Japan's fisheries minister apologized Friday for calling treated radioactive wastewater being released from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant "contaminated," with the opposition bloc urging him to step down.
The remark by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tetsuro Nomura came as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has been striving to dispel reputational damage to marine products from the sea around the northeastern Japan prefecture.
The term "contaminated water" is used by China, which has strongly opposed the discharge and imposed a blanket import ban on Japanese seafood.
The 79-year-old veteran lawmaker, who has received harsh criticism from Fukushima residents, retracted his use of the term "contaminated water" hours after using it when responding to questions from reporters on Thursday.
On Friday, Nomura said at a press conference that he was "very sorry for making Fukushima residents and related people feel uncomfortable." He ruled out resigning, saying he wanted to fulfill his duties to support the fisheries industry.
At a separate news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, the top government spokesman, said Nomura's comment was "regrettable," expressing hope that he will do whatever he can to assist fisheries businesses "with utmost determination."
But Kenta Izumi, the leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, lambasted Nomura, saying he is "not qualified" to serve as the minister in charge of relief measures for the fisheries industry.
Speculation, meanwhile, has been rife that Kishida may reshuffle his Cabinet later this month to freshen up the image of his government and might replace Nomura on the occasion.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Friday Nomura's reference to contaminated water is "nothing but mentioning the truth."
Wang told a press conference Tokyo's use of the term treated water "ignores objective facts" and it is "only an attempt by Japan to cover up the harm" of the ocean discharge and misguide the public and international opinion.
Massive amounts of wastewater have been generated in the process of cooling reactor fuel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which suffered core meltdowns in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Japan, however, claims that most radionuclides, except tritium, are removed from the water after going through the Advanced Liquid Processing System. On Aug. 24, the country began discharging the water into the Pacific.
The Japanese government describes it as "ALPS-treated water," using the acronym for the purification system. The radiation levels of samples of seawater collected by the Environment Ministry since the discharge started have stayed below detectable limits.
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