Nov. 19 (UPI) — China will suspend importing Japanese seafood products after a diplomatic spat brought on by recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

According to Japanese new media, China’s rationale to suspend the imports was to enable Chinese authorities to monitor wastewater from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Takaihi’s statements “fundamentally damaged the political foundation of China-Japan relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday.

Mao added there there was “no longer a market for Japanese seafood.”

China only recently began to repurchase Japanese sea products after its ban related to damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant during a 2011 earthquake.

The diplomatic dispute occurred nearly a month after Takaichi took office as the first female prime minister in Japan’s history.

Takaichi told lawmakers Japan could use its military to intervene in any conflict that might occur in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainland China.

The new Japanese leader said any military action against Taiwan by China would create a self-defense situation that could trigger a military response from Japan.

Japan has taken steps over the last week to send diplomatic representatives to Beijing to calm the situation.

Chinese authorities have also postponed release of two Japanese films.

Meanwhile, China has issued travel precautions to its citizens, while Japanese officials have reportedly warned its population in communist China to avoid crowds.

On Tuesday, diplomatic talks between China and Japan made no progress, with one Chinese diplomat saying he was “dissatisfied” with the meeting’s outcome.

Mao warned that if Japan refuses to retract its remarks, or even continued to “make wrong moves,” then China will then have “no choice but to take severe and resolute countermeasures, and Japan will bear all the consequences that arise.”