Destroying chemical weapons left in China is Japan's duty, not bargaining chip

日方尽早销毁遗弃在华化学武器,是责任而非筹码

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Li Wei
Time
2022-10-15 00:52:52

李若愚

By Li Ruoyu

10月初,禁止化学武器组织第101届执行理事会审议批准了2022年以后在华日遗化武销毁计划。日遗化武是日本军国主义在侵华战争期间犯下的严重罪行之一,长期以来对中国有关地区人民的生命财产和生态环境安全造成了严重威胁。

The 101st Session of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) held in early October approved a plan to destroy the chemical weapons left by Japanese troops in China after 2022. These chemical weapons are just one of the serious crimes committed by the Japanese militarists during their invasion into China, and they have persistently posed grave threats to life, property and eco-environmental security in certain areas of China.

上个月29日标志着《中华人民共和国政府和日本国政府联合声明》发布暨中日邦交正常化五十周年。该声明中提到:“日本方面痛感日本国过去由于战争给中国人民造成的重大损害的责任,表示深刻的反省。”显然,日方对侵华战争的反省是两国关系良性发展的重要出发点。为侵华战争的灾难性后果进行善后,是日本政府在推进中日关系发展方面需要履行的责任。

September 29 this year marked the 50th anniversary of the release of the Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the normalization of China-Japan relations. It is stated in the Communique that “The Japanese side is keenly conscious of the responsibility for the serious damage that Japan caused in the past to the Chinese people through war, and deeply reproaches itself.” Obviously, the Japanese side’s self-reflection on its aggression against China is an important precondition for the sound development of bilateral relations. To redress and compensate for the disastrous consequences caused by its war against China is the Japanese government’s responsibility while advancing its relationship with China.

“销毁日本遗弃在华化学武器”不仅是中日两国间的历史遗留问题,同时更关乎国际道义。日本军国主义者在侵略战争中使用化学武器荼毒中国军民的行径违反了国际法。根据中国学者任文峰的研究,由于美国担心审判的先例缚住其使用化学武器的手脚,因而远东军事法庭并未接受关于日本使用化学武器的指控,这也导致日本化学战问题没有得到及时清算,但这并不能改变日本发动化学战背离国际道义的本质。

Destroying the chemical weapons left by Japan in China is not only a historical issue between China and Japan, but also a matter of international morality. Japanese militarists’ use of chemical weapons during the aggressive war, which exposed Chinese soldiers and civilians to unprinted suffering, was against international law. Studies by Chinese scholar Ren Wenfeng showed that as the US was worried that a precedent of trial would tie its hands on the use of chemical weapons in the future, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) didn’t accept accusations of Japan’s use of such weapons, leaving Japan’s chemical war issue unsettled. But that cannot change the truth that its launch of chemical war was against international morality.

其实,日方并非不清楚自身对“销毁遗弃在华化学武器”背负的道义责任。尤其是当中日关系发展顺利时,日本在相关问题上也做过一些值得肯定的正面举措。1997年9月4日,时任日本首相桥本龙太郎借中日两国邦交正常化25周年之际,访问了中国东北并参观了“九•一八”事变纪念馆,出访前桥本内阁曾出台阁议决定,确定了处理遗弃化学武器问题的相关体制。

It’s not that Japan doesn’t understand its moral responsibility for destroying the chemical weapons it left in China, and it has taken some creditable measures when bilateral ties were in tailwinds. On September 4, 1997, the 25th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations, then-Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto visited northeast China and the September 18 Incident History Museum. Before the visit, his administration made a decision to establish a mechanism for dealing with the chemical weapons that Japan left in China.

之后的小渊惠三内阁为进一步推进相关工作,于1999年4月1日在内阁府下设“遗弃化学武器处理担当室”。同年7月30日,两国正式签署《关于销毁中国境内日本遗弃化学武器的备忘录》。销毁遗弃在华化学武器的具体工作,则在2000年9月后正式展开,并一直持续至今。

The succeeding Keizo Obuchi administration carried on relevant work. On April 1, 1999, the Abandoned Chemical Weapons Office was set up under the Japanese cabinet. On July 30, 1999, the two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Destruction of Japanese Abandoned Chemical Weapons in China. The specific work of the destruction officially kicked off after September 2000 and has been on till the present day.

遗憾的是,在中日关系遇冷的近些年,日方的相关工作出现较大延宕。

Unfortunately, the Japanese side has been back and forth on this issue in recent years when bilateral relations have hit some bumps.

根据禁止化学武器组织2012年2月15日审定的上一份在华日遗化武销毁计划,相关工作原本应于今年完成。但最新的在华日遗化武销毁计划中,销毁的期限又被推迟到了2027年。相关销毁计划已经三次逾期,日方的履约情况无法让中日两国人民和国际社会满意。日方一味强调“遗留化学武器定位困难”,但这一困难的根源还是因为日本在战败前为了掩盖侵略罪行,对有可能成为指控日本战争罪行证据的文件进行大规模销毁。

According to the last plan for destroying Japan’s abandoned chemical weapons in China approved by OPCW on February 15, 2012, relevant work should have been completed in 2022, but the latest plan has postponed the deadline to 2027. The completion of the plan has been delayed three times, and Japan’s performance of the plan is in no way satisfactory to the people of the two countries and the international community. Japan has been stressing how hard it is to position the abandoned chemical weapons, but why is it so hard? Isn’t it because in order to cover up what it had done, it destroyed tons of documents that could have been used as evidence to indict Japan of its war crimes before it was about to lose the war?

另外,近两年,日方为早日解决相关问题是否尽其所能也有待观察。至少内阁府遗弃化学武器处理担当室公布的相关文件显示,该部门已连续多年未能充分使用日本国会批准的初始预算。在进度严重滞后的今天,2023年度的相关预算与2022年度相比甚至还出现缩水。 “销毁日本遗弃在华化学武器”是中日历史问题的一部分,同时也是日本对国际社会的道义责任。而责任是绝不能拿来被当作筹码的。无论中日关系状况如何,在华日遗化武销毁计划都应该得到切实执行。

Whether the Japanese side has done its best to resolve relevant issues in the past two years is also a question mark. At least the documents released by the Abandoned Chemical Weapons Office showed the office has not fully used the initial budget approved by Japan’s Diet for many years. While the work is seriously delayed, the budget for 2023 is even less than that of 2022. Destroying the chemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China is both part of the historical issues between China and Japan and a moral responsibility borne by Japan for the international community, and responsibility should never be misused as a bargaining chip. No matter how the China-Japan relations fare, the plan for destroying Japan’s abandoned chemical weapons in China should be implemented to the letter.

(作者为四川省区域与国别重点研究基地日本研究中心特约研究员)

(The author is a researcher at the Sichuan Provincial Research Institute of Japanese Studies)

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