Red-faced officials issued an embarrassed apology to Japan’s prime minister on Friday after spelling his name wrong during a high-profile tour of the battered Fukushima nuclear plant.
Shinzo Abe was given a specially printed suit to protect him from radiation during the tour on Thursday, on which he was accompanied by a large press pack.
Yet plant operator TEPCO, which has been lambasted internationally for what critics say is its hapless handling of the catastrophe at Fukushima, used the wrong Chinese character for part of Abe’s name.
The first three of the four characters used to write his name were correct; however, the final one represented the same sound, but had a different meaning.
“It was a typing error,” a TEPCO spokesman said. “We are very sorry for the mistake. We sincerely apologize to the prime minister for printing an inaccurate name.”
TEPCO has repeatedly come under fire for its approach to managing the aftermath of the disaster at Fukushima, with a government minister describing it as akin to someone playing “whack-a-mole.”
The giant utility was pilloried on Twitter over the gaffe on Friday.
User @YuriSakamoto tweeted: “They can’t get anything right, can they?”
“Isn’t it a big deal that TEPCO didn’t think twice about misspelling the name of the country’s prime minister and had him wear it,” @PsychoQueen59 said, while @ShoHgo_chirpy said: “TEPCO cannot even check on something as trivial as this.”
Abe’s visit was part of a public relations push that the government has launched to prove the battered plant is no danger to Japan or to the rest of the world.
Earlier this month, the premier, during Tokyo’s successful pitch to host the 2020 Games, told Olympic chiefs: “Let me assure you, the situation is under control.”
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
RSS