Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signed a pledge at the G20 summit to responsibly manage radioactive waste, but soon after returning home, began the first round of discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, triggering global backlash and condemnation. Just as the Japanese side was preparing for the second round of sea discharge, the UN Human Rights Council finally stood up and announced that it would make Japan's sea discharge a key topic of the 54th session of the Human Rights Conference and exert pressure on Japan.
Japan's nuclear-contaminated water problem originated from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011 and has not yet been properly resolved. Japan** and TEPCO have been looking for ways to dispose of nuclear-contaminated water, but neither has found a safe and reliable solution. In April, Japan** announced a shocking decision to release about 1.2 million tons of nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean over the next few years.
This decision was immediately strongly opposed by many countries and regions, including China, South Korea, and Russia, as a serious threat to marine ecology and human health, as well as a flagrant violation of international law and conventions. China also announced countermeasures to suspend the import of Japanese aquatic products to protect the interests and safety of domestic consumers.
However, the Japanese side turned a deaf ear to this, and not only did not revoke the decision to discharge the sea, but instead accelerated the process of discharging the sea. On August 24, Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company officially began the first round of sea discharge, discharging about 7,800 tons of nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean. It is reported that the second round of sea discharge operations will begin as early as the second half of this month.
Such an act is undoubtedly a global provocation and challenge, and a blatant renegment on the commitments made by Japan itself at the G20 summit. Not long ago, the G20 summit was held in New Delhi, the capital of India, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also participated. In the G20 declaration issued after the meeting, there was a sentence that specifically addressed Japan's issue of discharging into the sea, that is, "countries that choose to use civilian nuclear energy will responsibly manage radioactive waste to promote global nuclear safety." Although this sentence does not explicitly point out Japan, everyone knows that it is a warning and urging Japan.
The G20 Declaration requires the unanimous consent and signature of all participants, and Japan is one of them. This means that Japan has made a public commitment to the world to dispose of nuclear-contaminated water responsibly and without causing harm to the ocean or people. However, soon after the signing of the agreement, the Japanese side began the operation of discharging the sea, which is a blatant tearing up of the G20 declaration, irresponsible to the whole world, and even more disrespectful to Japan itself.
Fumio Kishida not only did not feel ashamed of his actions, but also said in public that he would use various frameworks such as the WTO and RCEP to put pressure on China to revoke its decision to suspend the import of Japanese aquatic products, calling it an "unscientific" and "inappropriate" approach. Such remarks are undoubtedly provoking China and challenging the justice and conscience of the international community. Some experts believe that Fumio Kishida wants to "fight to the end" with China and is desperate to implement the sea discharge plan.
However, his approach will only plunge Japan into greater isolation and predicament. More than half a month has passed since the Japanese side began to drain the sea, and the world's ** and public opinion are constantly fermenting, and the ** and condemnation of the Japanese side are also escalating. And the United Nations, as the world's largest international organization, has finally broken its silence and stood up. Recently, the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Palek, revealed that since Japan's discharge into the sea has attracted great attention from the United Nations Human Rights Council, they will make this issue a key topic of the 54th session of the Human Rights Conference and review and supervise the Japanese side.
This is the first time that the UN Human Rights Council has raised its voice against Japan's discharge into the sea, and it is also a stern warning to Japan. Earlier, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, had publicly appealed, hoping that the international community could jointly urge Japan to correct its wrong decision and immediately stop the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea. Now, the United Nations Human Rights Council has joined the ranks and put more pressure on the Japanese side. It remains to be seen whether the Japanese side will be able to heed the call of the international community and retreat in the face of difficulties, or whether it will continue to be obsessed.