Japan may take China to WTO over Fukushima-driven seafood import ban
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[August 29, 2023]
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan threatened on Tuesday to take China
to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to seek a reversal of Beijing's
ban on all of its seafood imports after the release of treated
radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Japan would take
"necessary action (on China's aquatic product ban) under various routes
including the WTO framework".
Filing a WTO complaint might become an option if protesting to China
through diplomatic routes is ineffective, Economic Security Minister
Sanae Takaichi said separately.
The comments came as Japanese businesses and public facilities continued
to receive harassment calls from phone numbers with the +86 Chinese
country code, with many reporting callers complaining of the Fukushima
water release.
Fukushima prefectural government and public facilities in the prefecture
have received about 3,000 such calls, Kyoto News reported, quoting the
prefecture governor.
The power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power has received about 6,000
such calls to date, local media reported, and the government said it was
seeking help from telecommunications companies to block the calls.
An increasing number of landline phone users are requesting to block
foreign numbers, said a spokesperson at NTT Communications, a Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone unit. NTT and other phone companies including
KDDI and SoftBank Corp are discussing measures following the
government's request.
NTT East, which serves the eastern half of the country including
Fukushima, said it had set up a customer service centre on Tuesday
specifically for harassment calls from overseas, in response to the
government's plea.
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A view of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant after it started releasing treated radioactive water
into the Pacific Ocean, seen from the nearby Ukedo fishing port in
Namie town, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Aug. 25, 2023. REUTERS/Tom
Bateman/File Photo
"It is extremely regrettable and concerning about the large number
of harassment calls that have likely come from China," Trade
Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said during a news conference. He said
that according to the people of Fukushima some calls were even going
to hospitals.
"Human life is at stake now. Please stop the calls immediately,"
Nishimura said.
The minister said the government was gathering information on the
reports of movements to boycott Japanese products in China and would
work with business leaders to address the situation.
Japan is also conducting interviews with local travel agencies to
gather information about the status of travel to Japan from China
after media reports that some Japan-bound tours have been cancelled.
"Some travel agencies responded that they had received cancellation
requests while others said they had received inquiries about the
safety of food and beverages, and the possibility of postponing or
cancelling tours," Japan's Land Minister Tetsuo Saito told
reporters.
The move came after China earlier this month lifted pandemic-era
restrictions on group tours for Japan and other key markets.
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya, Mariko Katsumura, Sakura Murakami and
Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Jacqueline Wong and
Mark Potter)
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