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China asks Japan to take responsibility for gas exposure
Beijing, Aug 22: China today summoned the Japanese ambassador and asked Tokyo to shoulder `due responsibility` after one person died due to exposure to deadly gas from Japanese chemical weapons left in China after World War II.
Beijing, Aug 22: China today summoned the Japanese ambassador and asked Tokyo to shoulder "due responsibility" after one person died due to exposure to deadly gas from Japanese chemical weapons left in China after World War II.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi summoned the Japanese ambassador to Beijing, Koreshige Anamia and lodged "solemn representations" about the chemical weapons accident in northeast China in which 42 others were injured, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
"China strongly urged the Japanese side to adopt substantial actions to shoulder the due responsibility for the loss of the victims and the local people and to give due explanation to the victims and the Chinese people," it quoted Wang as saying. Li Guizhen, the most seriously injured victim, died yesterday due to exposure to mustard gas from unearthed barrels of Japanese chemical weapons deserted in Qiqihar city in northeast China's Heilongjiang province after World War II.
Li's father today asked the Japanese government to pay compensation for his son's death, a report from Qiqihar said. Other victims have also demanded adequate compensation from the Japanese government. The Japanese government has flown in some doctors to help treat the injured. Ten victims of the mustard gas have so far been discharged from the military hospital, a separate report said late last night.
The victims' symptoms may recur, but they have already made an agreement with the Qiqihar city government and the hospital, which ensures that they will be provided with treatment in the future as needed, the director of the hospital, Sun Jinghai, said.
Bureau Report
"China strongly urged the Japanese side to adopt substantial actions to shoulder the due responsibility for the loss of the victims and the local people and to give due explanation to the victims and the Chinese people," it quoted Wang as saying. Li Guizhen, the most seriously injured victim, died yesterday due to exposure to mustard gas from unearthed barrels of Japanese chemical weapons deserted in Qiqihar city in northeast China's Heilongjiang province after World War II.
Li's father today asked the Japanese government to pay compensation for his son's death, a report from Qiqihar said. Other victims have also demanded adequate compensation from the Japanese government. The Japanese government has flown in some doctors to help treat the injured. Ten victims of the mustard gas have so far been discharged from the military hospital, a separate report said late last night.
The victims' symptoms may recur, but they have already made an agreement with the Qiqihar city government and the hospital, which ensures that they will be provided with treatment in the future as needed, the director of the hospital, Sun Jinghai, said.
Bureau Report