Two Chinese students who are currently studying in Ohio told the Global Times that they have not heard of any relevant information, nor seen the story reported by mainstream US media outlets, adding that the local government had provided no notice over the incident.

“I’ve been feeling rhinitis in recent days, which never happened to me before so I am planning to see the doctor soon,” said a Chinese student surnamed Zan. She said she was only aware of “such a horrific incident” via Chinese social media.

Another student surnamed Sun, who lives 72 kilometers from the affected area said people are stockpiling mineral water. “Although the government assured people that the any immediate danger has passed, people still remain dubious.”

The entire issue surrounding the train derailment appears to be a massive corruption scandal, whereby corporations are dictating policies that impact the lives of millions of people – and put them at significant risk. As stated before, relevant officials have stated to Congress that there will be more trail derailments without regulation. Instead, we have a politically convenient, unqualified appointment sat in the highest position on this issue, who refuses to regulate the rail lobby.

We have actually already seen the power of this industry. At the end of last year, workers from some of the most extensive freight lines threatened a national strike that would have crippled the economy. But their demands were extraordinarily basic: paid sick leave, not being on call 24/7, not being forced to conduct trains alone and a decent wage. Instead, the Biden administration forced a skinny deal on workers on behalf of the rail lobby.

That Americans are essentially controlled by such interests is fundamentally unjust and inherently anti-democratic. It means that our basic livelihoods and safety are controlled by large cartels with no public accountability. And they own all our elected officials, meaning there is no way to impose regulations on them at even a basic level. This is not simply limited to the rail industry, but extends to the entire economy, as Americans enjoy far fewer consumer and environmental protections than peer countries.

If similar things happen in other countries, it will most likely get real-time rolling reports from the mainstream media in the US. However, when things happen in the US, everything becomes different. Facing the anger and strong dissatisfaction of the local people, Washington, which talks about “human rights”, “security” and “environmental protection” all the time, seemed indifferent; in the over 10 days after the accident, most of the news that occupied the headlines of the US mainstream media was related to the so-called “China Threat,” while the real security and health threats to the American people has been pushed to the corner.

This contrast is extremely stark: almost all Washington elites are staring at a few “UFOs” at an altitude of about 10,000 meters and talking about “security threats,” but they turn a blind eye to the poisonous gas threat that their people are facing. Some netizens have even quipped that the best way to get the government’s attention is to put a “Made in China” label on the derailed train.

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The US federal government has a number of specialized functional departments, each of which is supposed to have its own job, but now they seem to be encapsulated in the same cage called “national security.” It has spared no effort to “prevent threats.” Come and see, there are balloons in the sky, “they came from China,” we shot them down, it seems to be very hilarious and refreshing, but will the polluted air get better? Have the soil and water been disinfected? No matter how ideologically paranoid Americans are, they also know that hyping the “China threat theory” cannot solve the real environmental security problems facing the American people.