Friday marked the one-year “anniversary” of Japan discharging its nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the damaged Daiichi nuclear plant into the ocean despite both domestic and international opposition. With one year having passed already, opposing and concerning voices over the issue may seem to be lower but that’s not really the case.
A browse of the major Japanese media outlets shows they have either turned a blind eye to the anniversary or else claim there have been “no abnormalities found” in the sea where the nuclear-contaminated wastewater is being discharged. Hardly any have reported on the fishermen and fishing industry that have seen their businesses affected by widespread concerns about health. Yet according to US-based Lee Enterprises news website, “Protesters gathered at the Fukushima Citizens Hall on Friday to voice their opposition to the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea”.
Instead, the Japanese media hyped up their prime minister urging China to lift the ban on Japanese seafood imports in an attempt to misguide fishermen in Fukushima and elsewhere into blaming their suffering in aquatic product sales on China’s ban on imports, a ploy that is doomed to fail as it can’t fool anyone with a modicum of common sense.
Trapped in such a mindset of blaming others for its own fault, the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company will, doubtlessly, carry on polluting the ocean at the cost of the health and interests of its own domestic residents and those in neighboring countries such as China and the Republic of Korea. With over 60,000 tons of nuclear-contaminated water discharged into the ocean already, of which over 31,000 tons were discharged in Fiscal Year 2023, Japan plans to discharge 54,600 tons in Fiscal Year 2024, which contain approximately 14 billion becquerels of tritium.
Instead of gaining the confidence of Japan’s neighbors, the move of the Japanese government and TEPCO will only make things worse. On Saturday, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said they had received a request from the Japanese government to lift the ban on seafood imports but considering the huge amount of nuclear-contaminated water wastewater Japan plans to discharge into the ocean and that as many as seven accidents have occurred in the past year alone they must take strict measures to protect people’s health.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a news conference that the more transparent the Japanese side is on the issue, the more it will help to alleviate the concern of the international community. That’s sincere advice that the Japanese government should heed, instead of playing tricks.