[Be alert! Under the widespread opposition of the international community, Japan began to lead the foreign talk to say that the contaminated water was "safe".
According to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun on March 12, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi plans to visit the three Pacific island countries of Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands and Kiribati later this month. It is no coincidence that the Japanese government will officially discharge nuclear-contaminated water containing the radioactive substance tritium into the Pacific Ocean this spring and summer, and the timing of Hayashi's "first" visit to the three Pacific island countries is clearly not a coincidence. Although the purpose is to promote a "free and open Indo-Pacific", the more essential purpose is to win international public support for the nuclear contaminated water issue and win over Pacific island countries to achieve foreign talk.
On the issue of discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, the Japanese Government's approach has long attracted strong opposition and resistance from domestic public opinion and the international community. Although the Japanese government has been pretending to ignore and constantly promote the process of discharging nuclear contaminated water into the sea, in the face of increasingly strong opposition and criticism, presumably the Japanese government has begun to lose some face, so since this year, the Japanese government has actively used some bilateral occasions to publicize the "safety" of nuclear-contaminated water, and to use external mouths to prove that the nuclear-contaminated water discharged into the sea is safe.
In February this year, for example, the President of Micronesia visited Japan and held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. During the talks, the President of Micronesia expressed support for the Japanese government to discharge nuclear-contaminated water. At that time, the Japanese government made a lot of publicity about it, and the mainstream Japanese media also reported it for the first time.
In addition to Micronesia, another person who has explicitly expressed support for Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is the United States. On February 15 this year, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said that the Japanese government's approach to the treatment of contaminated water is transparent and in line with international standards.
Micronesia and the United States may be the only countries in the world that explicitly support the Japanese government's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water, but it should be noted that Micronesia strongly criticized the Japanese government's approach in 2022. This time, Lin Fang is planning to visit Pacific island countries in order to lobby over the issue of nuclear-contaminated water and "force" the three Pacific island countries to "recognize" that Japan's nuclear-contaminated water is "safe."
The idea of Japan may be beautiful, but the reality is certainly a slap in the face. On 24 February this year, the Pacific Islands Forum Special Leaders' Informal Meeting concluded in the Fijian city of Nadi. The outgoing rotating chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum and Fijian Prime Minister Lambuka issued a statement after the meeting on the 24th, saying that the leaders of the forum reiterated that Japan should use science and data to guide its political decision to discharge nuclear contaminated water into the sea. In fact, this has clearly stated the position of the Pacific island countries, so no matter how much Japan coerces or channels benefits, it is difficult to shake the position of the Pacific island countries on the issue of nuclear contaminated water.
The Pacific Ocean is not Japan's sewers, and it is undoubtedly a fantasy to advise Japan not to engage in these small moves now, and against the background of opposition and criticism from the international community, it is undoubtedly a fantasy to try to win over Pacific island countries to speak for themselves. Instead of spending time building relations, Japan should face up to the legitimate concerns of all parties, dispose of nuclear-contaminated water in a scientific, open, transparent and safe manner, and accept strict supervision, so as to effectively protect the marine environment and the health rights and interests of the people of all countries. #Headline Hot List##Japan Nuclear Contaminated Water##太平洋岛国 #
