"China Criticizes South Korean Government's Attitude Change on Contaminated Water"

Moon Hyun-il, Professor at China Zhengfa University, MBC Interview
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Professor Moon Il-hyun of China Zhengfa University conveyed that regarding Japan's discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the local atmosphere in China is "highly critical of the change in the South Korean government's stance."

In an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 29th, Professor Moon said that Chinese media "have been reporting in detail that with the change of regime, the South Korean government seems to have completely tacitly accepted Japan's discharge, questioning why the attitude has changed so much and what the background is."

Professor Moon mentioned that he receives questions from Chinese students at his school such as, 'Does the South Korean government really think this is not a problem? Then why do South Korean civic groups strongly oppose it?' He said, "Personally, I have been in many awkward situations because I cannot provide a convincing explanation."

On the morning of the 25th, the second day of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, residents are selecting seafood at the Jingxian Seafood Market in Beijing, China. 2023.8.25 [Image source=Yonhap News]

Professor Moon predicted that following China's complete ban on imports of Japanese seafood, there could be four additional measures including public opinion warfare, international campaigns, economic sanctions, and military responses.

He explained that public opinion warfare involves China using its satellites and other resources to obtain data proving the harmfulness of the contaminated water discharge to gain international support, while international campaigns refer to cooperating with Pacific island nations and other members of the international community opposing the discharge to pressure Japan.

He also mentioned that there is a possibility of joint economic sanctions by China and the international community, such as additional import bans on Japanese seafood. Professor Moon elaborated, "The most notable is the military response," adding, "If the nuclear contaminated water discharged by Japan exceeds international standards, there is a claim that it should be considered a military attack using biochemical weapons, and thus China and Russia could jointly respond militarily in accordance with biochemical standards."

He continued, "Chinese media also state that such a situation would be a last resort assuming the worst-case scenario, but all these phenomena reflect the atmosphere within China."

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