Daily SumUp

In a statement posted on the Chinese Weibo social media site on Aug. 26, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing complains about harassing phone calls from China to Japan, calling them “criminal acts.”

Japan demanded Chinese authorities crack down on abusive phone calls to individuals and businesses in Japan following the contentious release of treated radioactive water into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing posted a statement on the Chinese SNS “Weibo” on Aug. 26 complaining about harassing phone calls from China to Japan regarding the Aug. 24 discharge of filtered and diluted water into the Pacific Ocean.

It referred to the phone calls as “criminal acts” and asked the Chinese government to take strict action in accordance with the law.

A video circulated on Chinese SNS showing a young man, presumed to be Chinese, making random phone calls to Japan and demanding an explanation for the decision that prompted Beijing to suspend all imports of seafood from Japan.

Japan says the water release program is a crucial step in the process of decommissioning the nuclear complex after the triple meltdown triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami that followed it.

Since Aug. 24, the embassy has been urging Japanese nationals living in China not to speak in Japanese unnecessarily or loudly when outdoors so as not to inflame the situation.

Harassing phone calls to the embassy jumped sharply since Aug. 24, said an official, adding that a music event scheduled to be held at the diplomatic compound on Aug. 26 was canceled due to safety concerns.