China News Service, February 19th. Huang Yihui, Chair Professor of the Department of Media and Communication, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong (CityU), and her research team surveyed Hong Kong citizens’ opinions on the discharge of nuclear sewage from Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant from October to December 2023. Views on related risks, travel to Japan, and purchasing Japanese goods. The results showed that compared with male respondents, a higher proportion of female respondents felt that the event brought higher health risks, and respondents aged 50 and above had a higher awareness of risks and were more willing to Behavioral avoidance of radiation risks.
The survey interviewed 1,418 Hong Kong citizens over the age of 20. About 60% of the respondents believed that the discharge of nuclear sewage from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant would have a negative impact on personal health and increase the chance of disease infection. Among them, 64.3% of female respondents felt that the health risks brought by the incident were relatively high, which was higher than that of male respondents (55.5%). In addition, 65% of respondents over 50 years old feel related risks, while only 51.7% of respondents aged 20 to 29 think so, which is the lowest proportion among all age groups. Dai Yue, assistant professor of the Department of Media and Communication at City University, suggested that the SAR government can provide targeted scientific information and support based on the needs and concerns of different groups of people.
In terms of preventive measures, 52% of the respondents said they would avoid eating food from the Fukushima area, but less than 30% of the respondents said they would reduce the number of trips to Japan or avoid buying daily necessities from Japan.
Huang Yihui pointed out that the survey shows that Hong Kong citizens will balance different risk behaviors and believe that except for Fukushima, the risk level in other parts of Japan is relatively low. Data also shows that 32.2% of respondents over 50 years old said they would reduce travel to Japan, and 62.7% were willing to avoid eating food from the Fukushima area.
When asked about their attitude towards Hong Kong's current policies, 56.4% of the respondents supported the Hong Kong SAR government's launch of import control measures, while another 74.3% supported the SAR government's implementation of radiation monitoring measures. They believed that comprehensive radiation level testing of food imported from Japan should be carried out, and relevant information about Japan should be announced. Radiation monitoring measures such as radiation test results of imported food samples, monitoring of environmental radiation levels in Hong Kong waters, and radiation levels of local fishery products are more effective.
In this regard, Professor Wang Xiaohui, Assistant Professor of the Department of Media and Communication at City University, suggested that the SAR government should maintain regular monitoring and at the same time strengthen public education to improve citizens' awareness of radiation risks to help citizens make informed risk decisions.