Nuclear plant's safety is built-in blessing

AN ONLINE POST showing a Taoist priest practicing "magic" at a ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone for a nuclear power project in Minqin, Northwest China's Gansu province, created a stir recently. Beijing News comments:

Two co-hosts of the ceremony, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Minqin authorities, later confirmed the post was not fake news. The academy has suspended two employees who were present at the ceremony, and the Minqin disciplinary and supervisory departments have initiated an investigation into the involvement of seven local civil servants.

Some people say the punishment goes too far because it was a private construction company that invited the Taoist priest, not the nine scapegoats, and it is a "folk custom" in Minqin.