Citing Japanese government sources, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported Wednesday that Beijing conveyed to Tokyo that it will suspend imports of Japanese seafood.
Japan had previously promised to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities to ensure product quality and safety for aquatic products, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a news conference in Beijing.
“This is the precondition for the export of Japanese aquatic products to China, but Japan currently does not fulfill its obligation of supervision and does not provide the basic materials,” Mao said.
The suspension comes amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7 that any Chinese military action against Taiwan could qualify as a "survival-threatening situation," enabling Japan to "exercise its right to collective self-defense."
Beijing slammed the statement, urging Tokyo to retract the remarks.
“I would like to stress that recently, the remarks made by the Japanese prime minister have triggered the outrage of the Chinese people," said Mao.
"Under the current circumstances, even if Japanese seafood were exported to China, there would be no market for it," Mao said, according to Beijing-based daily Global Times.
Mao urged Tokyo to retract the “wrongful remarks” of Takaichi, and take “concrete actions to safeguard the political foundation of the bilateral relations.”
“If Japan refuses to retract those remarks, China will take serious countermeasures and all the consequences will be borne by the Japanese side,” she warned.
Beijing's decision comes just days after Japanese Farm Minister Norikazu Suzuki said that Japan had resumed seafood exports to China for the first time since Beijing imposed a blanket ban in 2023 over the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
AzVision.az
