ISTANBUL 

Amid calls for mutual trust and dialogue at a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Indonesia, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was simultaneously lobbying to defend his nation’s release of radioactive water into the sea.

After an exchange of words with his Chinese counterpart a day earlier, Kishida explained Japan’s position on the release of nuclear waste to his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday.

The discharged water “is scientifically proven to be safe,” Kishida told Anwar.

Tokyo began releasing nuclear waste from the crippled Fukushima plant last month, triggering a severe reaction from China which imposed a blanket ban on imports of seafood from Japan.

Kishida had offered a joint expert group with China to study the release of the nuclear waste, however, Beijing is adamant Tokyo should first stop the release of the radioactive water.

The Japanese premier briefly met Li Qiang on Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, urging Beijing to end the ban.

It was the first high-level interaction between China and Japan over the issue where the Japanese side also called for establishing "constructive and stable" bilateral relations.

Addressing a joint summit with ASEAN, China, and South Korea, Kishida explained Japan’s position and requested support from the ASEAN countries, saying its efforts are based on scientific evidence, maintaining high transparency.