China andnbsp suspended all shellfish imports from Japan on August 24, 2023, shortly after Chinese officials released treated waste from the Fukushima nuclear grow into the Pacific Ocean. & nbsp,
While the public’s concerns andnbsp over contaminants may be used to support the decision, the track record of the NBP, which employs plausible deniability, along with Japans adherence to international safety standards and NBSPS, and Chinas’ related radioactive waste management practices, raises questions about China.
The restriction was issued by the General Administration of Customs and came after a protracted & nbsp, disinformation campaign aimed at inciting public dread and implying that political motivations may be at play in the decision. The incident provided Beijing with a pretence to retaliate against Tokyo’s push for increased security assistance with Seoul and Washington.
China was even able to communicate with people both domestically and abroad thanks to it. Beijing stoked anti-Japanese sentiments domestically to deflect attention away from a & nbsp, troubled economy. China echoed concerns raised by Pacific Island countries on a global scale to reaffirm its position as the Global South’s fighter.
China has mastered the use of business as a tool for diplomacy. Trade restrictions for essential minerals andnbsp were imposed on Japan in 2010 as a result of increased regional conflicts in the East China Sea. Following Seoul’s deployment of US anti-missile chargers in 2017, Beijing and NBSp imposed an embargo on North Vietnamese goods and services. & nbsp,
Following Canberra’s request for an independent investigation into the roots of Covid-19, China also imposed casual sanctions over a variety of American products. China punishes bad habits by leveraging its sizable market, dominance over crucial supply chains, and nbsp.
China used the World Trade Organization’s guidelines and phytosanitary measures to defend the shellfish restrictions. However, studies in China revealed a government-organized propaganda campaign and nbsp on the subject. State-owned advertising supported the transfer of radioactive effluent with nbsp, paid social media campaigns, and false monitoring, discrediting medical advice. & nbsp,
Chinese diplomatic missions, corporations, and institutions in China were all harassed. The ban being imposed by the General Administration of Customs suggests that the order originated from the & nbsp, top down, as opposed to being the outcome of decisions made by lower-level technical bodies that snowballed into a national policy.
However, if Beijing wanted to change Tokyo’s behavior, seafood would not be an efficient financial stick because it only accounts for a small portion of diplomatic trade. The restrictions primarily runs the risk of having an impact on Chinese businesses because consumers have already stopped purchasing seafood andnbsp immediately.
The forbidding is mainly symbolic, and there may be two reasons for it. Officials from Japan, South Korea, and the United States gathered in Washington the week before the forbidding to improve multilateral assistance. The parties agreed to & nbsp, intensify trilateral defense cooperation, work to combat instability in the Taiwan Strait and the rest of the Indo-Pacific, and denounce China’s South China Sea behavior. & nbsp,
Predictably, the summit did not include any obvious countermeasures but instead prompted China’s condemnation. Beijing had the chance to reprimand Tokyo for its political motives while maintaining a realistic denial and preventing further unrest thanks to the Fukushima case.
Morality signal may be another justification for Beijing’s ban on Japanese seafood. & nbsp,
China is currently dealing with declining development costs, unheard-of youth unemployment, a faltering real estate market, and nbsp. appeals to & nbsp, endure hardship, and can only do so much to enlist the support of a populace that is disillusioned.
The trade ban and disinformation that stoked nationalist sentiments against the longtime foe Japan gave the Chinese government a valuable ruse to temporarily divert the private audience’s attention from economic issues.
The restrictions is intended to signal support for the South Pacific’s issues on a global scale. As Pacific Island nations become more aware of the risks of contamination, China’s worries about the Fukushima waters’ run echo those of those countries.
Manasseh Sogavare, the prime minister of the Solomon Islands, clearly denounced Japan’s activities, and there were protests in Fiji. Beijing served as the South Pacific countries’ predictor, supporting their promises to gain the support of the region’s increasingly contentious says.
As US-China relations deteriorate, rivalries did intensify, and rivals will seize every chance to charge one another with engaging in geopolitical games. One recent instance of US President Joe Biden’s goal of strengthening the” lattice” of partnerships to influence Chinese behavior is the conditioning of the US, Japan, South Korea, and multilateral assistance.
Beijing has attempted to increase its outreach to the Global South as the United States tightens its stance on its allies, & nbsp, branding Washington’s alliances & ndbp as forms of containment.
China’s action serves as a warning to the United States and its allies— the majority of whom supported the waters’ discharge — that Beijing has no qualms about challenging scientific evidence to charge them with wrongdoing. Additionally, it conveys to the entire area that China does not think twice to increase tension if tensions rise. & nbsp,
The Fukushima event demonstrates how often trade and economic ties will be used as tools of statesmanship.
At the ANU National Security College, Walter Brenno Colnaghi works as a study associate. He has experience working for the Italian Foreign Ministry and the European External Action Service in the Indo-Pacific and has earned a Master of Science from the London School of Economics( LSE ).
This post, which was originally published by the East Asia Forum, has been republished with a Creative Commons license.