Beijing calls on atomic agency to stop nuclear water discharge amid reports of political donations 

This photo taken on Jan 20, 2023 shows the storage tanks for contaminated water at the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in Okuma of Fukushima prefecture. (PHOTO / AFP)

China urged the International Atomic Energy Agency on June 28 not to endorse Japan’s plan to discharge polluted radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, and demanded that Tokyo handle the wastewater situation in a “transparent and safe way”.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning made the remarks following a report in foreign media that Japan had made political donations of over 1 million euros ($1.1 million) to the agency over the planned release of the wastewater. Tokyo denied the report last week.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to meet with IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi on July 4 in Tokyo, The Japan Times reported.

The Japanese government has a responsibility to give a credible explanation and the public also needs a response from the IAEA Secretariat, Mao said at a daily news briefing.

The media report has increased the world’s concern over Japan’s discharge of contaminated water into the ocean, Mao said, adding that people have every reason to question the impartiality and objectivity of the final review report of the IAEA Task Force.

“We hope that the IAEA Secretariat will act in an objective, professional and just manner, fully respect and adopt the views of experts of all parties in the Task Force and present a review report that can withstand the test of science and history, instead of endorsing Japan’s discharge plan,” she said.

Mao emphasized that discharging contaminated water into the ocean is by no means Japan’s domestic affair and concerns the common interests of the international community.

Japan should seek a science-based, safe and transparent way to handle the contaminated water, and subject itself to rigorous international oversight, she added.

The Japan Fisheries Cooperatives reiterated their opposition to the discharge in a resolution, though the Japanese government proposed a 50 billion yen ($349 million) package to buy their “understanding”.

Leaders from multiple Pacific Island countries are urging Japan to store or dump its “nuclear waste” in the country instead of discharging it into the ocean, said Henry Puna, secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum, in a statement on June 26.

Japan’s plan to dump treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean “is not merely a nuclear safety issue. It is rather a nuclear legacy issue, an ocean, fisheries, environment, biodiversity, climate change and health issue, with the future of our children and future generations at stake”, the statement added.

On June 26, the Republic of Korea’s opposition Justice Party held a news conference in front of the Japanese embassy after the party’s floor leader Bae Jin-gyo made a three-day trip to Japan the week before, including a visit to the nuclear plant.

Members of the party’s special task force opposing the release met with local civic groups in Japan and held a press conference at plant operators Tokyo Electric Power Company to deliver their objections, but their letter of complaint was rejected.

Contact the writers at zhoujin@chinadaily.com.cn