Well, both have behaved irresponsibly at a time when space is already pretty busy. When the US and USSR went through their 'hold my beer' phase of space exploration, they could really only hurt themselves.
My favorite US 'oopsie' is the Westford Needles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_West_Ford) many of which are still up there 55 years later. But that was at the beginning of the space age, the Chinese actions were the equivalent of taking a dump in the swimming pool while maintaining eye contact with the lifeguard.
It's not new people have been worried about space debris for years. Also doesn't help that China intentionally made the problem worse when they tested an anti-satellite weapon back in 02007, then followed by the US as a continuation of the militaristic strutting and posturing, and now India has as well.
It's also a problem that gets worse as space is used more just full stop because the more we put up the more chance for collision and a cascade.
