Beyond scientific concerns, Japan’s Fukushima water release is also emotive, diplomatic issue

China has turned Fukushima into a geopolitical issue, but reality is that Tokyo has given Beijing the opportunity to do so, right on a silver platter
Beijing-Tokyo chill to continue with Fukushima throwing a spanner in the works, diplomatic visit opportunities squandered, and with more waste water released

Maria Siow

Published: 10:30am, 6 Oct, 2023

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Despite ongoing US-China tensions, Beijing has welcomed a visit by a group of bipartisan lawmakers from the United States led by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

My first thought was, surely next on the cards would be a similar visit by Japanese lawmakers.

But a quick search indicated otherwise.

In July, efforts by Japanese lawmakers in scheduling visits to China were stymied, due to Tokyo’s plan to release treated waste water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Tokyo Electric Power Company staff members sampling water from the upper-stream storage, two days before the second discharge of treated radioactive water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Photo: EPA-EFE

That month, Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of Komeito, the junior party in Japan’s ruling coalition, planned to visit China but the trip was called off by Beijing at the eleventh hour.

China said that “the timing is not appropriate considering the current situation of Japan-China relations”, according to a Komeito Party statement.

However, party secretary general Keiichi Ishii said Beijing’s opposition to the discharge was likely “a major factor” behind the cancellation.

Like the US delegation heading to Beijing next week, Yamaguchi had hopes of meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and to hand over a personal letter from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

‘Clearly a concern’: Japan’s hardening China stance sparks regional unease

Over the past two months, former Liberal Democratic Party secretary general Toshihiro Nikai, who became head of a group of Japanese lawmakers keen to promote ties with Beijing, faced similar difficulties in visiting China.

While the Japanese lawmakers are likely making efforts to reschedule the visits, these appear unlikely any time soon, given Tokyo’s penultimate decision to release the treated waste water in August.

Since then, China has banned seafood and marine products from Japan, with imports falling by 76 per cent in August from the same month last year earlier, to US$14.7 million.

While some have said China has turned the Fukushima water issue into a geopolitical issue, the inescapable reality is that Tokyo has given Beijing the opportunity to do so, right on a silver platter.

Shoppers examine seafood at a fish store in Tokyo. Photo: EPA-EFE

While geopolitics is a distinct possibility, the concerns shared by Chinese citizens – and those around the region – of contaminated seafood and harm to the environment, cannot be ruled out.

In August, before the start of the release, I was in Japan where I was confronted by a Japanese journalist who asked: “Why wouldn’t the Chinese trust the International Atomic Energy Agency?”

Without going into the scientific reservations contrary to those held by the global nuclear watchdog, I suggested to my counterpart that the discharge had emerged not just as a scientific but an emotive issue, considering the massive scale of the radioactive disaster in 2011.

Even Japan-friendly Taiwan residents had expressed reservations about the discharge of the waste water. Over 60 per cent of those polled by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation last month expressed worry that the release might pollute the marine environment.

An even higher proportion – 84 per cent – of South Koreans disapproved of Japan’s decision to release the waste water, according to a joint survey by South Korea’s Hankook Ilbo and Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers conducted between May 26 and 28.

South Korean activists hold a rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, calling for the Japanese government to stop its plan to release radioactive water from the Fukushima plant. Photo: YNA/dpa

In the Pacific Islands, the Pacific Collective on Nuclear Issues – made up of civil society groups and NGOs – said they did not feel assured by the IAEA’s endorsement.

The emotive sentiment had also affected diplomacy, more so in the case of China than South Korea or Taiwan, both of which have strong strategic reasons to maintain amicable ties with Japan.

There are already many issues that rile China when it comes to Japan, including efforts by Tokyo to deepen military and building supply chains with Washington and its allies, and Japan’s more robust unofficial ties with Taiwan.

‘Ridiculous’: UN body slammed after approving release of treated Fukushima water

But even so, linkages and dialogues must be kept open, such as in the case of Schumer’s visit to China, where he is expected to talk to Chinese officials about Chinese-made fentanyl and China’s “role in the international community”.

Japan could have done the same with its concerns, including North Korea, China’s military rise and Beijing’s ties with Moscow.

But with Fukushima throwing a spanner in the works, summer visit opportunities have already been squandered, and with more waste water being released in the meantime, expect the Beijing-Tokyo chill to continue far longer into the immediate future.

Maria Siow is a senior correspondent at the Post’s Asia desk.