China accuses Japan of nuclear disposal water, Pacific allies echo Beijing protests
Suva (AFP) – From the Solomon Islands government to Fiji’s opposition, China’s Pacific allies today echoed Beijing’s criticism of Japan, protesting the Japanese government’s discharge of nuclear processing at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. water into the sea.
Under a plan endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, more than 500 Olympic-size swimming pools of nuclear-treated water will be discharged into the Pacific Ocean over the next few decades.
Despite security assurances from Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency, China has responded fiercely, while its allies in the Pacific have backed Beijing’s criticism of Japan.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who has postponed elections, rebuked Western powers and embraced Beijing’s financial aid diplomacy, issued a “strong statement against Japan’s decision”.
Sugavari said the discharge of nuclear treated water into the sea “has an impact on our people, our oceans, our economy and our livelihoods”.
A rare protest in Fiji’s capital Suva today that drew hundreds carried a similar message, with demonstrators carrying placards reading “Nuclear-free oceans” and “Pacific Lives at stake”. Matter).
The protest was promoted by the opposition Fiji First party, whose leader, former prime minister Frank Bainimarama, sought closer ties with China while in power.
FijiFirst accuses the Fijian government of “allowing Japan to dump nuclear waste into our oceans, ashamed of future generations”.
Other Pacific leaders appear to have confidence in Japan’s security assessment.
“Japan has assured the (Pacific) region that it is discharging treated water,” said Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, who currently chairs the Pacific Islands Forum.
Mihai Sora, a former Australian diplomat who currently works at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a think tank in Sydney, said that regardless of the scientific level, the discharge of Fukushima nuclear treatment water created a problem for the Beijing authorities. political opportunity.
Japan has “done a lot of diplomatic work to win over Pacific leaders as much as possible,” Sola noted, but “it is almost universally an unpopular decision among the Pacific community.”
“You can imagine the Beijing authorities using diplomatic channels to encourage some partners to express strong dissatisfaction because it is in Beijing’s interest,” Sola said.
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2023-08-25 13:50:01
