Propaganda Game: China’s Boycott of Japanese Seafood Hits Domestic Fishing Industry

A vendor waits for customers at a wholesale fish market in Beijing on Aug. 24, 2023. China on Aug. 24 banned all Japanese seafood imports over what it said was the "selfish" release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

Japan began to release treated nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24. In response, the Chinese regime stated that it would stop importing Japanese seafood products, fueling a new wave of anti-Japan ultranationalism. The incident has triggered a panic in China’s seafood market, leading to a sharp decline in sales.

Seafood imports from Japan in 2022 only amounted to a few hundred million dollars out of a total market value of over $400 billion. Many have viewed the Chinese regime’s action as damaging the country’s fishing industry.

In the past, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) frequently used Japan as a target of its ultranationalist propaganda. In 2012, the CCP endorsed anti-Japan protests across the country over territorial disputes with Japan, and many of those protests evolved into riots.

Such protests are extremely rare in China since the regime prohibits all forms of protests and peaceful assembly. Nevertheless, the CCP might occasionally fuel such ultranationalist sentiments and organize some pro-China and pro-CCP “protests”.

In recent days, China’s heavily censored social media has been filled with another wave of anti-Japan propaganda over Japan’s release of treated nuclear wastewater.

Many netizens voiced disdain for seafood consumption over the alleged dangers of the wastewater. Such sentiments have significantly damaged China’s domestic fishing industry.

A sign reading "Suspend the sale of all fish products imported from Japan" at an area of Japanese restaurants in Beijing on Aug. 27, 2023. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images

In an interview with The Epoch Times on Aug. 27, Liu Yenping (pseudonym), a fisherman from China’s Yantai City, Shandong Province, said that many fishermen had invested a lot and prepared their boats for the September fishing season. However, Chinese consumers are now afraid to eat all kinds of seafood due to the CCP’s propaganda.

Many working in the fishing industry are concerned about the future of their business and have no idea when this wave of propaganda will stop, he said.

Mr. Ma from Zhoushan, a coastal city in Zhejiang Province, also told The Epoch Times that Japan’s nuclear wastewater release has had a significant psychological impact on the Chinese public, especially the so-called “patriotic sentiment” propagated by the CCP.

“There are definitely fewer people eating seafood, which has greatly impacted the seafood market. Many do not understand the extent of the alleged pollution by the wastewater. However, experts (in China) in the field often fear speaking out due to being branded as pro-Japan,” he said.

Vendors wait for customers at a wholesale fish market in Beijing on Aug. 24, 2023. China on Aug. 24 banned all Japanese seafood imports over what it said was the "selfish" release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

Japanese Imports Halted

On the day Japan began releasing nuclear wastewater, China Customs issued a notice suspending all imports of seafood products from Japan. According to data released by China Customs, China’s imports of fish and other seafood products from Japan amounted to 234.51 million yuan (about $32 million) in July this year, which decreased by 29 percent year-on-year.

Takahide Kuichi, an economist at the Nomura Research Institute in Japan, recently told Reuters that Japan’s seafood exports to China and Hong Kong last year accounted for only 0.17 percent of Japan’s total exports. Even if China suspends imports for a year, the impact on Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) is only 0.03 percent.

However, the total economic output of China’s fishing industry exceeded 3 trillion yuan (about $411 billion) in 2022, and over 16 million workers were employed in this sector. Therefore, the Chinese public’s boycott of seafood will inevitably deal a heavy blow to the entire industry.

U.S.-based China current affairs commentator Zhang Tianliang said on Aug. 27 that the CCP’s propaganda will hit China’s seafood market hard. He pointed out that if the Chinese public rendered all seafood inedible due to Japan’s release of nuclear wastewater, then this would deal a severe blow to China’s fishing industry.

However, he said the CCP’s boycott of Japanese seafood is not even worth mentioning in terms of Japan’s GDP.

“That is why the CCP’s decision is totally irrational,” Mr. Zhang said. “Japan plans to keep releasing nuclear wastewater for 30 years. So do you reckon the Chinese people will stop eating seafood in three decades? I don’t think so.”

Mr. Zhang also said that the Chinese people are now quite dissatisfied with the CCP and have accumulated a lot of grievances against the government. Now, the CCP has successfully shifted the focus of these grievances to Japan. The communist regime knows very well that once people have vented their anger, they will continue to eat seafood as long as the government does not continue to push the issue. In his view, the situation could last a few weeks or months and then simply fade away.

People work in a stall at the Jingshen seafood market in Beijing on Aug. 22, 2023. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images

Diversion Tactic

Li Yuanhua, a former professor at Beijing Normal University, said in an interview with The Epoch Times on Aug. 27 that the CCP’s wave of propaganda is not based on public health and safety considerations but mainly to divert the public’s attention.

Mr. Li said the Chinese people currently have a lot of grievances, with heavy rainfall and serious flooding across the country being one example. He also pointed out that the current economic situation is not positive, with high unemployment, business closures, and a real estate debt crisis amid other challenges.

As a result, he said the ruling regime has used the ultranationalist hatred of Japan as an outlet for the public to vent their frustrations, and the regime has been propagandizing and inciting the public to do so.

China’s fishing industry would be hard hit because people are now too scared to eat seafood. However, Mr. Li pointed out that many so-called Japanese seafood products were actually farmed along the coasts of China. For example, Japanese eels are often farmed by fishermen in China’s Fujian Province. So, in many circumstances, this is not a boycott of Japanese products but a boycott of Chinese products.

“Under this wave of CCP propaganda, the fishermen are in a challenging situation,” Mr Li said.

“The CCP is trying to divert domestic issues and crises through this kind of propaganda, but the fishing industry is not the only one that suffers. The entire society and economy will be affected. The public’s emotions will overlook the CCP’s atrocities, and in the end, the Chinese public becomes the real victim.”

Kane Zhang and Ellen Wang contributed to this report.