China to halt Japan seafood imports amid Taiwan spat: reports

TOKYO: China will suspend imports of Japanese seafood, media in Tokyo reported Wednesday as a diplomatic spat sparked by comments about Taiwan deepens.

The row was triggered by new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting on November 7 that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has reacted furiously.

Last week, China summoned Tokyo’s ambassador, advised its citizens not to travel to Japan and those studying there to be careful.

The release of at least two Japanese movies will also be postponed in China, according to state media.

Reporting the suspension of seafood imports, Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, cited unnamed government sources.

China explained the move as necessary to monitor treated wastewater being released from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, NHK said.

There was no immediate confirmation from Beijing.

China had only recently resumed purchasing marine products from Japan following an earlier ban imposed after the Fukushima plant began releasing water in 2023.

The release was backed by the UN atomic agency and plant operator TEPCO said all radioactive elements were filtered out except tritium, levels of which are within safe limits.

But Beijing accused Japan of treating the Pacific as a “sewer” and banned imports of Japanese seafood.

Russia later followed suit.

In 2023, seafood shipments to mainland China accounted for 15.6 percent of a total of 390 billion yen ($2.5 billion), down from 22.5 percent in 2022.

Hong Kong accounted for 26.1 percent, and the United States accounted for 15.7 percent in 2023.

Contacted by AFP, Japan’s agriculture ministry, which supervises the fisheries agency, and the foreign ministry were not immediately available for comment.

‘Strong protest’

Key trading partners, China and Japan have seen ties frayed by territorial rivalries and military spending in recent years.

Japan on Monday urged its citizens in China to be careful of their surroundings and to avoid big crowds.

Beijing on Tuesday vowed to “protect the safety” of foreigners in China, but said it had again lodged a “strong protest” with Tokyo over Takaichi’s comments.

Seeking to defuse the row, the top official in Japan’s foreign ministry for Asia-Pacific affairs, Masaaki Kanai, held talks Tuesday in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart Liu Jinsong.

“During the consultations, China once again lodged a strong protest with Japan” over “Takaichi’s erroneous remarks”, said Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.

“Takaichi’s fallacies seriously violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations,” Mao said, adding the premier’s comments “fundamentally damage the political foundation of China-Japan relations”.