BEIJING, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Vendors at Beijing's largest seafood market said they were angry and scared for their future as Japan began to release treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.
Amidst a wave of condemnation in Chinese state and social media, and just before China announced a ban on the import all aquatic products from Japan, several traders at Beijing's Jingshen seafood market expressed their fears and criticised Japan's decision.
"The online public opinion is saying that in the future, seafood won't be called 'seafood' anymore, but 'nuclear-seafood," said 22-year-old vendor, Li Yuxuan.
"The earth can manage without Japan, but not without seafood," wrote a user registered in Shanxi province, a post liked over a hundred thousand times.
It maintains the water release is safe, noting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also concluded the impact it would have was "negligible."
Persons:
Li Yuxuan, Liu, Martin Quin Pollard, Xiaoyu Yin, Lincoln
Organizations:
China, Tsinghua University, Weibo, International Atomic Energy Agency, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
BEIJING, Japan, East, South East Asia, Shanxi province, Tokyo, China, United States, Canada, Russia, Hong Kong