BEIJING, Sept 20 (Askume) – China and Japan reached a consensus in August on the issue of radioactive water discharge from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, ending more than two years of diplomatic dispute, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
When Tokyo begins discharging treated radioactive water from the site in August 2023, Beijing calls the leak “a major nuclear safety issue with cross-border implications.”
Japan criticised China for spreading “claims without scientific basis”, a month after the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said the programme complies with international standards and would have “negligible” impact on humans and the environment.
The two sides agreed that Japan would establish a long-term international monitoring arrangement and allow interested parties to conduct independent sampling and monitoring, Japan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a statement.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning later said at a regular press conference in Beijing that the consensus reached between the two countries “does not mean that China will immediately resume imports of Japanese aquatic products.”
“We will hold technical consultations with Japan and gradually resume imports of Japanese aquatic products,” he said.
