A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Wednesday rejected Japan's request to delete from his Twitter account a satirical picture lambasting the decision to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean.
On Monday, Zhao Lijian posted a collage based on a work in the popular "Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji" series by Japanese ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), prompting Japan's Foreign Ministry to lodge a protest with China.
The picture "reflects Chinese people's concern and dissatisfaction with the Japanese government's unilateral decision" about the "Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water," Zhao, known as one of Beijing's hard-line diplomats, told reporters.