Japan urged to revoke Fukushima waste decision

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson urged Japan to revoke and apologize for its wrong decision to dump contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a news briefing on Wednesday when asked if he should delete his tweet following protests from the Japanese side.

Zhao on Monday tweeted an image by a Chinese illustrator based on the famous painting “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. The new image shows green nuclear waste being poured into the sea by two people in orange Hazmat suits from a boat, and Mount Fuji replaced by a nuclear plant cooling tower.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when asked about the tweet at a news conference on Tuesday, said he would not comment on every tweet “by someone at the press secretary level.”

But he said Japan was lodging a “forceful protest” and seeking the tweet’s removal through diplomatic channels.

“Japan has done a wrong thing. Don’t people have the right to talk about it?” Zhao said.

He said that the new painting reflects the Chinese people’s concern and dissatisfaction with Japan’s unilateral decision to dump water contaminated with radiation from Fukushima into the sea.

“In fact, Japan’s decision has aroused strong opposition and serious concern, not only from China, but also from the governments of many countries, international organizations, more than 300 environmental protection groups around the world, and people from various countries including Japan,” he added.

The nuclear-contaminated water, from the date of discharge, will affect all littoral states of the Pacific Ocean for few decades, and the radioactive materials it contains will harm the global marine environment for thousands of years, said Zhao, adding that it is extremely irresponsible for Japan to unilaterally decide to release the wastewater into the sea for the sake of saving money.

“The whole world has been protesting for a while now, some Japanese officials play dumb and pretended not to hear, yet they get so worked up over an illustration ... I have pinned the tweet at the top. The illustration reflects the righteous public opinion and the call for justice, and the Japanese government needs to revoke the wrong decision and apologize,” he added.