Photo:VCG

Hurricane Ida and its remnants have left at least 63 people dead, according to ABC News on Saturday. The death toll caused by floods in Central China's Henan Province stands at over 300. In mid-July, the flooding in Germany resulted in 197 deaths, and at least 300 remained missing. As the Earth gets warmer, more water has been evaporating from the oceans and then pouring down more violently. Humanity has encountered a common challenge.

What I have opposed are those voices overexaggerating the strengths and the positive sides of the US, Germany and Japan. Instead, I call on all Chinese people to become more objective, rational and confident. In the face of various disasters, we Chinese people must be aware of the following two points. First, on the whole, China's disaster relief efforts have been more resolute and mobilization is increasingly more rapid. Second, regarding human factors that have aggravated the losses, we have implemented serious accountability of which almost all Western countries don't carry out.

As one and a half months have passed since the floods in Germany, have we heard of any officials being held accountable? And as various disasters have hit the US, have we heard of any officials being held accountable?

Chinese people used to have the impression that the West was unambiguous about accountability. Now this perception seems to be basically false. Old sewers in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, are not all German engineering, either. Now, however, some are wondering whether China has been too harsh on local officials for the epidemic resurgence and other incidents. This has triggered officials to attach more importance to ensuring nothing going wrong than on doing something, so that it has lost due balance. Of course, we should ask some people not to boast about the US, Germany and Japan to us, saying how good they are not to hold officials accountable.

The author is editor-in-chief of the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn