Chemical weapons

On Wednesday, the Japanese government said it had started to destroy chemical weapons that its troops abandoned in China during World War II. This has been the result of years of efforts from the two governments and shows that Japan is willing to reflect on its military past.

The two governments have been working together to remove the abandoned chemicals following the Chemical Weapons Convention and their relevant bilateral memorandum.

Japanese troops committed a serious crime by leaving behind chemical weapons in China during WWII. They developed, produced and used a great number of chemical weapons during their invasion of China. To cover up their crimes before they surrendered, they buried or abandoned many of these weapons.