Japan's Opposition to China's Contaminated Water Discharge: "Environmentalists Standing Behind Xi Jinping"

Nikkei "Strong Influence of Environmental Figures
Rising as Core Force of Xi Jinping Regime
Excessive Actions Fueled by Loyalty Competition"

Regarding China's opposition to Japan's decision to discharge contaminated water from Fukushima, Japanese media have pointed to pro-environmental officials within the Xi Jinping regime as the driving force behind this stance. It is said that President Xi Jinping, aiming to take a different path from his predecessors, has positioned environmental protection as a national development strategy, and in the process of competing for loyalty to this cause, strong opposition to the discharge of contaminated water has emerged.

Chinese President Xi Jinping [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 23rd, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun highlighted the reasons behind China's opposition to the contaminated water discharge, reporting that "the unique power structure of the Xi Jinping regime is the cause." The Nihon Keizai noted that during the selection of members of the Central Political Bureau, which forms the leadership of the regime at last year's 20th Party Congress, President Xi appointed at least three officials related to the environmental sector, emphasizing that "this is an unprecedented personnel move."

Li Ganjie, the youngest member of China's Political Bureau and Secretary of the Communist Party Central Secretariat, currently also serves as head of the Party's Central Organization Department, a key position responsible for personnel appointments of senior officials and party member education. Li studied atomic physics at Tsinghua University, President Xi's alma mater, and has held positions related to environmental protection. Chen Jining, appointed as Secretary of Shanghai, China's largest commercial city, holds a PhD in environmental engineering from Imperial College London and has served as Minister of Environmental Protection.

The Nihon Keizai analyzed these two figures as examples, stating that President Xi, seeking to differentiate himself from past leaders who prioritized rapid economic growth, has positioned pro-environment policies as a core national strategy, leading environmental officials to rise as key forces within the regime. Furthermore, it emphasized that these officials are exerting influence to push for somewhat excessive policies in the environmental sector to support the momentum of President Xi's pro-environment agenda.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun criticized, "Although these elites in Chinese politics are supposed to possess scientific knowledge, they support the government's unscientific stance on the contaminated water out of loyalty to President Xi." An expert familiar with Chinese academia also told the Nihon Keizai, "In the way this (Fukushima contaminated water discharge) issue is handled and addressed, excessive actions justified by environmental protection are conspicuous."

View of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. [Image source=EPA·Yonhap News]

The Nihon Keizai predicted that the Chinese government will continue to make unscientific claims that the contaminated water discharge is unsafe and urged the preparation of countermeasures. It especially warned that if China continues its opposition, the damage to the seafood market could be significant.

Since last month, China has begun comprehensive radiation inspections on Japanese seafood. As a result, prices of Japanese seafood have reportedly dropped significantly. China accounts for 22% (87.1 billion yen) of Japan's total seafood export volume (387.3 billion yen).

Moreover, China may continue to raise concerns about the safety of Japanese seafood in the international community. The Nihon Keizai stated, "If China persists with unscientific claims, Japan should strongly appeal to the international community about safety by providing detailed comparisons between substances discharged from Chinese nuclear power plants and those from Japanese contaminated water," emphasizing that "what the Japanese government currently needs is the ability to explain."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.