US imports seafood from Japan in response to China's embargo on Fukushima

 US imports seafood from Japan in response to China's embargo on Fukushima

Following the leak of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant, China banned imports, therefore the US military stationed in Japan began purchasing fish in quantity.

Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, said Washington may potentially look into other options to support the opposition to China's prohibition.

He called it one of the "economic wars" waged by Beijing.

China, the largest importer of Japanese seafood, said that safety concerns prevented importation.

China received more than 100,000 tons of scallop exports from Japan last year. Less than a metric ton of the shellfish will be purchased in the first instance under the US plan.

According to Mr. Emanuel, the Reuters news agency, this marks the beginning of a long-term agreement that will eventually include all seafood varieties.

The purchases will be sold at stores and eateries on Japanese military posts, and they will be used to feed the troops.

"It's going to be an ongoing agreement between the US armed forces community the fisheries and co-ops here," stated Mayor Emanuel.

"The best way we have demonstrated in all the instances to kind of wearing out China's economic coercion is come to provide the support and assistance of the nation in question or industry," he said.

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According to Mr. Emanuel, the US military has never purchased Japanese seafood from Japan before, and Washington may take a closer look at its fish imports from China and Japan.

China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing on Monday in reaction to Mr. Emanuel's remarks: "The responsibility of officials is to promote friendship between governments rather than smearing another nation and stirring up trouble."

Mr. Emanuel has been vocal in recent months about a number of topics pertaining to China, such as its economic policies and how it treats foreign companies.

His remarks coincide with a visit to Beijing by a number of senior US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is trying to defuse tensions between the two largest economies in the world.

Following significant damage from a 2011 tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear facility amassed more than a million tons of treated waste water.

Despite the fact that many experts agreed with Japan that the water was safe, China banned imports. The scheme was also authorized by the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations.

Tokyo has also emphasized that other nuclear power stations in China and France often dump waste water in a similar manner.

Japan consistently asserts that there are no discernible radioactive levels in the ocean around Fukushima.

Trade ministers from the Group of Seven (G7), an alliance of the most supposedly "advanced" nations in the world, demanded on Sunday that restrictions on Japanese cuisine be immediately lifted.