Hongkongers Line up for Sushi Ignoring CCP’s Anti-Japan Propaganda

The storage tanks for treated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on Aug. 22, 2023. Kyodo via Reuters

Starting Aug. 24, Japan began releasing nuclear wastewater into the ocean from Fukushima. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been vigorously promoting the idea that this poses a danger, causing panic and distress in the Chinese seafood industry. However, some Japanese sushi restaurants in Hong Kong continue to see long queues, leading to praise from the Japanese embassy for “rational Hong Kong consumers.”

In a historic summit, the United States, Japan, and South Korea recently constructed a “Mini-NATO” framework. Some analysts suggest that the CCP’s promotion of the nuclear wastewater issue is a countermeasure against Japan. Furthermore, the CCP faces domestic and international challenges and may attempt to divert public attention.

Japan’s Environmental Ministry Announces No Tritium in 11 Seawater Sampling Locations

The safety of Japan’s plan to release nuclear wastewater from Fukushima has been approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Moreover, many Chinese nuclear power plants along the coast release nuclear wastewater into the ocean. According to official Chinese data, the annual tritium emissions from several Chinese nuclear power plants are several times higher than those from Fukushima.

On Aug. 27, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment announced the results of seawater sampling for tritium in 11 locations offshore Fukushima Prefecture. The results showed that the tritium concentrations at all locations were below detectable limits, and there were no abnormalities in water quality. Minister of the Environment Akihiro Nishimura stated that there was no impact on human health or the environment.

The CCP’s promotion of the “threat of Japanese nuclear wastewater” has elicited varying responses from the mainland Chinese. While the Hong Kong government has followed the mainland’s policy by temporarily suspending the import of seafood products from ten Japanese prefectures, most Hong Kong citizens seem not to worry about it.

Hong Kong Sushi Restaurants Continue to Attract Long Queues

According to a Reuters report on Aug. 25, some sushi restaurants in Hong Kong had long queues, with waiting times of up to an hour at certain Sushiro branches. This confirms what many Hong Kong residents have been saying: they are not worried about the nuclear wastewater being discharged into the sea by Japan and will continue to patronize Japanese restaurants.

On Aug. 26, the Japanese Embassy in China posted a Weibo message featuring a screenshot of a Reuters news report, praising “rational Hong Kong consumers!” The post stated that banning seafood imports had no scientific basis, which Japan could not accept, and hoped that Chinese consumers would respond calmly based on scientific data.

Chinese Seafood Industry in Turmoil

Following the CCP’s ban, many areas in China began to inspect and remove Japanese food products from restaurants and supermarkets, and a movement to “boycott Japanese seafood products” was launched, involving the restaurant industry. As a result, numerous Japanese restaurants have suffered, and the impact has also extended to various related industries, including China’s fishing industry.

According to reports from Chinese media, on the night of Aug. 24, the first night of Japan’s nuclear wastewater discharge, many Chinese fishermen’s live streams were inundated with hateful comments. One anchor lamented, “I feel worse than anyone else. Fifteen years of hard work all disappeared today in just one hour.”

On the morning of Aug. 26, in a fisherman’s live stream in Xiangshan County, Zhejiang province, several netizens continuously made hateful comments. The anchor repeatedly explained, “There is no pollution now. We are in the nearshore area, and everything will be fine within three months. Ningbo is still shipping.” During the livestream, the anchor couldn’t help but fight back, saying, “How am I harming anyone right now?” In an interview with Chinese media, the anchor’s wife said that her husband had been fishing since he was 17 and had never experienced this.

Another anchor, during a live stream with over 20,000 viewers, was on the verge of tears while trying to introduce her seafood products. However, comments kept flooding in, saying, “Can’t eat it, can’t eat it,” “Mutated fish,” and “Eating it will cause cancer.”

One Fujian resident begged online for everyone not to boycott Japanese eel rice because “over 90 percent of eels in Japan are raised by Fujian people, and they are raised in freshwater.”

Furthermore, a netizen from Shandong revealed that due to the authorities’ promotion of “seawater being contaminated by Japanese nuclear pollution,” all seafood products have been boycotted. As a result, some coastal fishermen in Shandong Province have already sold their ships and changed careers.

The netizen lamented, “The greater harm is yet to come. The seaside is no longer the romantic tourist destination it used to be, and seafood will disappear from our tables. Life in the future will undergo a tremendous change.”

Some Chinese netizens posted that many Douyin (TikTok) anchors have already removed all seafood products from their stores, not just Japanese seafood. One anchor selling Norwegian salmon a few days ago declared, “Supporting the country’s policy, not deceiving or harming people.”

The post estimated that public opinion would continue to ferment, leading to the decline of China’s fishing industry, a significant sector in the country. “Japan’s seafood exports to China, worth about 4.3 billion RMB annually, have been completely cut off, and China’s seafood industry, with an industry value of about 3 trillion RMB, is also suffering. This is another classic case of ‘Chinese people only deceive Chinese people.’”

Online program “Startling News” (新聞拍案驚奇) anchor Dayu posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), stating: “Banning the import of Japanese seafood for the entire population, who is being harmed? Comparing Japan’s government, which fully subsidizes and protects its seafood industry, to the CCP, which offers no subsidies for China’s seafood imports and restaurants. Sushi restaurants in mainland China may once again face closure. Is this move an attempt to aggravate economic wounds or do they think China’s economy is going too well domestically?”

Some Chinese netizens’ posts imply the underlying reasons for the CCP’s incitement of anti-Japanese sentiments: as China’s economy faces a downturn, the CCP needs to launch political movements to maintain its rule continually.

Scientific and Rational Discourse Censored

Regarding the allegations against the CCP, the Japanese Embassy in China posted on its official X account that just one Chinese nuclear power plant emits tritium annually at levels several times higher than the Fukushima plan’s annual emissions, even close to ten times higher.

The tweet included a chart citing data from the “China Nuclear Energy Yearbook” and numerous official documents. It showed that in 2021, the liquid tritium emissions from the Tai Shan Nuclear Power Plant in China were 218 terabecquerels, the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant emitted 112 terabecquerels annually, the Ningde Nuclear Power Plant emitted 102 terabecquerels. The Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant emitted 90 terabecquerels.

Many Chinese citizens are not buying into the CCP’s recent propaganda efforts. Numerous internet users have scrutinized the annual “China Nuclear Energy Yearbooks” published by the China Nuclear Energy Association and various official documents. They’ve uncovered more data on the annual tritium emissions from Chinese nuclear power plants, many exceeding the annual emissions planned for Fukushima, Japan.

Despite this, most official documents that netizens uncovered were quickly deleted. Meanwhile, screenshots of documents and posts explaining that the “threat from Japanese nuclear wastewater is not significant” also disappeared rapidly.

Chinese Nationalists Bombard Japanese Public Phone Lines

In response to the CCP’s propaganda, Chinese nationalists and “Little Pink” supporters, believed to be influenced by the CCP, have taken various extreme actions. Recently, many “patriotic netizens” have been making harassing phone calls to public phone numbers in Japan, causing some numbers to be overwhelmed.

On Aug. 25, the official Weibo account of the Japanese Embassy in China posted a message stating that individuals and groups unrelated to Japan in Japan have received harassment calls from China, accusing this criminal behavior.

The Japanese Embassy stated that if the targets are businesses, it could potentially result in economic losses. If it’s emergency medical institutions, it could involve matters of life and death. The Japanese Embassy has requested that the Chinese authorities deal with this matter seriously according to the law.

According to local media in Fukushima, Japan, on the 25th, a man who operates four ramen restaurants in Fukushima Prefecture said he started receiving harassing phone calls in Chinese one after another from 10 a.m. that day. He couldn’t understand the content of the calls but heard aggressive tones, shouting, and words related to “treated water” and “nuclear.”

He said that after the other party unilaterally hung up, the same number called the restaurant every minute. The four restaurants received about 1,000 similar calls in one day.

Apart from these new methods of harassment, traditional “anti-Japan” methods are also suspected of being orchestrated and continue to be used, such as vandalizing Japanese cars.

As tensions between China and Japan intensified, on Aug. 25, the Japanese Embassy in China issued a statement on its website reminding Japanese residents in China to avoid speaking Japanese loudly and to be cautious in their actions.