China on Huawei executive case and Japan

China said on Thursday that the extradition case of a senior executive of China's communication giant Huawei Technologies advanced by the US and Canada was a "political persecution" of Chinese citizens.

The laws that the US and Canada upheld were merely a "tool to suppress dissidents" that "have no justice or legitimacy," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily news briefing.

The remarks came on the 1000th day after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer for Huawei, at Vancouver's airport at the US' behest.

"China will never accept any forms of political coercion or abuse of justice, and will never allow Chinese citizens to become victims of political persecution by other countries," said Wang.

He again urged the US and Canada to recall the extradition request and release Meng immediately.

The US wants Meng extradited to face fraud charges, alleging she committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the company's business dealings in Iran.

China's government has criticized the arrest as part of US efforts to hamper its technology development.

Separately, Wang criticized Japan for their lack of sincerity in addressing international concerns over the decision to discharge treated nuclear wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator of the plant, said Wednesday it plans to build an undersea tunnel so that massive amounts of treated but still radioactive water can be released into the ocean about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the plant to avoid interference with local fishing.

Wang described the move as "going further down the wrong path" and demanded Japan to revoke the decision immediately.

The Japanese government decided in April to start discharging the water, after further treatment and dilution, into the Pacific Ocean in spring 2023 under safety standards set by regulators.

The idea has been fiercely opposed by fishermen, residents and neighboring countries including China and South Korea.