China bans Japanese seafood over Fukushima nuclear waste water release

A vendor retrieves a lobster at a wholesale fish market in Beijing, Aug. 24. AFP-Yonhap

China, Japan's biggest seafood export market, has banned all Japanese aquatic products in response to the release of waste water from a nuclear plant wrecked by a tsunami 12 years ago.

China's General Administration of Customs said on Thursday the immediate ban covered all aquatic products, including edible imports, to "prevent risks from Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated waste water" into the Pacific Ocean.

It comes after Hong Kong, second only to mainland China for imports of Japanese seafood, announced a similar ban on seafood from 10 Japanese prefectures. Mainland China banned imports of food from 10 Japanese prefectures in July.

China has been a fierce critic of Japan's plan to discharge waste water from the wreckage of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The foreign ministry said China "strongly condemned" the move to discharge the water and it demanded Japan "stop the wrong act."

"Japan should not inflict further damage on its people and the world out of its selfishness," the ministry said.

China has accused Japan of treating the ocean as a "sewer", summoning the Japanese ambassador on Tuesday "to make solemn representations" against the long-expected move.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday his government had demanded China "immediately eliminate" its import ban on seafood from Japan.

"We lodged a complaint through diplomatic channels to China, urging them to immediately eliminate [the ban]," Kishida said.

Live video on Thursday showed an engineer from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) clicking a mouse to activate a pump to begin the release of around 1.34 million cubic meters of water ― enough to fill about 540 Olympic swimming pools ― that had been sealed in the plant since it was hit in 2011.

The entire release process is expected to take place over 30 years, with the first discharge of 7,800 cubic meters taking about 17 days. TEPCO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have promised to conduct extra checks of the water.

Japan says it needs to release the water because rainwater continues to seep into the plant, filling up the storage area.

TEPCO said the released waste water was filtered and diluted and was not harmful. The company would stop the discharge if it found any abnormalities.

The IAEA said earlier that the release would have a "negligible" impact on the environment.

But the Chinese foreign ministry said the assessment was not backed up by data.

"There is no evidence that the purification equipment is reliable in the long term, and there is no evidence that the pollution data is accurate. There is no evidence that the discharge into the ocean is safe for the marine environment and human health," the ministry said.

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It added that the Chinese government would take all measures to ensure food safety and the health of Chinese people, and would step up monitoring of radiation in its maritime areas.

One element that will not be filtered out of the discharge is tritium, a radioactive substance.

TEPCO said the radiation from the tritium was weak and would not pose a health threat.

The IAEA said it would provide live data online about the discharge and monitor the situation on site.

On Thursday, the IAEA's independent on-site analysis confirmed that the tritium concentration in the diluted water that was being discharged was far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per liter.

However, critics such as Greenpeace said there was a lack of long-term data about the biological impacts of tritium as well as other radioactive substances, including carbon-14, strontium-90 and iodine-129 ― which will be released as part of the discharge.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong imposed an indefinite ban on Japanese seafood imports from 10 prefectures and said it would publish the results of daily tests on other food from the country.

Hong Kong is Japan's second-largest market for fisheries exports and imported about 75.5 billion yen ($536 million) in Japanese seafood products last year.

Mainland China imported 87.1 billion yen worth of seafood from Japan last year, with scallops, sea cucumbers, bonito and tuna among the top items.

Residents shop for sushi and sashimi at a Japanese supermarket in Beijing, Aug. 24. AP-Yonhap

TEPCO said on Thursday that it would start accepting applications from October 2 for compensation from exporters affected by the ocean release.

Japan's National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations opposed the discharge, saying it would harm their business.

"Our opposition to the discharge has not changed a bit," the federation said on Thursday.

In mainland China, news of the waste water released prompted a run on sea salt in some supermarkets, including in Fuzhou, Fujian province, and Yangzhou in Jiangsu province.

Municipal authorities in these cities as well as Guangdong have called on residents to remain calm, saying there were sufficient supplies.

In Korea, police detained 16 student activists for allegedly trying to enter the Japanese embassy to protest against the release.

The Korean government said there was no scientific problem with the release plan, but the opposition party accused President Yoon Suk Yeol's government for failing to do its duty.

The Philippines and Taiwan authorities did not lodge any opposition over the discharge, though the fishing industry said it was opposed. (SCMP)

Read the full story at SCMP