At Beijing's large restaurants, the table talk recently has all been about seafood. Some believe that not only are fish from Japan polluted, but that seafood from the Chinese coast is also not safe.

Maybe it's still too early to say how serious the Fukushima nuclear accident is, but it can be certain that its influence has moved beyond Japan, helped along with the Pacific air and ocean current, as traces of radioactive particles have been detected as far as Florida in the United States. The disaster has caused food and seawater contamination. The full extent of the environmental impact and contamination of the food supply remain to be seen and concerns from Japan's neighboring countries and the international community need to be taken seriously. 

Domestic mainstream media first reported that the radioactive particles would not affect China, then modified their previous reports saying that low levels of radiation have been detected all over China but insisting that the amounts were not harmful. The recurring narrative playing down the radiation dose saying it is equivalent to an X-ray or a CT scan does nothing to dispel people's doubts, as it's common knowledge that radiation damages people's health if its effects are experienced over a long period. An increasing number of people are choosing not to buy or eat seafood as a way of avoiding all possible harm, despite the government's announcement that it will intensify the radiation test on Japanese products.

The concern is also shared in South Africa. Debate over the future of nuclear power in South Africa renewed as Japan battles to prevent a meltdown, though the Koeberg power station – the continent's only nuclear power plant – is unlikely to face an earthquake similar to the one that triggered the disaster in Japan. The Japanese crisis came as South Africa was planning three new nuclear power plants. Some experts believe that nuclear reactors are an inherently dangerous energy source, and will always be vulnerable to the potentially deadly combination of human error, design failure and natural disaster.

The ongoing radiation leaks have forced Japan to raise the nuclear crisis alert level to the maximum, on a par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the Fukushima plant, has released more than 10,000 tons of contaminated water into the ocean to free up storage space for more highly radioactive water.

But Japan only informed the United States before pumping radioactive water into the sea. The Japanese Government has been slow in releasing information about the severity of the crisis, even as the problems have multiplied. This has left many people in Japan and the rest of the world anxious. China, South Korea and Russia have all asked Japan for regular updates on latest developments.

 An editorial of Nature magazine published on April 14 also called on Japan to convert raw data into high-quality, user-friendly forms, as they are "essential for helping to build public trust."

Radioactive pollution affected many West European countries for a long time after the Chernobyl catastrophe in the former Soviet Union, which has proved that nuclear leaks know no boundary and will never be a "domestic" issue. It cannot be covered or delayed.

The Chinese deeply feel the pain that Japanese are suffering. Immediately after the earthquake, China expressed its deep sympathies and offered a large amount of aid to Japan. Neither Japanese nor people in other countries would like to have the specter of nuclear leakage looming over them for a long time. In the face of such a crisis, a combined global effort using the technology and wisdom at our disposal needs to be utilized to resolve the issue at hand and work to alleviate future disaster of a similar nature.

The Editor