About half of Chinese respondents to a recent survey expressed concern about the release of treated radioactive water from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, according to the results released Tuesday, amid a row between the two Asian neighbors over the issue.
According to an annual joint poll by Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO and the China International Communications Group on public views in both countries on bilateral ties, 22.1 percent of 1,506 Chinese surveyed said they are "very worried" and 25.5 percent are "worried to some extent" about the water discharge.
In the poll, conducted in China in 10 cities from Aug. 18 to Sept. 1, 8.0 percent answered they are "not worried at all" about the water release and 18.7 percent said they are "not very worried," with 25.0 percent replying they "currently cannot judge."
The discharge from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, damaged in 2011 by a massive earthquake and tsunami, began in late August, following the International Atomic Energy Agency's conclusion in July that the plan aligned with global safety standards.
The Communist-led Chinese government opposes the water release, saying it will cause adverse effects on human health and the environment, and has imposed a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports.
As for Japan, where valid responses were collected from 1,000 people from Sept. 2 to 24, 33.2 percent of respondents voiced concerns over the water release, while 37.3 percent were not worried or not very worried.
Meanwhile, 36.7 percent of Japanese said the water discharge issue could become an obstacle to bilateral relations, compared to 5.8 percent of Chinese who foresaw the same outcome.
The figures showed that "Chinese citizens' reaction to the water release has been calm," Yasushi Kudo, head of Genron NPO, said at a press conference in Tokyo, adding the dispute has "only heightened anti-China sentiment among Japanese people."
Still, 47.2 percent of Japanese, along with 33.9 percent of Chinese, said the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida "should make even more efforts to eliminate distrust in the international community, although the IAEA's scientific inspection is reliable."
Regarding Japanese public perceptions of China, 92.2 percent said they were "unfavorable," worsening from 87.3 percent a year earlier. Among Chinese respondents, 62.9 percent had a negative impression of Japan, slightly up from the previous year's 62.6 percent.
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