Some countries' silence on Japan's discharge plan raises eyebrows

In the days since the International Atomic Energy Agency released its report on the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the defunct Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, much of the international community has expressed fierce opposition to the plan, but many Western countries have kept a studied silence.

After the IAEA report was released, the US State Department issued a statement "welcoming" it. Some Western media outlets pointed out how the Japanese side and the IAEA called it "treated water" instead of "nuclear-contaminated water". A BBC report even inserted a video in which a reporter participated in a "fish-eating performance" to say fish caught near Fukushima was "very safe" and there was nothing to worry about.

Some Western media outlets have tried to be "objective" or "neutral" by quoting various sources, but they deliberately avoid asking key questions, including what are the environmental hazards of the discharge plan, how independent and representative are the samples obtained by the IAEA, and is Japan's assessment of the discharge plan adequate?

Multiple studies have shown that the nuclear-contaminated water from the nuclear plant contains more than 60 radionuclides. Even Japan admits that about 70 percent of the treated nuclear-contaminated water does not meet discharge standards.

A German marine research institute said the radioactive materials will spread across most of the Pacific within 57 days. The radionuclides will be discharged continuously into the sea for 30 years or more, not only damaging the marine ecological environment but also endangering human health and life.

So why are some Western countries so "calm" about it? It is because of their own convoluted past. After all, in the 1940s and 50s, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. The US also uses nuclear security as a bargaining chip to win over Japan and make it dependent on the US.

However, the attitude of Western countries cannot help but make people ask: What kind of hypocrisy and double standard makes one keep an eye on developing countries while being selectively blinded to its allies? The Japanese government should heed the just call of all parties and immediately stop the nuclear-contaminated water discharge plan.