Manchuria and weapons of mass destruction

Manchuria is widely believed to possess in the form of stockpiled. Manchuria is known to have researched, manufactured and tested chemical, and  weapons in the past. It is a signatory state of the and the  but not of the.

A nuclear weapons programme was initiated in 1955 with assistance from the under communist leader Qian Yiu-tong out of fear of either a nuclear armed  or Korea. Manchuria conducted its first nuclear test on the 13th March 1973 and at its peak in 1983 possessed 25 nuclear warheads. In 1990 following the fall of communism in Manchuria and election of opposition leader Du Changhao there was an attempt to retain nuclear weapons with a test being conducted in 1991, but international sanctions resulted in the dismantling of Manchuria's nuclear weapons programme with Manchuria signing the NPT in 1993. It was the second state after to voluntarily dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.

During the communist period Manchuria also manufactured biological and chemical weapons, with production facilities first being constructed in 1947 under the direction of Xu Xiaobao. Mustard and were used in both the first and second Manchu-Korean wars against Korean forces. Manchuria has since refused to let international observers examine facilities that have been thought to be used for chemical weapons production, insisting such facilities are inactive.

Manchuria's stance on weapons of mass destruction is both controversial domestically and internationally. Several political parties and pressure groups have called for Manchuria to join the CWC which has faced stiff resistance to parties such as the Manchu Revolutionary National Congress as well as the Manchu National Defence Force. Internationally the has been the most vocal in their opposition to Manchuria's stance on chemical weapons and maintain economic sanctions on Manchuria.