Chinese Vice Foreign Minister WangYi Tuesday called in Fumiyo
Anamia, Japanese ambassador to China, and lodged solemn
representations on the chemical weapons issue.
Wang said the Japanese chemical weapons, which were left in
Qiqihar City of Heilongjiang
Province, northeast China, after World War II, have seriously
injured local citizens and affected their normal lives.
At present, the Chinese side is doing its best to save the
people wounded after exposure to the mustard gas leaked from
chemical weapons abandoned by Japanese troops and fully cleanse the
affected areas.
Wang said Japanese chemical weapons had claimed the lives of
many Chinese. The chemical weapons abandoned by Japanese troops in
China are irrefutable evidence of Japanese militaristic aggression
against China, and they still seriously threaten the lives of
Chinese citizens and the local environment.
The Chinese government has always put the life and health of the
people first and it will not allow such situation to continue, Wang
said.
The Chinese government has noticed that the Japanese side has
said it attaches importance to the serious issue and has promised
to deal with it properly and with sincerity.
China urges the Japanese government to take immediate action,
shoulder its responsibility and deal with problems arising from the
issue, he said.
According to an agreement between China and Japan, the Japanese
government has formally taken on the responsibility for destroying
abandoned chemical weapons in China.
The Chinese side urges the Japanese government to attach great
importance to the seriousness and urgency of this issue and
implement the Convention on the Banning of Chemical Weapons and the
memorandum on the destruction of the chemical weapons abandoned by
Japanese troops in China, he said.
The Japanese side should quicken its steps in dealing with the
issue in a responsible manner and remove as early as possible the
"cancer" that has injured and threatened the security of the
Chinese people, Wang said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2003)