Since the Fukushima nuclear accident, how to deal with the large amount of nuclear sewage generated by the incident has been the focus of attention of the international community.
On August 24 last year, the Japan government ignored the strong opposition of the international community, neighboring countries, and even its own people, and forcibly launched a plan to discharge nuclear sewage into the sea, causing concerns about the ecological environment and Japan's aquatic food.
Moreover, the Japanese side refused China's request for investigation and sampling on the grounds of so-called "sovereignty issues", and when it could not confirm safety, China issued an import ban on Japan's aquatic products.
Recently, however, the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea has reached a new turning point. According to the information published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after the competent authorities of China and Japan launched multi-million consultations, the two sides have reached a four-point consensus on the issue of discharging nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea.
Fukushima nuclear accident
First, Japan is committed to earnestly fulfilling its obligations under international law, continuing to carry out marine environment and marine ecological impact assessments, and doing its utmost to avoid the negative impact of nuclear sewage discharge into the sea, which will have a negative impact on people's health and the ecological environment.
Second, the Japanese side agreed to involve China and all other interested countries in the investigation, and to establish a long-term testing arrangement under the framework of the IAEA to conduct independent sampling and analysis of relevant issues.
Third, China and Japan will continue to engage in constructive dialogue to properly address concerns related to the discharge of nuclear wastewater.
The above-mentioned three-point consensus shows that the Japanese side is no longer able to conceal or deal with the nuclear sewage incident, and has chosen to make concessions and open the investigation channel to the international community, and when the time comes, both the truth and the hidden dangers will be revealed. The reason why the Japanese side did this was to reach a consensus with the Chinese side on point 4.
Is Japan's seafood expected to return to the Chinese market?
The Chinese side said that after effectively participating in long-term monitoring and independent sampling activities under the framework of the IAEA, China will start to adjust relevant measures based on scientific evidence and gradually resume importing Japan aquatic products that meet the regulations.
In fact, one of the main points of dialogue between Japan's leaders and other officials in their dialogue with China is to hope that China will unblock Japan's aquatic products.
The loss of the Chinese market will hit Japan's fishing industry too hard, but China's attitude is very resolute, and the Japanese side has to give up its tough attitude. As the saying goes, "reach out and don't hit the smiling person", Japan is willing to lower its posture, and China will naturally respond.
Of course, China will not joke about safety issues, and the premise of resuming the import of Japan aquatic products is to comply with regulations, and Japan needs to be fully transparent and accept the arrangement to reduce the impact before it can be recognized by China.
Sino-Japanese relations continue to decline
However, the Japan government's previous insistence on going its own way has had irreparable consequences, and now the international community has developed resistance to Japan's aquatic products, and even if the safety of some food products is subsequently confirmed, the negative impact of related incidents still exists.
In particular, in recent years, in order to cater to the United States strategy, the Japan government has continuously adopted unfriendly words and deeds toward China, which has deeply aggravated the tense atmosphere between China and Japan.
I remember that when THAAD was deployed in Korea, the Chinese people spontaneously boycotted Korea products, and Japan's situation was not optimistic.
Therefore, under the combined negative influence of politics and security, even if Japan aquatic products return to the Chinese market, Chinese consumers' desire to buy may still be sluggish. To truly save Japan's fishing industry, the Japan government needs to deal with more than just nuclear wastewater.