What's koi got to do with it? Souring relations between Asian rivals Japan and China now seem to be snagged on calminducing beauty in spas, museums and gardens. The slippery dispute between Asia's two biggest economies adds to their spat over Japan's release into the sea of...
TOKYO — What’s koi got to do with it? Souring relations between Asian rivals Japan and China now seem to be snagged on calm-inducing beauty in spas, museums and gardens. The slippery dispute between Asia’s two biggest economies adds to their spat over Japan's release into the sea of treated but radioactive water from the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant. And it has prompted more questions than answers.Koi are beautifully hued and expensive carp formally called nishikigoi in Japan.
Initially, China had export deals with a total of 15 growers that also provided quarantine, allowing them to skip a separate quarantine process at another facility. But Beijing let many of the contracts expire over the years. Now, China also has not renewed the last remaining pre-export quarantine deal that expired Oct. 30, Japanese officials said.
Despite safety assurances from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Japan’s government and the nuclear plant's operator, China banned Japanese seafood immediately after the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant started discharging treated and diluted radioactive wastewater.
Top Japanese officials say Tokyo submitted the necessary documents to facilitate koi export renewals well before the deadline, and will continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the deadlock. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Ichiro Miyashita told reporters, “Nishikigoi is culture, and fundamentally different from seafood, and I believe it is not related" to the Fukushima Daiichi treated water discharge.
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