US military bulk buys Japanese seafood to counter China ban
Send a link to a friend
[October 30, 2023]
By John Geddie and Yukiko Toyoda
TOKYO (Reuters) -The United States has started bulk buying Japanese
seafood to supply its military there in response to China's ban on such
products imposed after Tokyo released treated water from its crippled
Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Unveiling the initiative in a Reuters interview on Monday, U.S.
ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said Washington should also look more
broadly into how it could help offset China's ban that he said was part
of its "economic wars".
China, which had been the biggest buyer of Japanese seafood, says its
ban is due to food safety fears.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog vouched for the safety of the water release
that began in August from the plant wrecked by a 2011 tsunami. G7 trade
ministers on Sunday called for the immediate repeal of bans on Japanese
food.
"It's going to be a long-term contract between the U.S. armed forces and
the fisheries and co-ops here in Japan," Emanuel said.
"The best way we have proven in all the instances to kind of wear out
China's economic coercion is come to the aid and assistance of the
targeted country or industry," he said.
Asked about Emanuel's comments at a press conference on Monday, China's
foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: "the responsibility of
diplomats is to promote friendship between countries rather than
smearing other countries and stirring up trouble".
The first purchase of seafood by the U.S. under the scheme involves just
shy of a metric ton of scallops, a tiny fraction of more than 100,000
tons of scallops that Japan exported to mainland China last year.
Emanuel said the purchases - which will feed soldiers in messes and
aboard vessels as well as being sold in shops and restaurants on
military bases - will increase over time to all types of seafood. The
U.S. military had not previously bought local seafood in Japan, he said.
The U.S. could also look at its overall fish imports from Japan and
China, he said. The U.S. is also in talks with Japanese authorities to
help direct locally-caught scallops to U.S.-registered processors.
'NOT A CHINA HAWK'
Emanuel, who was former U.S. President Barack Obama's White House chief
of staff, has in recent months made a series of blunt statements on
China, taking aim at various issues including its economic policies,
opaque decision-making and treatment of foreign firms.
[to top of second column]
|
Fishermen land scallops at Nemuro Port, in Nemuro on Japan's
northern island of Hokkaido April 12, 2022. REUTERS/Daniel Leussink/File
photo
That has come as top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State
Antony Blinken, have visited Beijing in an effort to draw a line
under strained ties.
Asked if he considered himself hawkish on China, Emanuel rejected
the term and said he was a "realist".
"I don't consider it hawkish but just consider it realist and
honest. Maybe the honesty is painful, but it's honest," he said.
"I'm all for stability, understanding. That doesn't mean you're not
honest. They're not contradictory. One of the ways you establish
stability, is that you're able to be honest with each other."
He said China faced major economic challenges exacerbated by a
leadership intent on turning their backs on international systems.
"The kind of loser in this is the youth of China. You now have a
situation where 30% of the Chinese youth, one out of three, are
unemployed. You have major cities with unfinished housing ... you
have major municipalities not able to pay city workers. Why? Because
China made a political decision to turn their back on a system in
which they were benefiting."
The most recent official youth unemployment data from China,
published in July before Beijing said it was suspending publication
of the numbers, showed it jumping to a record high of 21.3%.
Emanuel said he was also keeping an eye on how China's leadership
responds to the recent death of former Premier Li Keqiang, a
reformist who was sidelined by President Xi Jinping.
"What's ... interesting to me, that I think is telltale, is how they
will be treating his funeral and how they'll be treating comments
about him," he said.
"I do think that there's kind of a section of China that sees what
kind of policies he was pursuing as kind of the best of China. But
that's up for China to decide."
(Editing by Robert Birsel)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|