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US military starts bulk buying Japanese seafood to counter China’s ban following Fukushima waste water release
- The first purchase of seafood under the scheme involves just shy of a tonne of scallops – a tiny fraction of what Japan exported to China last year
- Washington plans to use the seafood to feed soldiers in messes and aboard vessels. It will also be sold in shops and restaurants on military bases
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The United States has started bulk buying Japanese seafood to supply its military there in response to China’s ban on such products imposed after Tokyo released treated water from its destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Unveiling the initiative in an interview on Monday, US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said Washington should also look more broadly into how it could help offset China’s ban that he said was part of its “economic wars”.
China, which had been the biggest buyer of Japanese seafood, says its ban is due to food safety fears.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog vouched for the safety of the water release that began in August from the plant wrecked by a 2011 tsunami. G7 trade ministers on Sunday called for the immediate repeal of bans on Japanese food.
“It’s going to be a long-term contract between the US armed forces and the fisheries and co-ops here in Japan,” Emanuel said.
“The best way we have proven in all the instances to kind of wear out China’s economic coercion is come to the aid and assistance of the targeted country or industry.”
Asked about Emanuel’s comments at a press conference on Monday, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said: “the responsibility of diplomats is to promote friendship between countries rather than smearing other countries and stirring up trouble”.
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