoned weapons have caused casualties among more than 2,000 people to date and posed serious threats to people's lives, safety and the ecological environment in China.

Lin urged the Japanese government to fulfill its obligations, heed calls from Japanese people with a sense of justice and neighboring countries that suffered from the wartime atrocities, and fully and faithfully implement the relevant international conventions and the memorandum between the Chinese and Japanese governments.

He called on Japan to accelerate the disposal process of abandoned chemical weapons and return a safe and clean environment to the Chinese people at an early date.