Japan thanks PH for 'understanding' release of Fukushima water

Japan’s top diplomat to Manila on Friday thanked the Philippine government for “understanding” its move to discharge treated nuclear water into the Pacific Ocean from a science- and fact-based perspective.

“We are grateful for the majority of the international community, including the Philippines, that shows their understanding of the mentioned discharge, based on facts and science. This is a crucial step for Japan towards recovery from the catastrophe,” Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa said in a statement.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it recognizes the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) technical expertise on the matter.

Radioactivity levels from the Fukushima nuclear plant, which was shut down after being destroyed by the 2011 tsunami, are well below safe levels, the IAEA said.

In a statement on Thursday, the DFA said: “The Philippines continues to look at this issue from a science- and fact-based perspective and on the waters in the region.”

“As a coastal and archipelagic state, the Philippines attaches utmost priority to the protection and preservation of the marine environment.”

China criticized the release of treated radioactive water and said it would block all seafood imports from Japan.

“The Pacific Ocean is not a ‘sewer’ for Japan’s releasing of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear accident,” said Chinese Embassy Director Wu Chenqi.

“This act blatantly transfers the risk of nuclear pollution to neighboring countries including China and the international community and puts self-interest above the long-tern well-being of people in the region and the world.”

Koshikawa countered by accusing Chinese nuclear power plants of  releasing “a significantly higher amount of tritium into the ocean compared to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.”

“We also would like to remind you that China once said ‘the study of origins is a scientific matter’ and ‘should not be politicized’ in response to criticism of the World Health Organization-China joint study of the origins of COVID-19,” the Japanese envoy said. —LDF, GMA Integrated News