Unit 516 - Chemical Weapons

Chemical Weapons

• Phosgene
• Hydrogen cyanide
• Bromobenzyl cyanide and Chloroacetophenone
• Diphenylcyanoarsine and Diphenylchloroarsine
• Arsenic trichloride
• Sulfur Mustard
• Lewisite

At the end of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army buried some of their chemical weapons in China, but most were confiscated by Soviet Red Army, the People's Liberation Army and the Kuomintang Army, along with other weapons. The Soviet Union later handed over these weapons to China (ROC), who then buried them. Japanese chemical weapons were later found mixed with Soviet and Chinese chemical weapons.

The Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies has a record of Japanese weapons confiscated by Kuomintang Army along with a list of the types of chemical weapons. No confiscation records about ROC / Russia have been found. However, no country has records about the locations of the buried chemical weapons. China has started gathering these abandoned weapons for destruction and burial, and they are currently buried in remote Dunhua County, in Haerbaling, Jilin (吉林) province.