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本核危机开始引发中国公众的恐慌情绪。在中国，消费者抢购食盐，以便预防核辐射相关疾病，并保证未受核辐射的食盐来源。
Reuters
在中国甘肃省兰州市一家超市，顾客为买盐蜂拥而上。
日本福岛第一核电站出现问题后，公众担心核辐射会通过空气和海水扩散到中国，有可能污染土壤和未来的食品来源，于是上海和广州等中国沿海城市的消费者，甚至是位于内陆的首都北京的消费者，纷纷开始囤积食盐。碘盐的确含有有助于身体健康的稳定性碘，不过健康专家们说，碘盐中含的碘不足以保护人体免受核事故中可能释放的放射性碘的侵害。
此外，据行业组织中国盐业协会秘书长宋占京说，中国食用盐中只有一小部分是海盐；在中国，大部分盐是矿盐。
中国的食盐抢购风显示了一种普遍的担心：日本的核危机将给更广泛地区带来深远影响，而不仅限于日本国内。福岛第一核电站发生核泄漏的消息让人想起1986年乌克兰切尔诺贝利核事故，让人担心核灾难将无法得到控制。
专家和日本官员一直说，福岛核电站的问题极不可能像切尔诺贝利核事故一样严重，而中国官员则说，预计日本的核辐射不会给中国带来危害。周四，美国驻华大使馆向美国公民发布消息说，根据美国和该地区权威人士的消息，目前没有证据表明日本福岛核电站的核泄露会对在华人员的健康带来任何影响。
对食盐短缺的担忧也扩散到了香港。在香港，由于不安的消费者囤积食盐，很多超市周四早间食盐脱销。在香港部分繁华购物区的数家超市，工作人员说，他们不知道新的食盐什么时候会到货。
特区政府食品安全方面的最高官员称抢购食盐"完全没有根据"。香港食物及卫生局局长周一岳（York Chow）在一份声明中说，食盐供应不会受到日本附近海域污染的影响。因为一段时间后日本附近的海水大都会被稀释或冲刷干净。他还说没有必要服用碘片，因为只有近距离接触高剂量辐射的人才需要服用碘片。从科学和医学上讲，购买碘盐完全没有根据。
由于担心未来的供应会受限或遭到污染，中国的父母也开始囤积日本生产的婴儿配方奶粉。在福岛以西1800公里的上海，市民往自家药箱里装满了碘片。大家还通过电子邮件传阅一幅被篡改的地图，上面显示整个东亚都笼罩在来自日本的一片粉红色的辐射云下。
对辐射会跨越国界的担忧不仅来自中国，远在新加坡和菲律宾的人都试图了解核灾难的影响。
香港、新加坡、马来西亚和韩国已经宣布计划以监测新鲜农产品是否有受到辐射污染的迹象。泰国有关部门说他们准备测试所有日本商品。
中国有关部门已加大努力向国民保证，日本的辐射泄漏没有造成迫在眉睫的威胁。环境保护部周三在其网站上公布了中国41个城市的辐射水平，宣称"辐射水平没有受到日本核电站事故的影响"。
不过，还是有许多消费者感到恐慌。36岁的刘佳（音）是中信证券股份有限公司的员工，在北京的一家杂货店没有买到食盐后她感到害怕，店里卖食盐的柜台上方挂着"盐已卖完"的牌子。
刘佳说，如果你动作不够快，就买不到未被辐射影响的干净食盐了。
据新华社报道，中国的许多消费者正大量购买海盐，而不是传统的餐桌盐，因为他们担心未来的供应不足或不安全。
站在刘佳旁边的是另外一群打算买盐的人。21岁的北京大学生Michael Zeng说，跟着多数人走总是没错的。
上海杨浦区的一家沃尔玛超市正考虑限制购盐。
中国还有一部分人则对这股恐慌不以为然。电子商务巨头阿里巴巴集团旗下的淘宝网打出广告，买一双鞋送一包盐。
一位用户在新浪微博上写道：我囤了两公斤的盐，你愿意嫁给我吗？
Laurie Burkitt
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
Japan's nuclear crisis is fueling panic in China, where shoppers have spurred a run on salt in attempt to prevent radiation-related illnesses and to secure uncontaminated salt sources.
China's top economic agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, warned consumers Thursday against hoarding salt, and said it would work with local authorities to maintain price stability and market supply. Grocery store shelves have been ransacked over the past several days.
Consumers in cities along the China's coastline, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, and even in inland capital Beijing, began stockpiling table salt after problems at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power complex sparked concerns that radiation would spread to China by air and sea, possibly contaminating the land and future food sources. While iodized table salt does contain healthy, nonradioactive iodine, health authorities say it doesn't contain enough to protect the body against damage from radioactive iodine that may be released during a nuclear event.
Further, only a fraction of China's salt for consumption comes from the sea, said Song Zhangjing, a spokesman for industry organization the China Salt  Association. 'In China, most salt are from salt mines.'
China's salt-buying rush is a sign of widespread fear that Japan's nuclear woes will have far-reaching implications beyond the island. News of Fukushima's nuclear leaks have stirred up memories of Ukraine's nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 and fears that nuclear disaster will not be contained.
Experts and Japanese officials have said it is highly unlikely Fukushima's problems will be as bad as Chernobyl's, and Chinese officials have said they don't expect the radiation in Japan to cause harm in China. On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing distributed a message to American citizens saying: 'Based on information from authoritative sources in the U.S. and throughout the region, there is currently no evidence to suggest that nuclear events in Fukushima, Japan will have any health impact on individuals residing in China.'
Fears of a salt shortage also spread to Hong Kong, where many supermarkets ran out of salt early Thursday as nervous shoppers stocked up on supplies. In several supermarkets in some of Hong Kong's busiest shopping districts, supermarket staffers said they didn't know when new shipments would arrive.
The government's top food safety official called the salt run 'totally unfounded.' York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health, said in a statement that salt supplies won't be affected by contamination around Japan's waters because 'the sea water around Japan will be much diluted or washed off after some time, and he said there's no reason to take iodine tablets because they're only used for people are in close contact with high levels of radiation. Buying salt for its iodine content is 'totally totally unfounded, both scientifically and medically,' he said.
Chinese parents have also begun to stock up on Japanese-produced infant formula, assuming that future supply will be limited or contaminated. Citizens in Shanghai, about 1,800 kilometers west of Fukushima, have filled their medicine cabinets with iodine pills. People are also circulating over email a doctored map that shows Northeast Asia under a pink cloud of radiation seeping from Japan.
Concerns about transborder radiation are reaching far beyond China, as people in countries as distant as Singapore and the Philippines struggle to understand the effects of nuclear disasters.
Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea have announced plans to monitor fresh produce for signs of contagion. Thailand authorities said they are prepared to test all Japanese goods.
Chinese authorities have been intensifying efforts to reassure citizens that radiation leaks in Japan pose no imminent threats. The Ministry of Environmental Protection published on its website Wednesday a chart of radiation in 41 cities across China, declaring that 'radiation levels have not been affected by the Japanese nuclear power accident.'
Still, many consumers here are in panic mode. Liu Jia, a 36-year-old office worker at Citic Securities Co., was afraid after trying unsuccessfully to buy salt at a Beijing grocery store, where signs that said, 'No More Salt,' hovered above the salt section of the store.
'If you don't move quickly, you won't be able to buy any clean salt without radiation,' Ms. Liu said.
Many shoppers in China are also buying up sea salt instead of typical table salt fear future sources will be depleted and unsafe, according to China's state-owned media company Xinhua.
Standing next to Ms. Liu was a crowd of others who were also looking to buy salt. 'It's always safe to do what the majority are doing,' said Michael Zeng, a 21-year-old college student in Beijing.
A Wal-Mart store in the Yangpu district of Shanghai is considering limits on salt buys.
Some in China are making light of the fright. Taobao.com, the online marketplace of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., is advertising free salt packets with the purchase of a pair of shoes.
One person on China's Sina Weibo, a microblogging site similar to Twitter, wrote, 'I have 2 kilograms of salt in stock, do you want to marry me?'
Laurie Burkitt
China's top economic agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, warned consumers Thursday against hoarding salt, and said it would work with local authorities to maintain price stability and market supply. Grocery store shelves have been ransacked over the past several days.
Consumers in cities along the China's coastline, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, and even in inland capital Beijing, began stockpiling table salt after problems at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power complex sparked concerns that radiation would spread to China by air and sea, possibly contaminating the land and future food sources. While iodized table salt does contain healthy, nonradioactive iodine, health authorities say it doesn't contain enough to protect the body against damage from radioactive iodine that may be released during a nuclear event.
Further, only a fraction of China's salt for consumption comes from the sea, said Song Zhangjing, a spokesman for industry organization the China Salt  Association. 'In China, most salt are from salt mines.'
China's salt-buying rush is a sign of widespread fear that Japan's nuclear woes will have far-reaching implications beyond the island. News of Fukushima's nuclear leaks have stirred up memories of Ukraine's nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 and fears that nuclear disaster will not be contained.
Experts and Japanese officials have said it is highly unlikely Fukushima's problems will be as bad as Chernobyl's, and Chinese officials have said they don't expect the radiation in Japan to cause harm in China. On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing distributed a message to American citizens saying: 'Based on information from authoritative sources in the U.S. and throughout the region, there is currently no evidence to suggest that nuclear events in Fukushima, Japan will have any health impact on individuals residing in China.'
Fears of a salt shortage also spread to Hong Kong, where many supermarkets ran out of salt early Thursday as nervous shoppers stocked up on supplies. In several supermarkets in some of Hong Kong's busiest shopping districts, supermarket staffers said they didn't know when new shipments would arrive.
The government's top food safety official called the salt run 'totally unfounded.' York Chow, Secretary for Food and Health, said in a statement that salt supplies won't be affected by contamination around Japan's waters because 'the sea water around Japan will be much diluted or washed off after some time, and he said there's no reason to take iodine tablets because they're only used for people are in close contact with high levels of radiation. Buying salt for its iodine content is 'totally totally unfounded, both scientifically and medically,' he said.
Chinese parents have also begun to stock up on Japanese-produced infant formula, assuming that future supply will be limited or contaminated. Citizens in Shanghai, about 1,800 kilometers west of Fukushima, have filled their medicine cabinets with iodine pills. People are also circulating over email a doctored map that shows Northeast Asia under a pink cloud of radiation seeping from Japan.
Concerns about transborder radiation are reaching far beyond China, as people in countries as distant as Singapore and the Philippines struggle to understand the effects of nuclear disasters.
Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea have announced plans to monitor fresh produce for signs of contagion. Thailand authorities said they are prepared to test all Japanese goods.
Chinese authorities have been intensifying efforts to reassure citizens that radiation leaks in Japan pose no imminent threats. The Ministry of Environmental Protection published on its website Wednesday a chart of radiation in 41 cities across China, declaring that 'radiation levels have not been affected by the Japanese nuclear power accident.'
Still, many consumers here are in panic mode. Liu Jia, a 36-year-old office worker at Citic Securities Co., was afraid after trying unsuccessfully to buy salt at a Beijing grocery store, where signs that said, 'No More Salt,' hovered above the salt section of the store.
'If you don't move quickly, you won't be able to buy any clean salt without radiation,' Ms. Liu said.
Many shoppers in China are also buying up sea salt instead of typical table salt fear future sources will be depleted and unsafe, according to China's state-owned media company Xinhua.
Standing next to Ms. Liu was a crowd of others who were also looking to buy salt. 'It's always safe to do what the majority are doing,' said Michael Zeng, a 21-year-old college student in Beijing.
A Wal-Mart store in the Yangpu district of Shanghai is considering limits on salt buys.
Some in China are making light of the fright. Taobao.com, the online marketplace of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., is advertising free salt packets with the purchase of a pair of shoes.
One person on China's Sina Weibo, a microblogging site similar to Twitter, wrote, 'I have 2 kilograms of salt in stock, do you want to marry me?'
Laurie Burkitt
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