To Raise or Not to Raise -- This Is Not Purely a Question of Responsibility?

The Chongqing Times reported a few days ago: "Three Gorges Dam Crest Opens Today, Security Stricter Than Boarding a Plane," saying "Today, tourists can ascend the Three Gorges Dam and experience the world's number one dam at zero distance. Tickets are 68 yuan per person; the dam crest is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00." It also said "Currently very few hydroelectric dams in the world have their crests open to tourists, yet the crest of the Three Gorges Dam -- the world's largest water conservancy project under construction -- will officially open to tourists today. This is a bold pioneering move."

Has China really become so desperate for "pioneering moves" that it would stoop to anything? Making this kind of thing a "pioneering move" is practically insane. Can "security stricter than boarding a plane" cover up all dangers? Who can guarantee nothing goes wrong here? If something happens, executing every cell of the responsible parties a hundred million times would be useless. If something happens, it would be more than a million times more serious than any 9/11. How can this kind of thing be treated as child's play for the sake of a little tourism revenue?

How can the nation's most important strategic facility be money-first? Excuse me, how can secrecy be guaranteed? How can safety be guaranteed? In a country that can't even shut down small coal mines and where serious man-made accidents happen regularly, any promise of safety, especially for something as critical as the Three Gorges, cannot help but raise enormous question marks. This reckless decision -- who approved it? How many heads does the approver have to serve as insurance for the hundreds of millions of people downstream?

This ridiculous decision should be immediately canceled. Safety is paramount -- it carries a one-vote veto. As for tourism revenue, find somewhere else. Spare the Three Gorges Dam.