As another major quake struck Japan, the country was still reckoning with the nuclear crisis triggered by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami of 13 years ago.
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.
The nuclear plant failed 12 years ago in an earthquake and tsunami, and officials say they have run out of space to store water used to cool the ruined reactors.
In the face of regional and domestic objections, the country plans to proceed with a discharge at Fukushima that will eventually reach more than a million tons of water.