Furor in ROK, Philippines and Pacific Islands; Indonesian government urged to act
Thousands chant slogans against Japan’s discharge of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, during a protest on Aug 26 in Seoul, South Korea. (PHOTO / REUTERS)
Editor’s note: The release of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean began last week despite strong international opposition. China Daily looks at the reactions from the local community, Japan’s neighbors and the Pacific Island countries, and examines the far-reaching impact of the discharge.
Protesters in the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands voiced their opposition to Japan’s release of nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean as concerns about its environmental impact are mounting across the region.
Tens of thousands of ROK citizens gathered on Aug 26 and called on the government to take retaliatory action, and in Manila, fishery groups expressed solidarity with Japanese fisherfolk in protest against the Japanese government’s “ill-conceived action”, while hundreds protested in Fiji’s capital, Suva.
The massive rally in Seoul was held near City Hall, with the participation of some 90 civic groups and members of four opposition parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, or DP, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Addressing the protesters, DP leader Lee Jae-myung said Japan should immediately stop releasing nuclear water that threatens the health of people all over the world.
Lee said Japan is starting another Pacific war by conducting environmental crimes and it should apologize to the ROK, the nearest country suffering the most damage.
About 50,000 people participated in the rally, the organizers said. Police put the number at around 7,000.
Kim Young-bok, vice-chairman of the National Fisheries Federation, urged the government to ban the import of Japanese marine products and protect the lives of people by filing a complaint with the international maritime court.
A university student is held back by the police on Aug 24 while attempting to break into the Japanese embassy in Seoul, after Japan released nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima power plant into the Pacific Ocean. (PHOTO / REUTERS)
The ROK has banned seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima since 2013.
The DP has launched a petition to call for an end to the toxic water release.
More than 660,000 people had signed the online petition by noon on Aug 27, leaving comments like “Let us protect our children together”, “I oppose the release of nuclear-contaminated water”, and “Please stop the release of the nuclear water”.
In a briefing on Aug 27, Kwon Chil-seung, DP chief spokesperson, said ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol should respond to the people’s request to ask Japan to stop its toxic water release.
The ROK sent a team of three experts from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety on Aug 27 to the Fukushima office of the International Atomic Energy Agency. On the same day, four ROK lawmakers attended a protest in Fukushima organized by the Social Democratic Party of Japan.
A statement by people working in the fisheries industry in the ROK, which was published on the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives’ website on Aug 25, said seafood consumption had fallen rapidly even before the discharge.
In Manila on Aug 26, Philippine fisherfolk, youth, and environmental groups protested in front of the Japanese embassy to oppose the discharge.
In a joint statement, the National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines, the Earth Island Institute, and the Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines said the Japanese move is “simply unacceptable”.
Ronnel Arambulo, a national spokesperson of the fisherfolk organization, said it will continue to reach out to the international community to pressure Japan to suspend its water discharge and seek alternative ways to dispose of its nuclear waste.
Protesters hold signs on Aug 25 during a rally in Suva, Fiji, against Japan’s discharge of radioactive water from the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Experts also called on the Pacific Islands and South Asia to unite in vigilance, while advocating transparent information-sharing, rigorous monitoring, and coordinated action.
“The international community, in solidarity, must hold nations accountable for responsible environmental stewardship,” said Anjal Prakash, associate professor and research director at the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, in the South Indian city of Hyderabad.
“As custodians of our shared planet, we must ensure that decisions today do not imperil the sustenance and well-being of future generations.”
The move raises questions about the consequences for South Asia and the Pacific Islands, Prakash said. “The delicate balance of marine ecosystems, already under stress from climate change and pollution, faces a new challenge that demands global attention.”
The release of nuclear-contaminated water could have far-reaching ecological ramifications as the currents of the Pacific Ocean could carry pollutants across vast distances, affecting marine biodiversity, fisheries, and even human health, he said.
Kalinga Seneviratne, a media analyst at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, said dumping radioactive water into the ocean is not about science but respect. Across the Pacific there are fears that the ocean will be polluted and that fish could become too toxic to consume, he said.
“Japan has shown an arrogance that does not respect regional concerns. Japan and its allies have said the waters will be scientifically monitored. What if they find it contaminated at some stage? Has science got an answer? The International Atomic Energy Agency and Japan have no scientific answer to it sadly.”
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Fiji’s capital, Suva, on Aug 25 to vent their anger over Japan’s dumping of nuclear waste.
“This is a horrendous and horrible move by Japan,” said one protester, Lusia Lagilevo. “It’s a disrespect to our rights as human beings. Although we are from small island countries, we still deserve to have our rights, our dignity, and our freedoms respected.”
Children attend a rally on Aug 27 in Selangor state, Malaysia, against Japan’s dumping of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
The Chinese embassy in Suva said the discharge will spread the risks of nuclear contamination to Pacific Rim countries including China and the rest of the world.
“The ocean sustains humanity. The blue Pacific is home to all human beings including Chinese and Fijian people.”
The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare condemned the release of the toxic water into the Pacific Ocean.
It “has an impact on our people, ocean, economy, and livelihood”, he said.
Lavetanalagi Seru, co-founder of the Fijian group Alliance for Future Generations, said the Pacific has had a history of nuclear testing, and Marshall Islanders are still grappling with the enduring aftermath of nuclear contamination.
“We can’t allow history to repeat itself, as we depend on the ocean for our livelihood. It’s a source of economic opportunities for many of us,” Xinhua quoted Seru as saying.
Japan’s actions were discussed at the 22nd Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders Summit, held in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila from Aug 23-24.
Speaking to delegates on Aug 24, Vanuatu Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau said he was not happy with Japan’s discharge decision
“Unless the water treated is incontrovertibly proven, by independent scientists, to be safe, then Japan should seriously consider other options,” he said.
The Melanesian leaders meeting endorsed an agreement on climate change and, in a pointed reference to Japan, called upon countries not to discharge nuclear water into the Pacific Ocean.
The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission in Fiji condemned Japan’s move, urging Pacific Island leaders to stand in solidarity to oppose it, Xinhua News Agency reported on Aug 27.
An aerial view shows the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Japan, on Aug 24. (PHOTO / AP)
In Indonesia, House member Luluk Nur Hamidah, with the House commission in charge of industry, investment, and business competition affairs, called on the Indonesian government to seriously respond to the Fukushima issue and reject the dumping of radioactive water into the sea.
The Japanese action will pose a risk and cause ecological disaster for the world. “Surely, it will endanger Indonesia’s seawaters and other parts of the Pacific Ocean,” she wrote on the House website.
Fanny Tri Jambore, campaign manager on mining and energy at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, said releasing the so-called treated nuclear water should not have been Japan’s first option.
“Japan should have seriously thought about options from the beginning. Why has it no other options?” Jambore told China Daily.
Jambore said the forum and its network partner Friends of the Earth Japan had been exchanging information from the time when Japan made public its plan to dump Fukushima’s radioactive water into the Pacific. “Once it is released (to sea), the condition will never be able to be restored,” he said.
However, many people in the country’s northern regions like the Natuna islands, which are being developed into an industrial fishery zone, remain unaware of the Fukushima issue.
Catholic pastor Agus Tarnanu, who has worked for years in Natuna’s tiny inhabited islands, said he learned of the issue only after China Daily contacted him. “We live in a remote area and are very far left behind on international issues,” he said.
Erwin Johanes Simanungkalit, chief editor of the Natuna Today website, agreed, saying that even he was quite ill-informed about the nuclear-contaminated water.
“We now have to give serious attention to this issue,” he said. “I am worried about the Fukushima water causing damage to our marine habitat.”
Karl Wilson in Sydney and Leonardus Jegho in Jakarta contributed to this report.
Contact the writers at kelly@chinadailyapac.com
