Li Chang Chinese Premier and Kishida Japanese Prime Minister Tense Over Contaminated Water Issue at ASEAN Summit

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit held in Jakarta, Indonesia, Chinese Premier Li Chang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida engaged in a tense exchange on the 6th over the issue of the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (referred to by the Japanese government as "treated water") into the ocean.

According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK, Prime Minister Kishida met briefly and spoke standing with Premier Li individually on the day. Kishida reportedly conveyed Japan's position on the contaminated water discharge to Li and sought his understanding.

At the ASEAN+3 summit, which included South Korea, China, and Japan, Kishida emphasized that Japan would provide a polite explanation to the international community with high transparency based on scientific evidence regarding the contaminated water discharge. He also criticized China, which had imposed a complete ban on imports of Japanese seafood following the discharge, saying, "China acted impulsively."

On the other hand, Premier Li demanded responsible measures from Japan, stressing that "sufficient consultation with neighboring countries and stakeholders (regarding the contaminated water discharge) is necessary." Li criticized the discharge, expressing concerns about the global ecological environment and stating that "it affects people's health."

After Tokyo Electric Power Company began discharging the contaminated water on the 24th of last month, China strongly opposed it, calling it a "selfish and irresponsible act," while Japan urged China to promptly lift the seafood import ban and called for discussions based on scientific evidence.

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