Ittaka Kishida News Today

Japan’s release of treated radioactive water has spurred China to fall back on its old playbook of fomenting diplomatic mayhem with its Asian rival

By exaggerating the risks from Japan’s discharge of treated wastewater, Beijing hopes to cast Japan and its allies as conspirators in malfeasance, analysts say.

Even before Japan started pumping out the first tranche of more than 1 million tons of wastewater last week, China had mounted a coordinated campaign to spread disinformation about the safety of the release, stirring up anger and fear among millions of Chinese.