China infuriated as Fukushima released radioactive wastewater into pacific ocean and imposes ban on all aquatic products. Japan has urged China to immediately lift its import ban and sought a discussion on the impact of the water release based on science.
Beijing: China infuriated as Fukushima released radioactive wastewater into pacific ocean and imposes ban on all aquatic products. Japan has urged China to immediately lift its import ban and sought a discussion on the impact of the water release based on science.
Japan began discharging waste water from the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. This has increased tension and ruckus in the area. China’s customs authorities have banned seafood coming from Japan. China is “highly concerned about the risk of radioactive contamination brought by… Japan’s food and agricultural products,” the customs bureau said in a statement.
According to the notice issued by the Chinese customs authorities, the ban is effective immediately. The ban will remain in force on the import of all aquatic products including seafood. It is believed that this move of Japan can heat up the geopolitics of the Pacific region.
Japanese officials said the decision was taken in view of the risks to the country’s health and food security from nuclear-contaminated water. In a live video released from the nuclear plant’s control room, a Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) staff member is shown turning on a pump with the click of a mouse. It is the start of a controversial project that is expected to last for decades.
To counteract the move, China prohibit seafood imports from 10 prefectures in Japan, including Fukushima and the capital, Tokyo. It has allowed seafood imports from other prefectures on condition that they pass the radioactivity tests and proof that they were produced outside the 10 banned prefectures, sources reported. China has said it would not budge from its stand untill the Japanese government did not prove that the discharged water was safe.
However, its foreign ministry said in a statement, “The Japanese side should not cause secondary harm to the local people and even the people of the world for its own selfishness”. Japan retaliated by saying that China was spreading “scientifically baseless claims”. In March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi plant was destroyed in a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which triggered powerful tsunami waves causing meltdowns in three reactors.
