Can Japan, China resolve ‘deeply politicised’ Fukushima water issue? Experts say neither side able to back down

The bickering between Japan and China over the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant has continued on the sidelines of the three-way summit in Seoul with South Korea, with analysts suggesting that neither government is able to back down.

“The issue has become deeply politicised and neither side can afford to step back,” said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an assistant professor of international relations at the University of Tokyo.

“Japan’s position is that it has complied with IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] guidelines on data from the plant and been open in sharing that information, so it should not have to do more to please China,” he told This Week in Asia.

China was unable to accept that position “if it cannot get something in return”, Hinata-Yamaguchi said, as that would look to a domestic audience suspiciously like it was capitulating to Tokyo after taking a resolutely firm line on the issue.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held discussions on a number of issues with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Seoul on Sunday, during which he “demanded” that Beijing immediately lift a ban on imports of Japanese marine products, Japanese media reported.

The ban was implemented in August last year, shortly before water from the power plant – where three reactors suffered meltdowns in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami – was released into the Pacific. Japan insists that the water has been treated and contains levels of radionuclides that are below international standards set by the IAEA.

Chinese state-run media reported that Li referred to the water as being “nuclear-contaminated”, which Tokyo disputed. Li added that the release of the water was a matter of concern for all of humanity and called on Japan to