China has decided to gradually resume imports of Japanese seafood, which it had halted due to the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The agreement comes on the condition that China participates in collecting and monitoring contaminated water samples, but the two countries have reached an agreement after about a year since China announced a halt to Japanese imports in August last year.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 20th that “the two countries have recently reached an agreement on a total of four items after several rounds of negotiations on the issue of releasing contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean.” According to the agreement released that day, China will conduct monitoring activities such as long-term monitoring within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and independent sampling by participating countries. Based on the monitoring results, it was decided to gradually resume imports of Japanese aquatic products that meet scientific standards.
However, China added, “There is no change in our position of resolute opposition to Japan’s unauthorized discharge of the water, and we will strictly monitor with interested parties whether Japan fulfills its international legal obligations and safety supervision responsibilities as promised.”
On August 24th of last year, the day Japan began discharging contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, China halted all imports of Japanese seafood, citing concerns about the health of Chinese consumers. China is the largest importer of Japanese seafood, with the value of Chinese seafood imports from Japan reaching 87.1 billion yen (about 810 billion won) in 2022. The Japanese government has continuously requested that China resume imports in order to relieve the damage to its own fishing industry.
Some are pointing out that China’s surprise announcement on the resumption of imports of Japanese seafood is related to the knife attack incident that occurred two days ago in China on a Japanese elementary school student. The Japanese elementary school student, who was stabbed with a knife by an unknown assailant in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on the 18th, received treatment at a hospital but died the next day.
Concerns about the safety of Japanese people in China have grown as another crime targeting Japanese people has occurred three months after a Japanese mother and a Chinese national were stabbed in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in June. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on the 19th, “This is an extremely despicable crime, a serious and grave matter, and we will strongly demand that the Chinese side explain the facts.”
However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to a question about whether the announcement of the resumption of imports of Japanese seafood and the attack on the Japanese elementary school student were related at a regular press conference on the 20th by saying, “There is no connection.” Chinese media reported that the incident was committed by suspect Zhong (44) alone, citing the Shenzhen Public Security Department where the incident occurred. The exact circumstances of the incident are not yet known.
Beijing = Correspondent Kim Chul-jung [email protected]
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2024-09-20 20:03:38