Hong Kong politicians condemn Tokyo’s decision to dump radioactive Fukushima water into the sea, but are split on banning food imports from Japan
- Lawmakers urge the Hong Kong government to be proactive in preventing a possible environmental and food crisis from spilling over to the city
- Japan’s plan to release 1 million tonnes of waste water into the Pacific Ocean is set to begin in two years
Hong Kong’s politicians have joined international condemnation of Tokyo’s decision to dump waste water from a nuclear plant into the sea, but they remain divided on whether the city should ban food imports from Japan.
They raised concerns on Thursday about food contamination from spillover effects from the wrecked Fukushima facility, after China accused the Japanese government of being “extremely irresponsible” over its plan to release 1 million tonnes of waste water into the Pacific Ocean in two years.
Japanese food – from strawberries to apples and sashimi – is popular among Hongkongers, with the city boasting one of the largest foreign concentrations of Japanese restaurants.
The decision to release waste water comes a decade after a massive earthquake and the resulting tsunami ripped through northeastern Japan in 2011, crippling the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
02:47
South Korea aims to fight Japan’s Fukushima decision in world tribunal
The waste water, which leaked into the reactors after core meltdowns, was enough to fill more than 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
