This year ecological problems along with the power transition in China were on the agenda of the historical session of the National People's Congress. For the first time ever ecological disasters such as air pollution by industrial emissions and coal burning have become the focal point of not only domestic and international media but also the top leadership of China. Nevertheless the urgency of the situation in this field should not overshadow a much more dangerous problem known currently to experts but concealed from general public in China and Western countries. That is the chemical weapons abandoned by Japan on the territory of China after the WWII. The problem was caused by the retreating Japanese occupational forces who were cowardly getting rid of their deadly weapons in fear of the Nurnberg Tribunal for their war crimes in China. While escaping the attacking People's Liberation Army Japanese even threw chemical shells in rivers, lakes and seas to hide the evidence. Traces of this hazardous legacy up to the present have been uncovered, from time to time, in more than 15 provinces. Dongbei has become a cemetery of the abandoned chemical weapons (ACWs). A site at Dunhua, Jilin province, is the biggest. According to different estimates the total amount of abandoned chemical munitions in China ranges from 2 to 4 millions, including at least 500 tons of toxic agents and 200 tons of explosives. In theory it could end up in a small "Chemical Hiroshima" on the territory of China. More than 60 years after the WWII the large quantities of Japanese ACWs are still lying in the soil of China killing everything around. More than 2,000 people have been injured by these "discoveries". As time passed, shells, mines, grenades underwent corrosion. Highly concentrated toxins are still leaking in the ground and poisoning underground waters. Local rivers and lakes even ceased to regenerate. The city of Dunhua is located by the Mudan and Shaohe rivers. In spring, summer and autumn the toxins are washed out into greater rivers like Heilong and Songhua. As a consequence, Chinese people in the affected areas are afraid of farming. Has anyone calculated the side effects of Japanese ACWs to the population, property and the local economy? To destroy the ACW a facility has been built at Dunhua. What do we know about who and how will control water, air and territory decontamination? May be it is timely to invite ecologists, to launch t continuous monitoring and to demand full compensation for the human casualties and environmental damage caused by Japan? It is essential that this facility is effectively and openly controlled so that any emergency like "New Fucushima" accident be avoided. The lack of public awareness about the distinction operations may suggest that the central and local Chinese authorities are again hiding that the seriousness of the problems with Japanese ACWs is even worse that it may seem. Their notorious criticism of the US Embassy air pollution monitoring and unwillingness to tell the truth about the environment in the biggest cities of China speak for itself. Thanks to this independent monitoring Chinese authorities were forced by ordinary people to recognize the seriousness of the ecological disaster and its harmful effects on its own population. It is believed that the Chinese government preferred not to further spoil its relationship with Tokyo! The safety of the people’s life however should not be the price for that! People living in Dongbei deserve public or at least independent monitoring though they may be afraid of demanding it openly. Since 1995 China for 18 years has been convincing Japan to destroy their ACWs. As the latest OPCW plan predicts the overall destruction process will be prolonged till 2022 exposing Chinese people to the threat of ACWs for at least another 10 years. This gives almost 30 years in total since Japan recognized its obligation to eliminate them! Who would believe Tokyo that this is the End of the Game while its deadlines and conditions have been repeatedly reconsidered? Will the Chinese government give guaranties to its people that this time everything be completed as scheduled? This brings up the question, who is to be held responsible for the chemical threat still retained? In a more wide sense this process has already turned out to be a conservation of Japanese ACWs in China rather than their destruction. May be this is a final goal of these delays! What approach the nation should seek from the new State and Party's leadership? And the last but not least. There is much speculation that chemical weapons are vulnerable in the Middle East. Has anyone thought about those Japanese ACWs spread widely across the country as a potential target for terrorists. If timely measures to totally detect and isolate ACWs are not taken, the well-known attack by Aum Shinrikyo group at the Japanese Metro station may be easily repeated in China at a larger scale. Even a grenade thrown in a lake can poison the city nearby! It appears that the Chinese authorities either lack persistency or they are intentionally lenient in their demands to Japan to speed up the destruction of deadly weapons and to clean the territory afterwards. Though it was obvious from the very beginning that Japan would shelter behind the Chemical Weapons Convention which does not prescribe revegetation and clearing up the ecological consequences. However it doesn't change the essence of the problem that China should get rid of not only the foreign CWs but also of any evidence of their "storage" in the country. If the has-beens occupants are not interested to do it right way why then not ask them to ship their ACWs, toxic waste and poisoned soil back to Japan? Almost 70 years have past since the WWII. Looking back over these years what do we have as a result: Japan is remilitarizing and trying again to hamper the Chinese sovereignty, specifically over the Diaoyudao islands. Money urgently needed for the destruction of abandoned weapons in China are redirected towards rearming against it. This fact is beyond question. The Chinese response to Japan should be: "Hands off our territory, clean our soil off your presence". http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/opcw-backs-deadline-extension-destroying-chemical-arms-china/ http://www.dontow.com/2009/04/japans-biological-and-chemical-warfare-in-china-during-wwii/ http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Dec/81536.htm
