BEIJING • China is ratcheting up pressure over Japan's plan to release treated water from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, calling on government officials to drink the liquid to prove its safety.
"Japanese politicians said treated wastewater is 'innocent', why don't they drink, cook & wash clothes with the water first?" Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian tweeted on Thursday.
Around 1.25 million tonnes of water had accumulated in tanks at the nuclear plant, which was crippled after going into meltdown following a tsunami in 2011.
The Japanese government insists the release from the stricken plant which has stored the large volume of water for years is safe because it has been processed to remove almost all radioactive elements and will be diluted.
When asked yesterday about Mr Zhao's comments, Japan Finance Minister Taro Aso sidestepped the queries and said Fukushima water contamination levels are below international guideline limits.
Tokyo's announcement on Tuesday of its plan to release the treated water into the Pacific Ocean has been harshly criticised by China, Taiwan, South Korea and North Korea.
Mr Aso has said the water seemed safe enough to drink.
China on Thursday summoned Japan's ambassador over Tokyo's "wrong decision" to release the more than one million tonnes of treated water into the ocean.
Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao "lodged solemn representations" with Ambassador Hideo Tarumi and accused Japan of "suspected violation of international law", the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Mr Wu urged Japan to hold off from disposing of the water "before reaching a consensus with stakeholders and international organisations", calling the decision "not what a modern civilised country should do".
The US State Department has indicated that the plan appears to be in line with global discharge standards. The International Atomic Energy Agency supported the planned releases, which would not start for another two years and are expected to take decades.
The US Food and Drug Administration maintains import restrictions on some food products from Fukushima due to potential radioactive contamination, according to the prefecture's website.
There have long been calls to prove the safety of the treated groundwater that has flowed through the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
In 2011, a ruling party official drank a glass of water collected from inside the reactor building at the facility in a bid to back government claims that decontamination efforts were progressing.
BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
