Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2026-10-23 16:59:15
ULAN BATOR, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) — Public frustration is mounting among Mongolian and Japanese social media users over a massive steppe wildfire in the Numrug Strictly Protected Area, as netizens criticize the slow response from the Japanese-linked company and raise questions over perceived double standards in public discourse.
The fire ignited on Oct. 8 in the core zone of the high-value protected reserve in Dornod Province, eastern Mongolia. Official figures from Mongolia’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change showed the blaze scorched roughly 530,000 hectares of land, of which some 470,000 hectares sit inside the reserve — equivalent to 79.8 percent of the protected area’s total territory.
The fire was fully extinguished on Oct. 16 after eight-day round-the-clock operations by Mongolian emergency teams. As flames advanced toward the bilateral frontier, China mobilized over 3,400 emergency personnel along the Inner Mongolia section of the China-Mongolia border for round-the-clock fire-prevention patrols.
Mobicom, a major Mongolian telecom firm invested in by Japan’s KDDI, has been linked to the fire. KDDI on Tuesday issued an apology, acknowledging that Mobicom executives were present inside the reserve when the incident occurred. The parent firm said it took the grave environmental impact “extremely seriously,” yet offered limited details about how the fire actually started, noting it would await outcomes of Mongolia’s official investigation.
Mobicom maintained the convoy entered the zone for 4G-network testing with prior notifications, a claim that Mongolian government officials have publicly cast doubt on. Local Mongolian media have alleged alternative motives for the incursion, though such reports remain unconfirmed by formal probes.
The huge ecological toll has sparked fierce online pushback. Mongolian social media users called for full accountability and comprehensive restoration of the damaged reserve.
“Hopefully, the Japanese company will be responsible for paying to restore the wildlife!” One comment read on a Facebook post by Japan Daily. Another user wrote: “Many Mongolians had never even laid eyes on the breathtaking wilderness before this tragic incident unfolded.”
Many Mongolian netizens stressed that environmental destruction of this scale cannot be offset merely by money or apologies, urging legal punishment for those responsible and thorough assessment of soil, vegetation and wildlife losses.
Criticism also surfaced on Japanese social platforms. Some Japanese netizens pointed to apparent double standards in Japanese public opinion. They drew comparisons with widely circulated domestic narratives about foreigners damaging Japan’s environment, questioning the relative silence within Japan over the large-scale ecological harm caused by a Japan-linked corporate activity overseas.
“The natural environment cannot instantly recover just through apologies or compensation payments,” one Japanese social media user commented. Others highlighted cross-border spill-over risks, noting the burned area is more than twice the size of Tokyo, warning that intensified dust storms generated by the damaged steppe could potentially affect not only Mongolia and China but also the Korean Peninsula.
Several online voices also criticized the Japanese administration’s conspicuous lack of public remarks regarding the disaster.
Mongolian authorities have handed the case over to national police for full-scale investigation. Officials have pledged to pursue liabilities for involved company staff as well as relevant administrative personnel who authorized access permits, and to claim full compensation for both economic costs and long-term ecological harm. A special working group is conducting field surveys to quantify multi-faceted environmental damage and work out restoration plans.
The Embassy of Japan in Mongolia on Thursday released a statement on the incident on social media, saying that it is closely following the serious damage caused by the blaze, and pledged to actively push Mobicom to put in place remediation measures.
“Wasn’t this response far too late? You turned a blind eye and stayed silent all this time,” a netizen replied under the post.■
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