OPCW Director-General Visits Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao Sar) and Guang Dong Province

Officials from the Ministry of Defence of China provided a presentation and an update on the activities (discovery and excavations) dealing with Japanese abandoned chemical weapons in Guang Dong Province.

At the invitation of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, visited the Macao Special Adminstrative Region (Macao SAR) of China on 11 June 2009 and Guang Dong Province on 12 June 2009 respectively.

During his visit to Macao SAR on 11 June 2009, Director-General Pfirter met with the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, and the Chief of the Office of the Secretary for Security, Mr Vong Chun Fat. Director-General Pfirter received a detailed briefing on the status of the draft “Bill of Judicial Regime of Controlled Chemical Products and Technologies” pertaining to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Director-General Pfirter emphasised the importance of such legislation being an essential requirement to advance the non-proliferation objectives of the Convention, including its contribution to the international community’s struggle against terrorism. In this context, the Director-General reiterated that the effective enforcement of the Convention through legislative and administrative measures was necessary to prevent the misuse of toxic chemicals by individuals or groups. Director-General Pfirter also offered any technical or legal assistance from the Technical Secretariat that Macao SAR may require to deal with this issue.

On 12 June, Director-General Pfirter visited Guang Dong Province for meetings with authorities in charge of implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Officials from the Ministry of Defence of China provided a presentation and an update on the activities (discovery and excavations) dealing with Japanese abandoned chemical weapons in Guang Dong Province. Director-General Pfirter was also given a guided tour of the newly built warehouse in the Province for such abandoned chemical weapons.

The Director-General reaffirmed the OPCW’s continuing commitment to support, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, the efforts of the Governments of the People’s Republic of China and Japan concerning this matter and stressed that he looks forward to the commencement of destruction activities.

OPCW NEWS 27/2009

Categories: Asia, National implementation, Outreach