China has asked Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso to drink treated radioactive water from Fukushima to prove his claim that it is safe to drink. The comments came as Tokyo said it will release water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean in two years.

The accumulating water has been stored in tanks at the plant since 2011, when a massive earthquake and tsunami damaged its reactors and their cooling water became contaminated and began leaking.  'A Japanese official said it is okay if we drink this water, so then please drink it,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijan said at a press conference on Wednesday.

During the event, Zhao described what he saw as Japan's ignorance of the ecological environment as 'totally unjustifiable'. On Tuesday, Japan announced plans to release the water into the sea. The controversial decision came after more than seven years of discussion on what to do with the water.

The plant's storage capacity will be reached late next year.  At a press conference on Tuesday, Aso said 'I have heard that we will have no harm if we drink' the water. 

At a press conference on Tuesday, Aso said 'I have heard that we will have no harm if we drink' the water. At the Chinese press conference on Wednesday, Zhao urged the Japanese government 'not to forget the historical tragedy' of thousands of people who became affected by what is now known as Minamata disease.

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