HAD ENOUGH

China Urged to Intervene After Crank Calls Overwhelm Japan

Japan has been inundated with harassing phone calls that appear to “originate from China,” and its prime minister has had enough.

A surge of crank calls that have included harassing and threatening messages have spread across Japan in the wake of the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant, and its leader has a fair idea who is behind it: China. On Monday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida summoned the Chinese ambassador into a meeting where he “strongly urged him to call on Chinese people to act in a calm and responsible manner,” he told reporters. Kishida added that stones had even been thrown at the Japanese embassy in Beijing, while Japanese schools in China had also been hit. The phone calls were made to schools, businesses and government offices across the country, from bakeries to aquariums, according to Reuters, and are believed to “originate from China,” Kishida said. China opposed to the release of the treated cooling water, which was deemed safe by the UN.