11月28日，驻荷兰大使兼常驻禁化武组织代表谈践在禁化武组织第29届缔约国大会上就日本遗弃化学武器销毁问题作专题发言。
谈赞赏总干事和执理会代表团9月访华，强调日遗化武销毁的“已办”与“该办”之间仍有巨大差距，销毁日遗化武是日本应尽的国际义务，不是在“做慈善”，禁化武组织应该将审议日遗化武问题作为优先事项。谈敦促日方严格执行销毁计划，按计划于2027年内完成已宣布日遗化武的销毁。现场发言视频及全文附后：
Statement by H.E. TAN Jian at the 29th Session of the Conference of the States Parties Under Agenda Item 9 (c)
(28 November 2024, The Hague)
Mr. Chairperson,
Follow my colleague’s intervention yesterday afternoon, I wish to make some general remarks.
Last September, the Director-General and the Executive Council Delegation visited the sites of the Japanese abandoned chemical weapons in the northeast part of China.
We appreciate the interest of many member states in participating in the visit.
The visit was useful and successful.
If, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words; then an on-site visit as such is, in my view, worth 100 thousand words.
It is one thing to talk about chemical weapons in room, it is another thing to see chemical weapons on-site.
We government representatives are responsible to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention.
It would help us do our job better, if we have seen the chemical weapons, the harm caused by chemical weapons, and the heavy work to destruct chemical weapons.
During the visit, excellencies and colleagues could have a glimpse of the scale of the Japanese abandoned chemical weapons, see the progress of the destruction, and the level of cooperation between China and Japan.
At the same time, they might also see the challenges, the complexity of the destruction work.
For one thing, much input in terms of financial, human and technological resources are required.
We have seen the beauty of the mountains, rivers, lakes there. It is just unacceptable that there are so many chemical weapons under the soil and water.
Mr. Chairperson,
We acknowledge the efforts made by Japan, and progress made in destroying Japanese abandoned chemical weapons.
However, there is still a gap between what has done and what could have done.
The input by Japan is inadequate.
The very fact that the deadlines for the destruction were extended for four times is a clear testament.
Please note that the destruction we are talking here is only about the declared chemical weapons.
We don’t know their numbers and locations. Questions have been asked yet not answered.
What we do know is that, according to relevant Japanese institution, between 1931-1945, there were as many as 7.46 million chemical weapons shells made by Japan. A large number of them were used or abandoned on Chinese territory.
So far 400,000 items of Japanese abandoned chemical weapons have been initially declared in 18 provinces of China; only about one quarter of them have been destroyed.
Mr. Chairperson,
Last year, in this room, then and here, the ambassador of the United States announced that it had completed the destruction of its stockpiled chemical weapons, marking the completion of the destruction of all global stockpiled chemical weapons.
There was warm applause from the floor.
With the complete destruction of the stockpiles, that of Japanese abandoned chemical weapons has therefore become more outstanding.
Allow me to make a comparison between chemical weapons abandoned and chemical weapons stockpiled.
Chemical weapons abandoned are more dangerous, posing more risks and causing more damages to human life, property and eco-environment.
They are widespread, discovered here and there, now and then.
Whenever they are found, often by accidents, the news could spread fast, farming field is deserted, construction work suspended, local people panic.
They could have polluted and may continue to pollute the soil and water, as they are abandoned, not stockpiled.
We have no idea of how many, and where they are. No information.
Mr. Chairperson,
WWII ended 80 years ago.
OPCW set up 27 years ago.
China and Japan started the chemical weapons destruction work more than 2 decades ago.
It’s high time that we should get the job done.
In 2022 at the 101st Executive Council, a new destruction plan was adopted, setting 2027 as the deadline for destroying the declared chemical weapons.
We hope the CSP and EC could enhance its supervision on the destruction of Japanese abandoned chemical weapons, taking it as a priority.
We need to make sure that this time around, the 2027 deadline will not be missed again, for the fifth time.
A lot of things could be done to speed up the work.
l Japan should increase its input.
l A countdown approach could be introduced.
l New technologies like AI and robots could be used.
l There could be more working days.
I wish to reiterate that the destruction of the Japanese abandoned chemical weapons is Japan’s obligation, not a charity.
Mr. Chairperson, dear colleagues,
2027 will be the year marking the 30th anniversary of the OPCW.
By design or by coincidence, I don’t know.
I do hope that, by then, at the CSP, representatives of China, Japan could jointly announce the fulfillment of the destruction work.
That could be the high point.
Some of us may still be here to witness.
No matter where we are, we will share that joy.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairperson, I wish to thank the member states for your attention and support.
I wish to thank the technical secretariat for its valuable assistance.
We will continue to cooperate with and assist Japan to complete the work before the targeted year.
That would be a moment for celebration, a major milestone in realizing a world free of chemical weapons.
When the Japanese abandoned chemical weapons are destroyed, once and for all, there could be another peace prize for our Organization.
Thank you.
