China on Wednesday told the ongoing 47th Session of the UN Human Rights Council that it is deeply concerned about the Japanese government's decision to discharge the nuclear wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
Jiang Duan, minister of the Chinese mission to the United Nations in Geneva, said in a statement delivered at the interactive dialogue with UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health that the Fukushima nuclear accident caused a large amount of radioactive material leakage, which had a profound impact on the marine environment, food safety and human health.
Jiang stressed that despite doubts and opposition from at home and abroad, Japan has unilaterally decided to release the Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the sea before exhausting all safe ways of disposal and without fully consulting with neighboring countries and the international community.
This is extremely irresponsible, he noted.
"We notice that a few special procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council have expressed their concern on this issue. We call on Japan to respond to the concerns of the international community, withdraw the wrong decision immediately, shoulder due responsibilities to reach a consensus with all stakeholders and relevant international institutions through full consultation," he said.
On the same occasion on Wednesday, the Republic of Korea (ROK) also expressed concern about the Japanese decision, saying that the Japanese government should disclose information transparently and make decisions on the basis of full consultation with neighboring countries.
