China urges Japan to stop pushing through the ocean discharge plan

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China once again urges Japan to act responsibly for marine environment and people's life and health, stop pushing through the ocean discharge plan and imposing unpredictable risks on the international community, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday.

Wang made the remarks at a daily news briefing when asked to comment on opposition in Japan and other parts of the world towards Japan's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean.

It is reported that Japan's fisheries cooperative and other associations will submit another petition signed by 33,000 people to the Tokyo Electric Power Company in opposition of the discharge plan.

It is also reported that the Democratic Party of the Republic of Korea (ROK) decided to consider legislative moves to ban all seafood import from Japan. Over 1.05 million people in the ROK have signed in support of the campaign sponsored by the party against the discharge plan. Former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, a Pacific Island country, said that the people are not convinced by the report of the International Atomic Agency (IAEA), and efforts will continue to ask international agencies including the United Nations to attend to the concerns of people in the region.

Wang said that China has stated its position on Japan's attempt to push through the ocean discharge plan on several occasions.

He said that Japan focuses more on saving cost instead of safeguarding marine environment and protecting people's life and health. On the disposal of nuclear-contaminated water, there are options including long-term storage, hydrogen release, geosphere injection, underground burial, and vapor release.

"Japan has chosen the discharge plan with minimum cost among all options, shifting the risks of nuclear contamination to the rest of the world," Wang said, "the act of putting money ahead of people's life and health is doomed to be opposed by the international community."

Wang pointed out that Japan did not have full consultation with the international community, especially with the stakeholders.

In April 2021, the Japanese government unilaterally announced that it will discharge the nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, and it officially approved the discharge plan in July 2022 in disregard of strong opposition from the international community, especially neighboring countries and other stakeholders, and declared multiple times that it will not postpone the implementation of the plan, said Wang.

"All of this fully reveals the selfishness and arrogance of Japan," He said, "although Japan requested review and assessment from the IAEA out of domestic and international pressure, the discharge plan was preconceived and the request was nothing but a charade."

"The discharge plan is a gamble with no precedent, and it is full of uncertainties," Wang said, noting that Japan's discharge of the nuclear-contaminated water will last as long as 30 years or even longer.

According to data released by Japan, nearly 70 percent of ALPS-treated nuclear-contaminated water failed to meet the discharge standards, and the efficiency and reliability of the system will be weakened due to corrosion and aging of the treatment equipment when put into long-term operation, he said.

"In light of these uncertainties, the international community has every reason to express concerns and disapproval," Wang added.