China’s “old friend” isn’t known for playing nice. (Pumpkin Brother)
After North Korea’s February 12 nuclear test, condemnation of the blast rained in from both China’s government and the general public. Netizens voiced anxiety that irradiated fallout from the blast might travel across the border into China.
But China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) issued a report that dismissed the possibility of nuclear radiation from the blast reaching the Chinese border. Quoting data from the National Meteorological Center, the MEP claimed, “Even if fallout had leaked out [from the North Korean nuclear test], the wind mainly blows towards the southeast, and China would therefore not be affected.”
Many netizens weren’t blown away by the MEP’s assurances:
@2ndGenerationSickJiuFuTian: It seems nuclear fallout is classist; it [only] drifts towards countries with different ideologies.
@二代症久富田：核爆污染有阶级性，向不同的意识形态国家飘。
@DontWorryAlmostDone: The Third Kim decided on the nuclear blast, while the resulting radiation is under the command of China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.
@别急快完了：核爆金三儿说了算，辐射规中国环保部指挥。
@EcoProtectionDongLiangJie: Be good, dear wind. You’ve got to be patriotic. China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection is counting on you.
@环保董良杰:风儿，乖乖，你要爱国啊。中国环保就靠你了
@WangXianSen: Even if it did blow over here, would the Ministry of Environmental Protection tell the truth?
@Wang先森：就算真飘过来了，环保部会说实话吗？
@HisOpponentIsScary: Can our Ministry of Environmental Protection’s most advanced technology control the direction of the spread of radiation?
@他的对手很可怕：我环保部最新技术，控制核扩散方向？
@Oso_azul: For a nuclear test that wasn’t conducted above ground or outdoors, the direction of the wind isn’t such a big issue. But if it was an underground nuclear test, then what about underground water sources?
@Oso_azul：不是露天的、地面的核试验，主要不关心风向。地下核试验，那地下水源呢？
@Roookie: Even if you were talking about PM2.5 pollution, could just one gust of wind really blow it away?
@Roookie：你当是PM2.5啊，一阵风就能刮走？
@YiWeiBing: I peed myself laughing! The great General Kim has invented an intelligent form of radiation that avoids what is nearby in search of what is far away.
@毅卫兵：笑尿了，伟大的金将军发明的舍近求远的智能辐射
Translation by Liz Carter. Via CDT Chinese.
