Tokyo. Tensions between China and Japan are rising once again. Japan has said China has made several threatening phone calls since the release of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. Japan said that it is very regrettable that China is behaving like this. At the same time, the Chinese embassy in Tokyo says it is also receiving very objectionable calls from Japan.
Let it be known that Japan had started extracting water here while taking steps towards closing the Fukushima plant. The plant was suffering a triple meltdown after being hit by the 2011 tsunami, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years earlier.
Both countries accuse each other
The government’s chief spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, told a regular news conference: “It seems that Japan is receiving several threatening phone calls from China… These developments are very regrettable and we are concerned.” Japan’s foreign ministry said such phone calls forced Deputy Foreign Minister Masataka Okano to summon the Chinese ambassador.
On the other hand, when asked about the allegations of harassment at a regular briefing on Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said he was not aware of the matter. However, the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo issued a statement saying that it has registered a strong response with Japan over the “large number of nuisance calls from Japan” received by the Chinese Embassy and Consulate in Japan. According to a statement from the embassy, Ambassador Wu Xianghao said the calls caused “serious interference with the normal operations of the embassy and consulate”.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government had “strongly” urged Beijing to urge its citizens to act “peacefully and responsibly” after the stone-throwing incidents at a Japanese school and embassy came to light.
A flood of calls from China
Calls to China’s country code +86 began pouring into Fukushima City Hall on Thursday, and by the next day the number of such phone calls had risen to more than 200, jamming phone lines and stranding city employees, a city official said. Normal work was disrupted. . On the same day, elementary and junior high schools in the town, 60 km (38 miles) northwest of the plant, received 65 similar calls, he said. One caller said, “Why are you releasing contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean, which is everyone’s ocean?” At the same time, local media reported that other municipalities, hotels and restaurants were also receiving similar calls.
A Japanese school was also stoned in China
Meanwhile, stones were thrown at a Japanese school in the coastal city of Qingdao on Thursday, according to Japan’s consulate general. However, when asked about the Qingdao incident and harassment calls, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended China’s record of protecting foreigners. “China always protects the safety and legitimate rights and interests of foreign nationals in China in accordance with the law,” Wang said.
China has banned Japanese aquatic products
Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power ( 9501.T ) ( TEPCO ) is filtering contaminated water to remove the isotope, leaving only tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is difficult to isolate. China then said that Japan had not proven that the water would be safe and imposed a total ban on all Japanese aquatic products.
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First published: August 28, 2023, 23:13 IST