How a Japanese scallop became a trade pawn

Beijing is using a ban on the humble mollusc to punish Japan over its apparent willingness to defend Taiwan, write

- River Akira Davis and Kiuko Notoya

Hokkaido scallops, harvested from cold, nutrient-rich waters, are prized for their buttery umami and command premium prices in China. Scallops sold at a market in Sapporo in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, where most Japanese scallops are harvested.

(NYT)

n early November, a ship carrying six tonnes of Hokkaido scallops slipped out of a northern Japanese port, bound for China. The shipment was meant to be a milestone, a sign of warming ties between the countries after Beijing lifted a years-long ban on Japanese seafood.

But midway through the vessel's journey, tensions flared again when Japan's prime minister signalled a willingness to defend Taiwan against China. Her comment drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing and an announcement that the seafood ban was back on.

The Hokkaido scallop has emerged as an unlikely pawn in the volatile relationship between Tokyo and Beijing.

For Beijing, scallops have served as a diplomatic pressure point. For Japan's allies, consuming them is portrayed as an act of defiance against what they characterise as economic coercion. For Tokyo, the molluscs have become a case study in the difficult — and perhaps increasingly necessary — task of curbing its reliance on China.

In Hokkaido, the country’s northernmost island, where most Japanese scallops are harvested, the prevailing sentiment is confusion.

“We're being used as some kind of tool in political manoeuvring,” said Mitsugu Saito, executive managing director of the group that represents Hokkaido’s seafood-processing industry. “I never would have thought that Japanese seafood products, especially scallops, would become a card in diplomatic negotiations.”