As a lot of readers will know, is coming up on October 1st. There have been a couple of small stories floating up that the Chinese government is getting tough on smoking by jailing and detaining people who smoke in public places where smaoking is banned. It is more of a story about fire hazards and security turned into a getting tough on smoking story.
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[...]The Chongqing Morning Post reported the story of a man who was jailed for smoking in a local wholesale market. The report has caused a bit of stir since enforcement on the smoking ban is generally lax and fines low.
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In a striking case for country of 350 million smokers, a man in the southwestern Chinese metropolis of Chongqing was jailed for five days for smoking in a wholesale market, according to local newspaper the Chongqing Evening News (in Chinese here).[...]
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More than 30 people in Hunan have been detained for smoking in “dangerous” public places.[...]
Here we have to come back to the truism that the Chinese government favor security and status quo above all else. The October 1st anniversary will see, like last year’s Beijing Olympics, a strong state making sure that things runs smoothly. If that pushes people to reevaluate their smoking habits, all the better.
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