Japan to Fund Chemical Arms Disposal Site in China

Japan is reportedly set to provide $2.8 billion to construct a facility in China to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned there at the close of World War II, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 3).

The facility will be built in Haerbaling in the northern province of Jilin — where most of the 700,000 chemical munitions estimated by Japan to have been left following World War II are believed to be located. China and Japan are expected to begin construction on the site within a year. 

As described by the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, the facility would be shielded from the outside environment and would use remote-controlled robots to excavate the buried munitions that are to be moved to a temporary storage site, AFP reported. Japan also plans to build two incinerators nearby to dispose of the munitions.

Japanese officials hope to finish work on the facility by March 2007, and to complete the incinerators in March 2008 (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 21).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.