-Chinese Foreign Ministry says Japan prioritising personal interests over health of masses
-Reiterates Beijing wants continued international attention to this critically important issue -Asks World to press Tokyo for disposing dangerous water in a ‘responsible manner’
-Japan expected to pull toxic waste into Ocean during spring or summer this year
From Our
Correspondent
BEIJING: China once again urged Japan to respond to the legitimate concerns of all relevant parties and dispose of its nuclear-contaminated water in a scientific, open, transparent and safe manner.
A Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) reiterated that China wants continued international attention to this critically important issue.
In a statement, the Ministry said that the “world needs to call on Japan to dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a responsible manner”.
According to media reports, the technical task force of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Japan from Jan 16 to 20 to review the country’s plan to pipe nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station into the Pacific Ocean, and a report will be published within three months.
However, the Japanese gov-ernment unilaterally announced on Jan 13 that it would discharge the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean in the spring or summer this year. The Spokesperson said Japan’s decision to dump nuclear-contaminated water into the sea was an irresponsible act that puts its self-interest above human health and violates the human rights of all peoples, including their rights to life and health.
“For a better environment and ecology and the wellbeing of common people, we need to call on Japan disopose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a respnsible manner.”
In response to a related query on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily news briefing that China is paying close attention to Japan’s disposal of the nuclear-contaminated water, and supports the IAEA and its technical task force in conducting the review and evaluation of this issue.
“We hope that the technical task force will uphold the principles of objectivity, fairness and science, implement the agency’s nuclear safety standards strictly, and ensure the absolute safety of the disposal of the nuclear-contaminated water. We look forward to the review report from the technical task force and will study it carefully,” she said.
There is no precedent for Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, and this discharge process will continue for as long as 30 years. To date, the Japanese side has not provided sufficient scientific or factual basis for this, and has not resolved the international community’s concerns about the legitimacy of its nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan, the reliability of its data, the effectiveness of its purification devices, and the uncertainty of the potential environmental impact, Mao stressed.
