COVERED head to toe in safety suits, Chinese and Japanese specialists in chemical weapons disposal dug into a northeastern Chinese bean field yesterday in search of deadly remnants from World War II.The cooperative project is the latest in an ongoing effort to find and remove chemical weapons left behind by Japan’s invading army after its 13-year occupation of northeastern China ended in 1945.Diggers believe the site in Heilongjiang Province, part of what was once known as Manchuria, may hold some 500 canisters of chemical weapons, including mustard gas and lewisite — a fluid that emits poisonous vapors.Japanese officials say about 700,000 chemical weapons remain in China from the Japanese occupation. Only a few will be recovered during the Sept. 5-27 expedition in Heilongjiang Province’s Sunwu County, about 1,440 kilometers northeast of Beijing near the Russian border.The weapons will be stored temporarily near the Heilongjiang city of Qiqihar until a permanent disposal site is decided on.Lawyers for Chinese plaintiffs who are suing the Japanese Government say leaking chemical weapons have caused some 2,000 deaths since the end of the war.(SD-Agencies)