Malaysia wants its views on Fukushima waste water release heard – but won’t ban Japanese seafood

Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia was satisfied with the IAEA report on the release of treated waste water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant
Defence and maritime security cooperation – and US$6.3 billion worth of investment – were also discussed during Japan PM Fumio Kishida’s visit

Malaysia

The Star

Published: 10:10am, 6 Nov 2023

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Malaysia will continue to import seafood from Japan, but it wants its views on the release of waste water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant taken into account.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who held talks with his Japanese counterpart near Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, said Malaysia was satisfied with a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency – the UN’s nuclear safety watchdog – on the waste water release.

But he said he hoped that Tokyo would also bear in mind the views of other countries in the region, including Malaysia.

An expert from the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), inspects fish samples at a port in Iwaki, northeastern Japan, last month. Photo: AP

“While Japan has given its assurance that the release would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment, I have expressed my hope to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for Japan to continue to take in the views and concerns we have expressed,” Anwar said in a joint statement on Sunday.

On Thursday, Japan began releasing a third batch of treated waste water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power said it started releasing 7,800 tonnes of water that had been used to cool reactors that went into meltdown after the deadly 2011 tsunami.

From late August, the utility company gradually began releasing 540 Olympic swimming pool-sized amounts of waste water stored at the Fukushima plant.

Japan has argued that the water being released is harmless and heavily diluted with seawater. It is also being released gradually over decades.

During their talks, the two leaders also agreed to promote bilateral defence and maritime security cooperation, with Kishida saying they had jointly decided “to accelerate adjustments towards the implementation of the OSA” – referring to Tokyo’s Official Security Assistance programme, which is aimed at helping boost deterrence capabilities partner countries.

Japan has designated four Asia-Pacific countries – Bangladesh, Fiji, Malaysia and the Philippines – as OSA recipients, earmarking 2 billion yen (US$13.3 million) for the financial year through March 2024.

Meanwhile, on investments, Anwar said Japan’s foreign direct investment commitment to Malaysia this year exceeded 30 billion ringgit (US$6.3 billion).

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Japan tests Fukushima fish daily to quell safety concerns

“This is a very impressive commitment from companies that are already investing in Malaysia. They have all committed to increasing, extending, and expanding their developments here,” he said.

Kishida said that Japan and Malaysia were strategic partners in the region and had been working closely in the name of peace and stability.

Kishida travelled to Malaysia on Saturday on the second leg of his three-day trip that also included a visit to the Philippines.

His tour was intended to lay the groundwork for a special summit involving leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, scheduled to be held in Tokyo in December to commemorate 50 years of friendship and cooperation.

Kishida told his Malaysian counterpart on Sunday that he hopes to come up with a “new vision of cooperation” at the summit, while Anwar expressed optimism on the future of Japan-Asean relations, according to the Japanese government.

This article was first published by The Star. Additional reporting by Kyodo