What Japan and China’s Fukushima row is really about

Sushi and cheap cod aren’t the only things at stake in the conflict, writes Michael Sheridan. Tensions between Japan and China over the fallout of Fukushima are in danger of reaching critical mass

Water from the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant was discharged into the sea, much to the chagrin of China (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

It turns out that almost anything is radioactive when it comes to the fissile politics of northeast Asia.

This week gourmets across the region faced “seafood wars” after China banned imports of aquatic products from Japan in response to its decision to discharge treated water from the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

The water has been held in tanks since an earthquake and a tsunami led to a reactor meltdown at the plant in 2011. Japan says it has been decontaminated and is safe. China says Japan is “passing an open wound on to the future generations” and has “turned itself into a saboteur of the ecological system.”