SHANGHIA: Takashi Ito, owner of a restaurant in Shanghai, had been looking forward to China’s lifting of a ban on imports of Japanese seafood — only to have his hopes dashed this week amid an increasingly heated diplomatic spat between Beijing and Tokyo.
Tensions between the Asian neighbors flared up after new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan’s survival could trigger a military response.
China, which regards the democratically governed island as its own, responded with ire. In addition to reinstating a ban on Japanese marine produce, it has boycotted travel to Japan, and threatened stern countermeasures. Numerous meetings and cultural events have also been canceled.
“Every time a major incident like this happens, we are in great pain because our hearts rise and fall as the relationship between Japan and China rattles every time. It’s very painful,” Ito told Reuters at his Japanese seafood restaurant Merase.
In perhaps a worrying sign, the restaurant also had a few cancelations on Wednesday night, although the potential customers didn’t say why. Chinese customers generally account for half of Merase’s bookings.
Beijing had only recently partially eased restrictions on Japanese seafood that had been imposed due to Tokyo’s decision two years ago to release treated wastewater from its Fukushima power plant, the site of a 2011 nuclear meltdown that followed a massive earthquake and tsunami.
Ito has tried to source locally as much as possible but some types of fish can only be procured from Japan.
“This incident is one of the biggest incidents so far,” he said, adding that he believes it’s unlikely there will be any good news about seafood imports soon.
“Takaichi said what she said and I don’t think she will change it. If possible, I hope diplomats in Japan and China can work together to improve the situation. I hope that the people of China and Japan will be able to enjoy the same foods without fighting each other,” he said.
The dispute has seen vitriolic responses by a Chinese diplomat in Japan and Chinese state media aimed at Takaichi. That’s prompted Japan to warn its citizens in China to step up safety precautions and avoid crowded places.
But both Ito and fellow Shanghai-based restaurateur Kazuaki Sone say they are not concerned about their own safety — only about the potential that problems between governments will make it harder for people to continue connecting for business, food or cultural exchange.
“I’ve lived a long time in China and I have experienced diplomatic tensions between Japan and China several times,” said Sone who moved to China in 2012 and opened a yakitori restaurant, Hyakumanben, two years ago.
“But people in general, especially good friends, don’t treat me any differently ... That’s why I am still able to work here in China,” he said.
Japanese restaurant owners in China lament flare-up in diplomatic tensions
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Japanese restaurant owners in China lament flare-up in diplomatic tensions
- Beijing had only recently partially eased restrictions on Japanese seafood that had been imposed due to Tokyo’s decision two years ago to release treated wastewater from its Fukushima power plant
Changes to US security strategy ‘largely consistent’ with Russia’s vision: Kremlin
- Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones”
MOSCOW: Russia has welcomed changes in the US National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington’s previous policy were “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.
Washington’s new National Security Strategy, published early Friday, took aim at allies in Europe, calling it over-regulated, lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.
The document stated that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
Commenting on the new US strategy, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones.”
“The adjustments we’re seeing, I would say, are largely consistent with our vision,” Peskov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday.
“President Trump is currently strong in terms of domestic political positions. And this gives him the opportunity to adjust the concept to suit his vision,” Peskov added.
The publication of the updated security strategy came as officials from Kyiv held talks in Florida with Trump’s envoys on the US-drafted plan to end the near four-year war in Ukraine.
Three days of talks produced no apparent breakthrough.
President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to further negotiations toward “real peace,” as Russia in the early hours of Saturday launched another series of drone and missile strikes at Ukraine.
Zelensky is due to meet with European leaders — French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — in London on Monday to take stock of the negotiations.
