Japan's March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis left its people in chaos and horror. The catastrophe has lead China to reexamine the pros and cons of nuclear power and its capability to manage disasters. Among other lessons, what China has learned is that a country should not completely leave major industries concerning the public welfare in the hands of private enterprises.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific coastal areas of northeastern and eastern Japan on March 11, triggering an enormous tsunami. By 10:00 am local time (0100 GMT) on April 1, the catastrophe has left 11,578 people dead and 16,451 others unaccounted for, according to the Japan's National Police Agency.

The hidden dangers at Japan's nuclear power facilities and the inefficient action of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) resulted in a series of expanded and increasingly worse nuclear accidents. Tepco didn't want to pour sea water into reactors for fear of a permanent stop of the operation and a damage to company's long-term investment. However, pouring the sea water was a key measure to cool the overheated reactors. The company's unwillingness to shoulder the social responsibility is a weakness of private enterprise.

The Japanese people deserve credit for remaining calm and orderly when the disaster struck, however we saw problems emerge when people were left without fuel or electricity for days at a time. Chinese people should take notice that even as the country modernizes, citizens should have their own emergency supplies so they can survive if a disaster strikes.

In addition, China needs to urgently set a high-level tsunami preparedness plan. Japan learned the lesson that its tsunami prediction capabilities and prevention facilities were inadequate. China needs to utilize more modern communication technologies and make sure all its emergency response facilities meet high standards. Since the situation in Japan has also led to defections that abandoned rescue efforts in certain areas, China's central and local governments should guarantee effective 24-hour communication channels.

Finally, the management of the population is very important. Governments at all levels should carefully preserve their people's archives and electronic data, so that they can rapidly assess the population information and carry out emergency rescue missions.

The crisis affecting 54 Japanese nuclear reactors has created a substantial nuclear threat to both its nation and the international community. To avoid a similar disaster, China also needs to implement strict supervision of its scores of existing nuclear plants as well as new plants under construction.

The author is a Professor at Japan's Okinawa University.

(This article was published in Chinese on Global Times and translated by Zhou Jing.)

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