Hong Kong announced on Tuesday the imposition of “immediate import control measures” on Japanese products, hours after Japan revealed that water from the Fukushima plant will begin to be released into the ocean.
“I immediately ordered the Secretary of Environment and Ecology and relevant departments to immediately impose import control measures,” said the head of the Chinese regional government.
In a post on the social network Facebook, John Lee Ka-chiu said the measure serves to “protect food safety and public health in Hong Kong,” which he noted as “the government’s top priorities.”
The chief executive of the territory stated that “this unprecedented decision and measure” entails “unavoidable risks for food security, as well as contamination and irreversible damage to the marine environment.”
“I am strongly opposed to intentionally imposing my own problems on others,” added John Lee.
Mainland China has also banned the import of some food products from Japan’s 10 provinces.
The Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, guarantees that the waters are treated and do not pose any risk.
“We will ask the energy and electricity company to quickly prepare the start of the ocean spill according to the plan approved by the nuclear regulatory authority, with the spill scheduled for August 24, if weather and sea conditions do not prevent it,” he stresses. .
Despite the assurances of the Japanese chief executive, the measure is causing concern in the region.
In South Korea there were street protests, China banned the import of some food products from ten provinces of Japan and now Hong Kong does the same.
On Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said dumping the water into the ocean “is not the safest or most prudent option.”
“Japan simply chose it to reduce economic costs. This will pose unnecessary risks to neighboring countries and the rest of the world,” Wang told a news conference.
In late June, the Chinese Foreign Ministry commission in Macao criticized the Japanese plan, calling it irresponsible and in violation of international law.
Despite being approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the plan raised concerns in neighboring countries and sparked street protests in South Korea.
This despite the fact that the Government of Seoul has carried out several tests to demonstrate to the people that there is no risk of environmental or food contamination due to the Fukushima spills.
The Japanese government announced Tuesday that treated and diluted radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be released into the ocean starting Thursday.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave the final go-ahead at a meeting of ministers involved in the plan and instructed the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), to be ready to start discharges on Thursday if weather permits. .
The release of water begins almost 12 and a half years after the March 2011 nuclear meltdown, triggered by a powerful earthquake and tsunami.
At the beginning of 2024, the Fukushima Daiichi plant should run out of space to store around 1.33 million tons of water, coming from rain, groundwater or injections necessary to cool the cores of nuclear reactors.
Both the Japanese government and TEPCO have advised that the water must be removed to prevent accidental leaks from the tanks.
Source: TSF
