TOKYO: Japan and China have agreed to accelerate discussions on the discharges of tritium-containing treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

NAMAZU Hiroyuki, director-general of the ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, met with Liu Jinsong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Department, in Beijing on Monday and called for lifting its restrictions on imports of Japanese food products immediately, the ministry said the same day.

Namazu expressed concern on China’s activity around the Senkaku Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan. The Japanese-administered islands are claimed by China, where they are called Diaoyu.

He also demanded that China remove a buoy that the country set up in Japan’s exclusive economic zone and soon release Japanese nationals detained in China.

Japan will firmly work on the issue of the treated water so that China will understand it accurately based on scientific evidence, Chief Cabinet Secretary HAYASHI Yoshimasa told a press conference Tuesday. He added that Tokyo will strongly request the immediate lifting of the import restrictions.

JIJI Press