U.S. envoy visits Fukushima to eat fish, criticize China’s seafood ban over wastewater release

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel has visited a city in Fukushima, where he ate a seafood lunch with the mayor, talked to fishermen and stocked up on local produce to show they are safe after the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea. The release began last week and is expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing groups and neighboring countries oppose it, and China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response. Separately, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited a Tokyo fish market, where one of the seafood business operators told him that sales of his scallops, which are largely exported to China, have dropped 90%. Kishida promised governmentsupport for fisheries.