Martin Li

    martin.mouse@163.com

    “SMOKING a cigarette is not a big deal,” an unidentified civil servant in Qingshuihe Subdistrict of Luohu District said after he was found smoking in the office May 17, during a secret government investigation related to smoking control.

    The employee added that he usually smokes five or six cigarettes a day.

    In addition to government offices, public places in Shenzhen such as restaurants and parks also are still seeing smokers, who seem to be ignorant of or unaffected by the city government’s increasing determination to control smoking in indoor public places.

    According to revised smoking-control regulations that are being discussed by the city’s legislature, a 500-yuan (US$81) fine would be imposed on people who smoke in public places where smoking is prohibited. The proposed fine is much higher than the current 20-yuan fine. In addition, the legislature is considering imposing a 30,000-yuan fine on operators of smoking-restricted venues, such as restaurants, who fail to create a special area for smokers or prevent people from smoking.

    Operators of smoking-restricted venues also would be fined 20,000 yuan if their special smoking areas didn’t meet designated standards.

    The proposed package of heavier fines has invited both support and doubts from Shenzhen residents. Many people support the government’s determination to control public smoking, but doubt the effectiveness of heavier fines and the enforcement of revised regulations.

    Effectiveness in doubt

    Zhang Xin, who represented the city’s health, population and family planning commission at a legislative hearing on the proposed revisions May 14, said the heavier fines would be efficient means to draw people’s attention to smoking-control efforts.

    “It is a means rather than an end. The heavy fine is more of a deterrent to smokers,” Zhang said. “We decided on the fine amount by referring to fines in foreign countries. In Singapore, people are fined 1,000 Singapore dollars (US$806) if they smoke in public. Smokers damage nonsmokers’ health rights, so they should be held accountable.”

    Six million people around the world, including 1 million in China, die from smoking-related illnesses each year, Zhang said.

    Lawyer Yan Xueming, however, attended the same hearing and referred to the heavy fines as “cruel torture.”

    “Shenzhen should not become well-known for its heavy fines. The heavy fines may also lead to conflicts between law enforcers and smokers,” Yan said. “In addition, the proposed fines on operators of smoking-restricted venues are very heavy, which is in sharp contrast to the almost zero punishment for law enforcers who fail to do their duty.”

    Dou Yanlei, another hearing participant, echoed Yan’s take on the heavy fines.

    “It would be extremely hard to enforce the heavy fines. Shenzhen is a city of migrants, so it’s hard for law enforcers to trace people who fail to pay a 500-yuan fine,” Dou said.

    Law enforcers can only collect on-the-spot fines of no more than 20 yuan, according to local law. Offenders are required to pay fines exceeding 20 yuan to a designated government office bank account.

    Dou also criticized the proposed mandatory installations of special smoking areas in smoking-restricted venues.

    “The revised regulations don’t provide detailed technological standards about the smoking areas. In addition, many restaurants are very small and don’t have enough room for a special area,” Dou said.

    Dou suggested that instead of heavy fines, the government should consider connecting people’s public smoking to their credibility record.

    “If people smoke in a non-smoking area, their loan applications could be affected,” Dou suggested.

    Guangzhou resident Yang Zhiming said a 500-yuan fine would be reasonable and an effective deterrent.

    Weak law enforcement

    Shenzhen introduced its smoking control regulations in 1998, but nobody has ever been fined for violating them.

    To address the issue, the city’s legislature has proposed to get 12 government departments involved in the enforcement of smoking regulations, including health, education, transportation, public security, urban management and tourism departments.

    “The city’s urban management administration should be tasked with enforcing the regulations. Now it’s only in charge of controlling smoking in parks,” lawyer Jin Yan said. “Having 12 departments involved in enforcement would lead to no real enforcers.”

    Jin added that the revised regulations fail to say whether law enforcers would be punished if they failed to do their duty, and it’s unclear how residents could supervise law enforcers.

    “Shenzhen should take advantage of its independent legislative power to create innovations that ensure the fines will be effectively implemented,” Jin said.

    Jin mentioned the city’s newly released regulations that promote public behaviors deemed civilized, noting that people haven’t yet been fined for uncivilized public behaviors even though such behaviors, including littering and spitting, are often seen in public places.

    Expat’s opinion

    Gregory Sharpan of New Zealand, the only foreigner at the May 14 hearing, emphasized the role of education in controlling smoking.

    Sharpan, a teacher at Shenzhen Nanshan Bilingual School, said people should be educated about smoking’s health risks.

    “In my country, smoking is considered low and disgraceful. Chinese are much more agreeable (about smoking) — but when they know smoking is bad, they will stop doing it. If I drive a car in New Zealand and throw a cigarette butt out of the window, people behind me will report it to police. The next day I will receive a fine ticket in my letter box,” said Sharpan, who arrived in Shenzhen about three months ago and previously lived in Zhejiang Province.

    Sharpan said residents should be involved in anti-smoking efforts. He once asked his students to tell school bus drivers about smoking risks and as a result, he said, the school’s bus drivers have stopped smoking in public nonsmoking areas. “We should stop people from smoking and also stop new recruits. It is easier for people not to start,” Sharpan said.

    Sharpan also recommended adopting a practice used in countries including New Zealand and Germany, in which cigarette packages contain pictures of cancerous lungs.

    Hong Kong practices

    HONG KONG has banned smoking on all public transportation and in most indoor public areas. People can be fined HK$1,500 (US$193) for smoking in nonsmoking areas.

    Hong Kong established a smoking-control office in February 2000 to coordinate government’s smoking control efforts. The office enforces smoking-control regulations, promotes nonsmoking culture and provides guidance and services for people who want to quit smoking.

    Residents can report to the office when they find people smoking in nonsmoking areas. Hong Kong law enforcers issued 9,363 tickets last year to people who violated smoking regulations. Fines totaled more than HK$14 million last year, according to recent reports by SZTV.(Li Hao)