Japan and China held a meeting last month over the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea and China’s subsequent import ban on Japanese marine products, sources close to the matter have said.
At the online meeting, there was no major progress in their discussions, as China keeps in place the import ban on all seafood products from Japan in response to the water release, while Japan continues to ask for the removal of the measures, the sources said Friday.
On the Japanese side, officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Nuclear Regulation Authority and the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. participated in the talks.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to hold expert consultations regarding the matter at their last face-to-face meeting in November, although it is unclear whether the online talks were a result of that agreement.
Japan has continued to discharge treated water into the ocean from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, claiming the release is in line with international safety standards as reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
China, however, has labeled it “nuclear-contaminated water” and reacted harshly to the release by banning all imports of seafood products from Japan.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has insisted on the establishment of an independent “long-term monitoring mechanism” for the discharges from the plant, which suffered nuclear meltdowns triggered by a massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Friday at a news conference that “China and Japan are continuing to communicate with each other” on the issue.