Japan urges China to deliver ‘accurate information’ on radioactive water

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – Japan on Monday urged China to deliver “accurate information” regarding the release of radioactive water as Tokyo voiced concern about harassment of its citizens.

Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, told reporters in Tokyo: “Japan will continue to urge China to deliver accurate information on the safety of the water, which has been treated through a process capable of removing most radionuclides except tritium.”

He also expressed Japan’s “concern over the harassment of its citizens by Chinese people,” Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

Tokyo began releasing treated nuclear waste from the Tsunami-hit Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean last Thursday, sparking protests not only in Japan but neighboring countries, particularly China.

Beijing promptly banned seafood imports from the archipelago nation.

Matsuno, however, brushed off concerns regarding the ban on Japanese imports, saying “Japanese economy is unlikely to be affected by the boycott campaign.”

However, he said Tokyo “will ask Beijing to call on its nationals to take calm actions.”

On the other hand, police in Xi'an, a city in northwestern Shaanxi province of China, refuted “online rumors that suggested individuals driving cars manufactured in Japan were being halted and their vehicles destroyed,” Beijing-based Global Times reported.

Tokyo's release of radioactive water into the sea is apparently affecting the bilateral political relations.

"Given the current situation of Japan-China relations, both sides have agreed to postpone the visit of the Komeito Party delegation to China," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Natsuo Yamaguchi, the leader of Komeito Party, which is a junior coalition partner of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was scheduled to pay an official trip to China.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo shared a seafood meal during their weekly lunch meeting on Monday, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

The move is seen as part of the government's efforts to promote seafood safety as people stopped eating aquatic products.

South Korea has witnessed mass protests against Japan’s release of radioactive water into the seas.

The South Korean officials Monday claimed: “Concentration of tritium in seawater following the release of contaminated water from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant was well below the standard limit.”

Park Ku-yeon, an official at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said: “The concentration within 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) of the nuclear plant was far below the standard limit.”