US ambassador to Japan visits Fukushima, expects US support in seafood dispute

Rahm Emanuel, the American ambassador to Japan, visited the Fukushima area on Thursday and informed reporters that he anticipated the United States would back Japan in the event that China’s embargo on Japanese seafood led to a dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

China, Japan’s largest trading partner, banned Japanese aquatic items last Thursday after Japan began discharging treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Japanese officials have hinted that diplomatic measures, including a World Trade Organisation (WTO) complaint, may be taken to pressure China to reverse the prohibition, which Japan claims is not supported by scientific data.

Vietnam “resolutely rejects any claims in the East Sea by China that are based on the dashed line,” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“If Japan decides to take that effort, the United States will stand by (it) not just because they’re an ally, but because there’s legitimacy to the case,” he said, although he added he could not prejudge what might happen and such support would ultimately be up to relevant U.S. government agencies.

China, the largest market for Japanese seafood exports, received around $600 million worth of aquatic items from Japan in 2022. Hong Kong, which placed its own ban on seafood imports from 10 Japanese locations following the release of the Fukushima water, came in second place.

Since dumping the water, Japan has demanded that China immediately lift its embargo and has also reported that it has received a deluge of harassing phone calls.

“The economic coercion against Japan, the robocalls of harassment and disinformation both here in Japan and around comes right out of China’s playbook. This is all politics,” Emanuel said.

On Thursday, Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the largest fish market in Tokyo and announced that his cabinet will develop measures to support the fishing industry by the beginning of the following week.

According to the Nikkei newspaper, the government will pay for the measures out of budget reserves for this fiscal year totaling tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars).

Following his visit to the Toyosu fish market, Kishida informed the media that requests from the sector included assistance for businesses to explore new markets and talks with China.

With addition to other measures, the government has established two funds totaling 80 billion yen ($548 million) to aid with the creation of new markets and preserve extra fish until demand increases.

Emanuel had lunch with Hidekiyo Tachiya, the mayor of Soma, which is close to the destroyed nuclear plant. They both enjoyed fish that was caught nearby. Additionally, while mixing with people, he purchased fish from a supermarket and sampled Fukushima peaches.

(With agency inputs)