China Hosts a Photo Exhibition on Chemical Weapons Abandoned by Japan in China during the 15th Conference of the States Parties to the CWC

2010/12/02

China is hosting a Photo Exhibition on Chemical Weapons Abandoned by Japan in China (JACWs) at the World Forum, The Hague of the Netherlands, where the 15th Conference of the States Parties(CSP-15) to the CWC is in session from November 29 to December 3. H.E.Ambassador ZHANG Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the OPCW, and H.E.Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the OPCW, co-hosted and addressed the opening ceremony. Hundreds of delegates to CSP-15 and OPCW senior officials attended the opening ceremony and the Exhibition.

H.E.Ambassador ZHANG Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the OPCW, and H.E.Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the OPCW, co-hosted and addressed the opening ceremony

Ambassador ZHANG pointed out in his opening remarks that the JACWs pose a grave and real threat to the lives of the Chinese people and the environment. To date, a large amount of JACWs have been found in 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China. Buried underground for a long time, these munitions have badly corroded, deformed and even leaked, inflicting casualties to innocent Chinese people from time to time. Though around 47,000 pieces of JACWs have been excavated and recovered, a lot more remain to be disposed of properly as soon as possible and destroyed completely at an early date. Through China-Japan full cooperation, Nanjing Mobile Destruction Facility(MDF) has started destruction, which marks an important step in the disposal of the JACWs. It is the core objective and priority task to safely and completely destroy the JACWs under the Chemical Weapons Convention(the Convention). With the fast approaching final deadline for the destruction of all chemical weapons, the destruction of the JACWs falls far behind the schedule. The Chinese side urges Japan to honour its obligations set out by the Convention and increase its input to accelerate the pace of work with a view to completing destruction in time. China will, as always, provide Japan with appropriate cooperation. China has maintained good cooperation with the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW (the TS) in this regard, and will continue to facilitate the latter to play a positive and constructive role in the disposal of the JACWs. China hopes that States Parties will pay more attention to the issue of the JACWs.

H.E.Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü emphasized in his remarks that the destruction of the JACWs remains an important obligation in the framework of the Convention and the monitoring of their destruction also ranks among the major tasks of the OCPW. To date, China, Japan and the TS have concluded 13 rounds of trilateral consultations related to the verification on the destruction of the JACWs with satisfactory results. The photos on display today speak for themselves the real threat posed by the JACWs to the lives of the Chinese people and the environment. It is encouraging that the Nanjing Mobile Destruction Facility started its operation this year, which marks a new milestone in the process of eliminating the threat of the JACWs.

The photos in display present the audience in a systematic manner an overview of the history and status quo of the JACW issue, the latest development in the disposal of the JACWs under the cooperation between China and Japan, and the contribution of the TS in this regard. A large audience pay great interest and attention to the relevant facts and figures in detailed subtitles accompanying the pictures, and constantly seek clarifications from the Chinese side on all aspects pertaining to the issue of the JACWs. It is widely acclaimed that the Exhibition is extremely helpful in establishing a comprehensive and accurate account of the grave threat posed by the JACWs to the lives of the Chinese people and the environment, as well as a better understanding of China's position and concern in this regard.