A Chinese TV news anchor named Xiao Chenghao posted a video on New Year's Day describing Japan's deadly earthquake as “retaliation” and “retaliation” for Japan's release of wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
“If such a large-scale natural disaster occurs on New Year's Day, I'm worried that Japan will be shrouded in dark clouds for the rest of 2024,” Xiao said. Said In a video titled “The Comeup has Arrived: Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake Hits Japan” posted on his social media account.
Hsiao suggested that Japan should “cut back on some actions” to avoid further cosmic retaliation. For example, he said the Japanese “should not have released nuclear water into the sea.”
Japan has begun Implement Careful plans have been made to release treated wastewater from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in August 2023. The plan was approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which agreed with Japanese scientists that the trace amounts of radioactive material remaining in the water were harmless. And once dispersed over the vast ocean volume of the Pacific Ocean, it would be nearly undetectable.
South Korean environmental activists perform during a protest in Seoul against Japan's plan to release radioactive water from Fukushima into the ocean to commemorate World Oceans Day on June 8, 2022. (Jung Young Jae/AFP News)
Nevertheless, the release of wastewater has become a topic of great controversy in China and South Korea, which announced a ban on imports of Japanese seafood even after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took office. It was a feast To prove that the fish caught in Fukushima is safe. The U.S. military helped cushion the impact of China's boycott in October by purchasing large quantities of Japanese seafood that China refused to buy.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida eats seafood from Fukushima Prefecture during lunch at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on August 30, 2023 (Cabinet Public Relations Office, Associated Press)
Shao thought the devastating earthquake was divine punishment for Fukushima's sewage release. Occurred on monday. The confirmed death toll as of Thursday morning was 78, with at least 50 more missing and 330 injured. Thousands of Japanese soldiers search the wreckage of police and fire brigade for survivors.
The earthquake caused power outages to approximately 29,000 homes along the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture, and water cutoffs to 110,000 homes. Thousands of homes were completely destroyed by the earthquake and aftershocks. Hundreds of survivors remain trapped in inaccessible buildings with dwindling supplies.
A woman rides her bicycle through damaged houses in the town of Noto on the Noto Peninsula, northwest of Tokyo and facing the Sea of Japan, after Monday's deadly earthquake, January 2, 2024. (Hiroshi Komae/AP)
Xiao is Paused Thursday for “inappropriate comments” by his employer, Hainan Broadcasting Television (HMG). The company promised to thoroughly “investigate” the situation. As of Thursday, Hsiao had not apologized for his remarks.
of South China Morning Post (SCMP) noted that while some Chinese “netizens” were appalled by Mr. Xiao's post, others agreed with Mr. Xiao and were “gloating about the disaster.” This has further heightened concerns about the rise in extremism and hate speech on social media in China, which is very friendly to the Japanese.
China's state-owned Global Times He claimed that most Chinese internet users “believe that the occurrence of natural disasters should be greeted with sympathy,” but a “small group” agreed with his comments and urged HMG to reinstate him. .
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Wang Wenbin Said On Wednesday, the government said it had “expressed its sympathies with the Japanese side” and offered to “provide necessary assistance for Japan's relief and rescue operations.”
