Photo/Illutration Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno speaks at a news conference on Aug. 28. (Koichi Ueda)

The Foreign Ministry warned Japanese of being targeted for harassing behavior if staying in or traveling to China amid the backlash surrounding the discharge of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant. 

Japanese were instructed on Aug. 27 to be careful about their language and behavior when outdoors, such as not speaking Japanese unnecessarily loudly, after rocks and eggs were tossed at Japanese schools and crank and protest calls were made to Japanese organizations and restaurants in China.

The three-point advisory also said they should carefully look around when visiting the Japanese Embassy, consulate generals and Japanese schools and should not approach or take photos of Chinese protests with smartphones.

Travelers were also advised to inform their families and workplaces of their itineraries and points of contacts in China.

Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano summoned Wu Jianghao, China’s ambassador to Japan, to the Foreign Ministry on Aug. 28 and urged the Chinese government to call on its nationals to remain calm and practice restraint.

In Japan, restaurants and other organizations have received a flood of harassing calls from telephone numbers starting with 86, China’s country code, after Japan began releasing filtered and diluted wastewater into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24.

“It is extremely regrettable, and we are concerned,” Okano said about incidents in Japan and China.

Okano told Wu that the Chinese government should promptly take appropriate action to prevent the situation from escalating, take every possible precaution to secure the safety of Japanese nationals in China and transmit accurate information without unnecessarily heightening public fears with information not based on scientific grounds.

China has criticized the discharge of what it calls “the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water" and immediately banned imports of Japanese seafood altogether on Aug. 24.

“Japan has released treated water based on international standards and international practices and by adopting all possible measures to ensure safety,” Okano said.

He said it is completely impossible to say China’s import ban is based on scientific grounds and called on China to immediately remove import restrictions.

The ruling Liberal Democrat Party's junior coalition partner, Komeito, said on Aug. 26 that party chief Natsuo Yamaguchi postponed his visit to China, which was scheduled Aug. 28-30, after the party was told by the Chinese side that it was not an appropriate time.

At a news conference on Aug. 28, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government will help Yamaguchi in rescheduling his visit to China.

He said the government had strong expectations for Yamaguchi’s visit because it was in line with the efforts to reactivate broad bilateral exchanges that Japanese and Chinese leaders agreed on during a meeting in November.

Japan and China have been coordinating a meeting between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of ASEAN-related summits scheduled in Indonesia in early September.

Matsuno said nothing has been decided about the meeting and that the government will continue to closely communicate with the Chinese side at all levels.

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