Mustard gas

last updated 8 January 2015

Qiqihar, China

Several dozen people in northeastern China were injured last week by mustard gas left by Japanese troops in World War II. Construction workers accidentally unearthed five drums of the gas, which leaked and gave some of the workers severe chemical burns. China didn’t report the incident until this week, though, when Japanese diplomats were in Beijing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the resumption of relations between the two countries. The timing suggests that China may have been trying to emphasize the atrocities of the Japanese invasion as part of its long-running effort to convince Japan to apologize formally.