Owner of a restaurant in Beijing, Mr. Yao faces a dilemma with the imminent release of the waters of Fukushima: either continue to serve Japanese tuna, at the risk of scaring away his customers, or get supplies elsewhere.
But this second solution would put it at the mercy of very variable prices and quality, he explains.
Chinese sushi and sashimi lovers are skeptical after Japan’s announcement of the discharge into the Pacific Ocean from Thursday of the water accumulated at the site of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Launched 12 years after the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, the Japanese project has been validated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
But China has expressed its opposition and in July banned imports of food products from 10 Japanese departments – including Fukushima. Hong Kong followed on Tuesday.
In the meantime, restaurateurs are grimacing.
“We are already feeling the repercussions”, explains to AFP Mr. Yao, whose customers are asking more and more questions about his Japanese tuna which they are sometimes reluctant, as a result, to buy.
In Hong Kong, Jasy Choi, caterer of Japanese take-out meals, explains that the ban decreed by the local authorities will disrupt his business.
“About 80% of the seafood we use comes from Japan,” says the 36-year-old chef.
“If more than half of the ingredients I import are affected, it will be difficult to continue my activity.”
Mainland China and Hong Kong, with 500 billion yen (3.2 billion euros), are the world’s largest importers of Japanese food products, according to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture.
In a restaurant in Beijing, in front of small plates of sushi parading on a conveyor belt, Liu Dan, a mother, says she fears the discharge of water from Fukushima.
“From August 24, I will tell my children and my husband to avoid these seafood products,” she explains.
Asked about the various reports, including that of the IAEA, assuring that the water discharged is without risk, Ms. Liu said she had “no scientific means, at my level, to affirm whether these conclusions are correct or not”.
“My spontaneous reaction is just to find this rejection irrational.”
On Tuesday, China summoned the Japanese ambassador to convey its official protests.
The waters that will be discharged have been treated to rid them of most of their radioactive elements.
But tritium, a radionuclide dangerous to humans in high concentrations, could not be eliminated.
“Tritium has been released (by nuclear power plants) for decades without any proven adverse effects on the environment or health,” nuclear expert Tony Hooker of the University of Adelaide (Australia) told AFP. ).
According to him, the level of tritium in the waters of Fukushima is well below the limits of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Before, practically all our seafood products were imported from Japan,” restaurateur Fang Changsheng told AFP in his restaurant, located in a district of Beijing famous for Japanese cuisine.
But the 40-year-old entrepreneur is now turning to products from Chile, Spain and Russia.
In a Hong Kong sushi restaurant, the story is more nuanced.
“There are always people for whom it won’t be a problem,” says Jacky Wong, owner of a small establishment in the lively district of Wan Chai.
The restaurateur warns, however, that it will be necessary to wait a few days to measure the impact on its customers and to possibly adapt because “some Japanese seafood products are difficult to replace”, he underlines.
An opinion shared by the caterer Jasy Choi.
“Even if there are substitute products, such as sea urchins from China, South Korea or Australia, not sure that I want to offer them to my customers,” he warns.
“Of course, discharging contaminated water into the sea is not great, even if it is treated”, he underlines.
“But it’s happening in many places around the world […] so what can we, ordinary citizens, do about all of this?”
08/23/2023 13:27:19 – Beijing (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
