Japan says ‘harassment calls’ from China regarding Fukushima water release ‘extremely regrettable’

Japan’s top government spokesman said on Monday it was extremely regrettable that there were many instances of harassment phone calls from China regarding the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific.

“A lot of harassment phone calls believed to be originating from China are occurring in Japan … These developments are extremely regrettable and we are concerned,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular news conference.

Japan on Thursday started the water discharge, a key step in decommissioning the Fukushima plant, which suffered triple meltdowns after being hit by a tsunami in 2011 following a powerful earthquake.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Matsuno remarks.