Short-term interests lead to rash decisions

THE MAYOR OF XIANTAO in Central China's Hubei province announced on Monday that the construction of a household waste incinerator in the city would not continue after many local residents had taken to the streets to protest against it. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

That Britons voted on Friday to exit from the European Union, in essence, has a lot in common with Xiantao's protest against the construction of a waste incinerator over the weekend.

It is fair to say the former was a folly fueled by irresponsible populists only focused on short-term personal interests.