China says Fukushima wastewater release 'extremely selfish and irresponsible'
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Transcript
00:00 extremely selfish and irresponsible. That's how the Chinese foreign ministry is describing
00:04 Japan's decision. On Tuesday, Chinese authorities summoned the Japanese ambassador in protest.
00:10 In July, they announced stricter restrictions on food imports. And Hong Kong officials have
00:15 just confirmed an indefinite ban on seafood hailing from 10 Japanese prefectures. Online,
00:21 Chinese netizens have been expressing their concern, as are some of the people that we've
00:25 been meeting here on the streets this morning.
00:28 It's not just about humans, but also wildlife.
00:33 I'm not reassured, even though international organizations say we shouldn't worry.
00:38 Because of Japan, we'll have to change jobs. Nobody's buying.
00:43 Customers are afraid they'll get sick if they eat polluted fish.
00:46 Here there is historic distrust towards Tokyo, as well as a dose of state propaganda. Chinese
00:52 tabloid Global Times' English language edition said there were fears of a real-life Godzilla
00:57 situation. But for the IAEA, the impact of the Fukushima wastewater on people and on
01:03 the environment is negligible, as echoed by the vast majority of the international scientific
01:08 community. In the end, though, it's the fishermen, the import businesses and consumers who stand
01:14 to lose the most. In July, Chinese authorities already reported a 30% drop of Japanese seafood
01:21 and fish imports compared to last year.