Japanese Restaurants In China Affected By PM Takaichi Intervening In Taiwan Affairs

JAKARTA - Takashi Ito, the owner of a restaurant in Shanghai, has been waiting for China's lifting of the ban on seafood imports from Japan. However, it hopes to be dashed this week following rising diplomatic tensions between China and Japan.

Tensions between the two neighboring Asian countries escalated after Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, said that China's attack on Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response.

China, which considers Taiwan its own, responded with anger. In addition to reimposing the ban on marine products from Japan, China has also boycotted travel to Japan, and threatened to take firm countermeasures. Many gatherings and cultural events have also been canceled.

"Every time a big incident like this happens, we are very sad because our hearts are palpitating as relations between Japan and China continue to clash. This is very painful," Ito told Reuters at his Japanese seafood restaurant, Merase, quoted by Reuters.

There are other signs of concern, Ito's restaurant also experienced several reservation cancellations on Wednesday night. Its prospective customers on average did not explain the reasons for the cancellation. According to him, Chinese customers generally contribute half of the total menu bookings in Merase.

China is known to have restricted seafood from Japan into its country. The restrictions followed Japan's decision two years ago to dispose of processed waste water from the Fukushima power plant, the site of the nuclear leak following the large 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Ito has tried his best to get local raw materials for the menu, but some types of fish can only be obtained from Japan.

"This incident is one of the biggest incidents so far," he said.

He is still optimistic even though he may be less likely to have good news about importing seafood to China in the near future.

Takeichi said what he said and I don't think he will change that. If possible, I hope diplomats in Japan and China can work together to improve the situation. I hope the people of China and Japan can enjoy the same food without being hostile to each other," he said.