China expresses concerns over Japan's plan to dump wastewater

China has expressed serious concern over Japan's plan to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater from Fukushima Prefecture into the sea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the decision to discharge the wastewater.

The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) responded to the plan by calling for efforts to forestall further harm to environmental protection, food safety and human health.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi made the remarks on Monday while talking about Japan's decision on the treated water with Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna.

Grossi said the IAEA had taken note of the concerns of relevant parties within the board with mounting global attention to this matter, and the agency will actively advance its work on the assessment and monitoring activities in an impartial, objective and scientific manner.

Expressing China's support for the IAEA in playing a vital role in the assessment and monitoring work, Wang said it is legitimate for China as a neighboring country, along with all other stakeholder countries, to be involved in the agency's work on this front.

ROK expresses 'strong regret'

Right after Suga's announcement, the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) expressed "strong regret" over Tokyo's decision.

Koo Yoon-cheol, head of ROK's Office for Government Policy Coordination, said that the government will take every necessary measure in line with the principle of keeping its people safe from the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

U.S. calls it an 'acceptable approach'

"We look forward to the Japan's continued coordination and communication as it monitors the effectiveness of this approach," said the U.S. State Department in a statement on Tuesday.

In the statement, the department stressed Japan has weighed the options and effects and has been transparent about its decision. The government "appears" to have adopted an approach in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards, it added.

(CGTN)