Japan has requested China to prioritize the safety of Japanese nationals living in China following a reported incident of brick being thrown at its embassy in Beijing in an escalating row over the release radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.
It would be recall that last week, Japan started releasing treated wastewater from the Fukushima nulear plant into the ocean and his expected to continue for decades.
This has been strongly opposed by fishing groups and by neighboring countries, With China immediately banning all imports of Japanese seafood in response, even though the UN nuclear watchdog had declared the operation safe.
Since the incidents, Japan had urged its tens of thousands of citizens in China to keep a low profile and has increased security around schools and diplomatic missions.
According to AFP news report, Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, confirmed the media reports that brick was thrown at its mission and echoed calls from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for China to calm the situation.
“We would like to urge the Chinese government again to take appropriate measures immediately, such as calling on its citizens to act calmly to prevent the situation from escalating, and to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Japanese residents and our diplomatic missions in China.”
He added that China should “provide accurate information”about the Fukushima water release “rather than unnecessarily raising people’s concerns by providing information without any scientific basis”.
In Beijing, a spokesperson at the Japanese embassy told AFP that staff were “extremely worried”.
“Some individuals have come to our (embassy) entrance. They took these kinds of actions, then were led away by armed police.”