The New York Times says the Japanese media and public are frustrated by government and power company officials’ failure to communicate clearly and promptly about the nuclear crisis in the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

In an article titled, “Death of Candor from Japan’s Leadership,” the U.S. daily said Thursday that foreign nuclear experts, the Japanese press and an increasingly angry and rattled Japanese public suspect government and power company officials of withholding or fudging crucial information about the risks posed by the ravaged Fukushima plant.

The report said such suspicions were based on conflicting reports, ambiguous language and a constant refusal to confirm the most basic facts.

According to the daily, at the time of an explosion in the plant’s number one reactor, the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, had only announced in a curt memo that there was “a big sound and white smoke.”

Meanwhile, China has asked Japan to swiftly provide information on the recent nuclear situation. In a news conference Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry said that Beijing hopes Japan will accurately reveal all data concerning the situation at the Fukushima plant.