Authorities in the east Chinese province of Zhejiang seized food items from Japan that were being sold by a local company, Chinese media reported, after Beijing tightened controls on Japanese food imports in response to Tokyo's plan to begin releasing treated radioactive water into the ocean.
The authorities in Jiashan County, located in the province, took away candy and chocolate, as well as beverages produced in Fukushima and two other prefectures on July 7. They also ordered the company to improve its business practices, the report said.
The confiscated food and beverages were produced in Fukushima, Saitama and Nagano.
China has prohibited food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures, including those three, since an earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011 created a major accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The crackdown by local authorities came after Beijing began blanket radiation testing on seafood imports from Japan last month.
Rice imports from Japan, as well as other food and beverages, have faced delays at Chinese customs, sources familiar with the bilateral relationship said late last month, following the introduction of the testing.
Japan is considering beginning the release of the treated water from the plant into the sea sometime between late August and early September. China has voiced its strong opposition to the planned discharge.
© KYODO
17 Comments
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sakurasuki
Fukushima tainted product slipped overseas, thanks for this local authority react quickly.
divinda
Chinese gov't: "Don't buy that well inspected Japanese confectionary, and instead buy our unregulated domestic stuff make with cooking oil sourced from street sewers."
buua
What has Nagano got to do with this?
Peter Neil
You can't negotiate or use reason with irrational people.
Select imported Chinese products that compete against Japanese companies and seize them for safety reasons.
kibousha
Chinese style protectionism, let private sector import the food, government employees seize them and enjoy free high-quality stuffs!
Rodney
Why is China the smartest country in the world? Maybe 5000 years of existence?
Speed
Best for themselves to not to buy anything from the provinces where those nuclear plants release water at higher levels of contamination than Fukushima Daichi.
Hypocrite much?
Sultan of Words
And they are going to sell them and make a ton of money.
isabelle
Purely political, as everything is with China.
In this particular case, it looks like these local officials want to show the Emperor how obedient they are, so they can get a leg up on the totalitarian career ladder. This kind of thing happens a lot in China: the Emperor decrees a COVID lockdown, and local officials then do things like weld people into burning buildings, and beat dogs to death to show their loyalty.
Where is this official "smartest country in the world" ranking? I'd be interested to read it.
stormcrow
China . . . What a joke!
Mat
So, they seized the shipment but did they actually find anything wrong with the product?
Was any testing done? None is reported in this article.
Radiation testing of fish since last month, found any problems yet?
They're looking for something they won't find, or will 'invent' and there is no real intent of 'public safety' here.
TokyoLiving
Dear Japan, stop doing stupid things..
NotThe One
There is one thing that no one here has discussed. It may be it is too expensive for Chinese consumers. China is currently dealing with 'Deflation.' The rate of growth this year is exactly the same as during the pandemic. It does not look good.
Economists have also tracked a huge decrease in foreign direct investment in China, likely both a result of covid-19 restrictions and economic gloom in the country but also the trade war initiated by the Trump administration against Beijing and continued with Biden.
They're siding with Russia and threatening Taiwan also has not helped.
China is facing enormous unemployment problems. The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds hit a record 21 percent in June - though some experts believe it is actually even higher. China likes to lie a lot!
They may want people to purchase more local products to keep the economy afloat, but they also want workers to go abroad to repatriate income either legal or illegal! The upper CCP will enjoy those spoils at their homes, by selling the rest on the black market, or by imposing some extra taxes that magically disappear on the importing companies.
kurisupisu
And the Japanese consumer will.valiantly boycott all the 100 yen cheap items that are the mainstay of the average Japanese?
Ganbare Nihon!
SaikoPhysco
China lifts the ban of travel... so their citizens can go anywhere in Japan to eat said food, but it won't allow the import of Japanese food. Do you think maybe this is an excuse to protect the Chinese domestic crap food industry?