Part 1 of 2 Parts
The Pacific Island Forum an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 1971 “to work in support of Forum member governments, to enhance the economic and social well-being of the people of the South Pacific by fostering cooperation between governments and between international agencies, and by representing the interests of Forum members in ways agreed by the Forum.”
Japan may lose its status as a Pacific Island Forum Dialogue Partner over Tokyo’s nuclear waste dumping plan. Japan is ready to start dumping a million tons of nuclear waste from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in just a few months. According to the Japanese authorities, the wastewater will be treated by an Advanced Liquid Processing System. They say that will remove nuclides from the water. They claim that the water to be dumped into the ocean will not be contaminated.
Last year, the Pacific Islands Forum demanded that Japan share critical information about their plan. Secretary General Henry Puna said this month that if Japan wants to keep its status, it needs to increase communication and transparency over the issue. The message to Japan appears to be “has there been a change in your attitude to the Pacific?” Puna said, “It's a bit daunting, talking to a big sovereign country like Japan, and also a good, long-standing friend of the Pacific.” Puna’s preferred course of action is to engage Japan in a friendly manner.
Puna added, "We're long-standing friends, and Japan is a very important partner for us in the Pacific. This issue strikes at the very heart of our being as Pacific people. We will not let it go. In fact, we are very serious and we will take all options to get Japan to at least cooperate with us by releasing the information that our technical experts are asking of them. Because all we want is to be in a position where our experts can say, 'okay, look, the release is harmless, you can go ahead', or 'there are some issues that we need further discussion and further scientific research with Japan'.”
Puna continued, “They're breaking the commitment that their Prime Minister and our leaders have arrived at when we had our high level summit in 2021. It was agreed during that summit that we would have access to all independent scientific and verifiable scientific evidence before this discharge can take place. So far, unfortunately, Japan has not been cooperating.”
Puna’s last conversation with Tokyo was just before Christmas with their ambassador in Suva.
Puna said, “Japan has come back since then, to indicate that they are amenable to a meeting with our panel of experts in Tokyo sometime early next month. But it's important for us to avoid the frustrations that have been happening to date. I have made it clear to Japan that we will not agree to such a meeting unless Japan gives us an undertaking now or before the meeting that they will provide all information that our experts will request of them and provide them in a timely manner because time is of the essence.”
Please read Part 2 next