"This is a decision based on politics and money" Oppose | Fukushima | Politics

The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company are determined to discharge over 1.3 million tons of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the sea, ignoring strong opposition and questioning from both domestic and international communities.

In recent days, not only has the opposition within Japan continued to rise; People from multiple countries have also continued to voice their criticism that Japan's actions will seriously endanger the global marine environment, ecosystems, and the lives and health of people around the world, which is an extremely irresponsible manifestation.

"We will always oppose the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea"

Since the Japanese government decided to discharge Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the sea, it has faced fierce opposition from the Japanese people.

Japanese Friday Weekly website: Japanese citizen groups oppose the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the ocean. Citizens hold up banners on the streets with slogans such as "Oppose Nuclear Polluted Water Discharging into the Sea" and "Dongdian Discharging Sewage is a Criminal Action".

The fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture, who are located in the center of the vortex, are even more indignant about the Japanese government's decision; At the same time, they also feel panic and worry about their livelihoods.

Local fishing industry practitioners say that they have been hit hard by earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear power plant leaks more than a decade ago, and can no longer afford the secondary impact of nuclear contaminated water being discharged into the sea.

Yukichi Yanagi, who has been working in the fishing industry for more than 20 years, is a director of a fishing association in Fukushima Prefecture. He firmly opposes the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea, stating that this behavior will seriously damage the local fishing industry, erode consumer trust in Fukushima Prefecture's seafood, and significantly reduce the income of fishermen.

Asahi Shimbun, Japan, quoted Tetsuya Nozaki, the president of the Fukushima Prefectural Fisheries Cooperation Association, as saying that the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea will inevitably lead to seawater contamination. Even if the numerical display says "safe," consumers may not necessarily be "at ease.".

For example, after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, local fishermen transported safety tested bonito to the seafood market, but did not even qualify for auction.

Tetsuya Nozaki added that fishing is a wide-ranging industry that, in addition to processing and transportation, also requires a variety of related practitioners such as containers, ice, fuel, fishing gear, and freezing. However, more than ten years after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, the local fishing industry has not fully recovered, and many businesses have closed down. Nowadays, the decision to treat nuclear contaminated water has sparked new anxiety, causing relevant practitioners to hesitate about reopening, further slowing down the revival of local fisheries.

The Asahi Shimbun website published an article titled "Discharging Nuclear Polluted Water on Important Seas... Opposition and Struggle of Fishermen on This Land"

Some legal professionals in Japan have also expressed that Japan's discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the ocean violates international law.

Lawyer Yoshiro Uzuka, who has been engaged in environmental pollution related litigation for decades, pointed out that Japan is a contracting party to international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and has an obligation to comply with the convention. He strongly believes that the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea violates the obligations stipulated in the convention.

Article 192 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that countries have an obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment.

Article 194 (3) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea prohibits the discharge of toxic and harmful substances from land.

The high seas are a common property of humanity, and the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea is not something that Japan can decide on its own.

Currently, among countries around the world, only the United States openly supports Japan's sea discharge plan.

Not long before the Japanese government announced its plan to discharge pollutants from the sea, Japan and the United States had just held the "2+2 talks" in Tokyo. Biden chose to let Japan's nuclear contaminated water flow unchecked.

The Kishida government of Japan, in order to maintain long-term governance and achieve its dream of becoming a great power, has used the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency as so-called "talismans" and "passes" for discharging nuclear contaminated water into the sea, disregarding public opinion and forcibly advancing the plan.

Screenshot of report from National Public Radio in the United States

According to Xiang Haoyu, a specially appointed researcher at the Asia Pacific Institute of the China Academy of International Studies, there are three main reasons why the United States condones and supports Japan's discharge of pollutants into the sea:

·From the perspective of the United States' global strategy, it aims to woo Japan, demonstrate the closeness of the US Japan alliance, and exchange for the Japanese government's more determined defection to the US.

·The United States also has a lot of dark history in the issue of nuclear pollution. During the Cold War, the United States established a nuclear test site in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, conducted dozens of nuclear explosion tests, and dumped a large amount of nuclear waste into the Pacific, seriously damaging the marine environment.

·Recently, scandals of pollutant leaks have been continuously reported at US military bases in Japan, posing a threat to Japan's environment and public safety, and also causing dissatisfaction in Japanese society. The Japanese government has cooperated with the United States in a low-key manner, and the US is also willing to repay the favor.

"We cannot treat the ocean as a landfill"

The Japanese government's forced push to discharge contaminated water from Fukushima into the sea, despite opposition from the international community, has been criticized by people from all over the world.

Some South Korean people have pointed out that the ocean is a precious property belonging to the world and all humanity. The Japanese government's discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the ocean is no different from an international crime in nature.

Screenshot of Associated Press report

Zambian environmentalist Robert Chimanbo said in an interview with CCTV reporters that Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea will cause pollution in the Pacific Ocean and have a negative impact on the world's ecological environment. He asserted that Japan "will suffer from bitter fruit on its own in 20 years.".

During an interview with CCTV reporters, Lebanese oceanographer and Dean of the School of Environment at the University of Balaman in Lebanon, Nader, pointed out that the Earth and its internal ecosystems are interrelated, and the harm caused by the discharge of a large amount of radioactive materials into the sea to humans and the Earth's ecosystem cannot be predicted.

Robert Richmond, director of the Kevalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, is one of the scientists appointed by the Pacific Island Forum to evaluate Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge program.

In the past 18 months, he has formed an expert group with four other experts to evaluate the plan and has visited the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to hold meetings with Tokyo Electric Power Company, the Japanese government, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

After reviewing the details of the sea discharge plan, he believed that the safety of the plan was questionable.

Richmond bluntly stated that the Japanese government's plan is "a decision based on politics and money", "we cannot treat the ocean as a landfill and dump everything we don't want.".

The official website of the University of Hawaii publishes an article by Robert Richmond and others titled "It is not recommended to dump treated nuclear contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean."

Source: Global Information Radio's "Global Deep Observation"

Planning | Wang Zengli

Reporter | Wang Quanwen

Editor | Lin Wei and Shao Yiping

Approved by Hou Chen and Cai Yaoyuan

Producer | Guan Juanjuan