Illustraion: Liu Rui/GT

Can you throw a big stone into the water without causing any waves? Of course not. After US' veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published his report "How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline" on February 8, he encountered an even more abnormal anomaly. Instead of a stone, the report is a heavy bomb, but it seemed to have been thrown into a black hole of public opinion. As the saying goes, if there is an abnormality, there will be a demon, and this time is no exception.

The US made a simple and rude denial when the report was first released. After that, it has kept silent. European countries, as stakeholders, have mostly shunned commenting on the matter. The oddest phenomenon is that the US mainstream media, which have been very sensitive to all kinds of clues, have maintained collectively silent. In response, Hersh himself expressed disappointment, pointing out that not one of them has written a word about the pipelines, or even quoted the White House's denial of his report. It's been almost a month, how long will the West continue to play dumb?

Some say Hersh's report cites anonymous sources and lacks sufficient evidence, therefore, the US and Western media dare not to follow up. This is untenable and they think too highly of the US and Western media. Compared with Hersh's detailed investigative report, major US media outlets have published countless unreliable reports without any hesitation or psychological burden. For instance, the Wall Street Journal recently hyped a "low confidence" report on virus origins tracing. A more convincing explanation is that they all know the waters here are too deep, so they chose to "wisely" avoid it.

The performance of the US and Western media once again illustrates that their so-called independence and professionalism are selective. It's not just the US and Western media, but almost the entire Western world is very passive in seeking the truth behind the Nord Stream bombing. At a recent related UN meeting, the UK showed "tolerance," holding that more investigations are unnecessary and claiming it was unclear why the Russian Federation is suddenly pursuing the issue with such urgency. Many countries including Germany, one of the biggest victims of this incident, has yet to make a public statement. 

Throughout the Western world, they are even afraid to mention Hersh's name, not to mention questioning him. This is quite abnormal.

The Nord Stream bombing is an extreme international political event. If such a big issue is deliberately covered up by some countries and ends up being in a confusing state with no consequences for those responsible, the harm will be more than damage to the interests of the victims. More and more evidence shows that the Nord Stream sabotage was a deliberate act, and from the perspective of physical conditions, it is difficult to imagine that non-state actors are capable of carrying out such destruction alone. From the perspective of the common interests of the international community, the consequences of the Nord Stream sabotage will be intensified and enlarged, further lowering the bottom line of the way of great power competition. In short, if a country can bomb the Nord Stream pipelines today, it may destroy undersea cables tomorrow, and the security of global infrastructure will be severely threatened, which is terrifying to the whole world.

The world is facing such risks. A balloon made Washington to act like a startled bird, while Hersh's report has been collectively ignored in the Western world. This is chilling. At a public meeting held by the Security Council in September last year, many countries called for an investigation into the incident to uncover the truth and identify those responsible. We believe that conducting an objective, fair and professional investigation is not only necessary but also urgent, which is closely related to the interests and concerns of each country. The international community should make concerted efforts on this issue.

In recent years, Washington has frequently threatened to punish others using the excuses of "threats" on the international stage. Now, the Nord Stream bombing has exposed the security loopholes facing human society. When it comes to this matter, the US and other Western countries, which have always held an attitude of "better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one truly guilty person go free" on security issues, should stop pretending cordiality. It should be noted that even if someone holds the microphone for a moment, they can never monopolize the truth forever.