Japan Demands Reversal of Beijing’s ‘Unreasonable’ Seafood Ban

Major Japanese publications issue joint editorials condemning Beijing’s unscientific actions

Fishery workers unload seafood caught in offshore trawl fishing at Matsukawaura port in Soma City, Fukushima prefecture on September 1, 2023, about a week after the country began discharging treated wastewater from the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images

Since the scheduled discharge of treated wastewater from Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Plant began on Aug. 24, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities have imposed a sweeping ban on Japanese seafood imports to China.

The action ignited a firestorm of protests against the water release across various platforms, where media outlets and social commentators in China have widely condemned Japan. The situation is further inflamed by heightened anti-Japanese sentiment, manifested in harassing phone calls to Japanese locales like Tokyo and Fukushima.