Japan urged not to 'turn blind eye' on contaminated water

Beijing stepped up criticism on Monday of Tokyo's plan to formally decide to discharge radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, urging Japan not to "turn a blind eye and a deaf ear" to the global community's great concerns.

"China has delivered its serious concerns through diplomatic channels to Japan in order to safeguard international public interests as well as the health and safety of the Chinese people," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

The wastewater has been stored in tanks since the deadly earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan's coastal Fukushima prefecture in 2011 and the subsequent meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The planned discharge of tritium-contaminated wastewater into the sea has triggered protests in Japan and across the globe.

The radioactive leak caused by the meltdown "has already had a profound impact on the marine environment", food safety and human health, the Foreign Ministry warned in an earlier comment on Friday.

On Monday, Zhao, the spokesman, said the disposal of the wastewater is related to the fundamental interests of neighboring countries and the global public, and further damage should be effectively prevented in terms of the marine environment, food safety and human health "by securing the participation by all relevant parties".

The disposal of the wastewater "is unavoidable and cannot be postponed forever", given the ongoing reconstruction at Fukushima, Japan's public broadcaster NHK quoted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as saying.

NHK said the Japanese government will hold a meeting on Tuesday at which the ministers involved will finalize the decision to discharge the wastewater.

In response, the Republic of Korea expressed "serious concerns" on Monday and said the planned discharge may have a direct and indirect impact on its people's safety and the surrounding environment, according to the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Fukushima power plant meltdown was "one of the world's most serious nuclear accidents so far", and Tokyo should act "in a strong sense of responsibility and prudently tackle "the treatment of the wastewater at Fukushima, said Zhao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

Since Japan frequently asks other nations to honor their international duties, "now the global community is watching Japan", and Japan cannot turn a blind eye to this, Zhao added.

Some Japanese government officials have said that tritium, which is not harmful in small amounts, cannot be removed from the water, but all other radionuclides selected for treatment can be reduced to "safe levels" for release, the Associated Press reported.

But "some scientists say the long-term impact on marine life from low-dose exposure from such large volumes of water is unknown", AP reported.

New envoy

In another development, veteran Chinese diplomat Liu Xiaoming recently assumed his new post as the Chinese government's third special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs.

"Ambassador Liu is a senior diplomat with rich experience and is familiar with Korean Peninsula affairs," Zhao said.

Born in 1956, Liu used to work at the Chinese embassy in the United States and the Foreign Ministry's Department of American and Oceanian Affairs, and he was China's ambassador to Egypt from 2001 to 2003.

He served as Chinese ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 2006 to 2009 before heading to London to lead the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom for 11 years.

Liu's major duty as the special representative is to "assist the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordinating the handling of affairs involving the peninsula", and he will maintain communication and cooperation with relevant parties and play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement process of the Korean Peninsula issue, Zhao said.