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Editor's note: CGTN's First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.
The train derailment in eastern Ohio is labelled by many as a "Chernobyl-level" catastrophe. Nonetheless, the disaster had gained little exposure in the Western media. When hazardous materials forced thousands of local residents to evacuate and schools to close, the Western media outlets were earnestly investigating Chinese balloon stories. Despite China's reiteration that it was a civilian airship, Washington deliberately depicts it as a threat to national security.
The derailment is an environment disaster. Chemicals including vinyl chloride, butyl acrylate, and ethylhexyl acrylate were believed to have been and continue to be released into the air, surface soil and surface waters, according to the U.S. Environment Protection Agency. Officials warned that the burn of the chemicals would produce phosgene and hydrogen chloride. Phosgene, as the Associated Press reported, can cause breathing troubles and was used as a weapon in World War I.
"Ohio's Chernobyl was entirely preventable," American public health scientist Eric Feigl-Ding said on Twitter. Local residents have complained of headaches and sick, and reported seeing streams full of dead fish since the derailment. Approximately 3,500 dead fish had been counted in nearby waterways, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. "We basically nuked a town with chemicals," a hazardous materials specialist Sil Caggiano reportedly said.
Yet, there had been almost zero national media attention on this "Chernobyl-level" catastrophe until a broadcast reporter was arrested for trespassing when covering a news conference on the accident. Whether the U.S. government was stifling journalists and withholding information is difficult to ascertain, but there's no denying that Washington is much more enthusiastic for safeguarding "national security" – especially if it involves China – than the wellbeing of local residents. A browse of CNN and The New York Times websites on February 14 found no reports on Ohio's train derailment. Chinese balloons for civilian use however have been in the headlines for days.
The U.S. has touted its efforts in protecting human rights, security, and environment. Nonetheless, when a "Chernobyl-level" disaster is putting American people's health and wellbeing at risk, it acts with nonchalance. Within 10 days after release of the chemicals, officials announced that local residents could safely return to their homes. Showing little concern over the derailment's long-term impact on Americans, their attention is more focused on how China is threatening the U.S.'s so-called national security.
After all, hyping "China threat" could bring about much more political gains than investigating and addressing the real environmental threats. Embroiled in a slew of domestic problems, the U.S. needs an exterior enemy to fix divisions and rally allies. Playing the China card has turned out to be effective to divert public attention from domestic headaches and to woo voters. The more hawkish politicians are on China, the more support they could gain in elections.
Amid the real threats including pollution, racial discrimination, gun violence, and climate change, partisan divisions and the role of consortiums in politics mean the U.S. can hardly reach a consensus on a solution. The derailment, for instance, shows that there exist huge security loopholes in America's infrastructure and the transport of dangerous goods. From 1990 to 2021, train derailments. resulted in four deaths per year, according to The Hill.
Nevertheless, the U.S., while bragging itself to be a bastion of democracy, has done little to address the big issue in the past years. Admittedly, U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law, pouring funds into transportation, broadband and utilities. But this plan is more about countering China's influence than improving the welfare of local residents.
The U.S. shouts security, but has shown no real concern about it. "Security" has repeatedly turned out to be an empty slogan for political gains. Perhaps, the derailment could attract the U.S. government's immediate attention if it could find some China-elements to it.
