Japan demands from China the “immediate” lifting of the ban on seafood imports, decided after the discharge of Fukushima waters

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared, Thursday, November 17, that he had demanded from Chinese President Xi Jinping, during their first meeting in a year, that China immediately lift the bans on imports of Japanese seafood imposed after the rejection of water from the Fukushima power plant. “I urged a calm response based on scientific evidence and the immediate lifting of restrictions on imports of Japanese food products”declared the head of the Japanese government after his meeting with Xi Jinping in the United States.

Xi Jinping said for his part that the discharge of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant was affecting the “health of all humanity”, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On another issue, the Japanese Prime Minister also informed the Chinese President of “deep concerns” concerning Chinese military activity in the Asia-Pacific and Beijing’s collaboration with Moscow. Fumio Kishida told Japanese television stations avoir “reemphasized the extreme importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait for the international community and Japan”.

“Peaceful coexistence”

“Regarding the East China Sea, I once again expressed our serious concerns and urged the immediate removal of the buoys [chinoises] installed in the EEZ of Japan”, also announced Fumio Kishida, in reference to the country’s exclusive economic zone. Tensions have increased in the Pacific, marked by Chinese actions in the disputed South China Sea and military exercises by Beijing around the island of Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignty.

China and Japan must “manage their differences appropriately”, declared Xi Jinping to Fumio Kishida, reported public television CCTV. The two countries, with links still marked by the Japanese invasion of Chinese territory in the last century, must “focus on their common interests”said Xi Jinping. “Peaceful coexistence, lasting friendship spanning generations, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development are good directions, which serve the fundamental interests of the Chinese and Japanese people.”he stressed.