2023-09-08 02:09:48
The draft of Lu’s new Public Security Law has rarely attracted public criticism from scholars, and state media commentators have bluntly stated that the content is inappropriate. (Photo by Lan Xiaowei)
The draft of the new “Public Security Management Punishment Law” released by the mainland Chinese government has rarely attracted public opposition from many legal scholars on social media. According to Voice of America, this draft, which is still in the stage of soliciting public opinions, has recently become the most controversial topic on the Chinese Internet. Tens of thousands of people have participated in the solicitation of opinions on the Chinese government website.
Mainland China announced earlier this week that the Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China (Revised Draft) has been reviewed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and has begun soliciting public opinions. New additions to the draft include words and deeds that “damage the spirit of the Chinese nation” and “hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation” as punishable behaviors, which has caused a lot of controversy.
The draft does not provide a clear definition of these two acts, causing concerns among legal scholars. They believe that this may become a “pocket clause” like the current crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, bringing the risk of abuse of government power.
The report quoted Lao Dongyan, a professor at the Law School of Tsinghua University in Beijing, as writing on her Weibo: “‘It harms the spirit of the Chinese nation and hurts the feelings of the Chinese nation’ is an extremely vague concept, and different people will have completely different understandings. If we use it as a legal penalty standard, we will inevitably face the problem that the penalty standard is too vague, which may easily lead to arbitrary expansion of the scope of administrative penalties.”
She also warned that this would stimulate the spread of populist and ultra-nationalist sentiments, thereby further deteriorating the public opinion environment and even creating obstacles for China’s diplomacy.
Lao Dongyan’s post has received more than 200,000 likes in less than two days since it was published. The comment with the most likes under the post read: “Support, ambiguity is most likely to cause expansion, and eventually everyone will be in danger.”
According to reports, just last month, China launched the largest anti-Japan propaganda in recent years because of Japan’s discharge of nuclear wastewater, and also promoted false information. Some Japanese brands have been boycotted by netizens, and the trend of salt grabbing has spread across the country.
According to the report, the discussions and disputes among mainland legal experts focused on two words and deeds listed in the draft that can be punished: “Wearing in public places or forcing others to wear in public places or wearing items that are detrimental to the spirit of the Chinese nation and hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation” clothing, symbols” and “the production, dissemination, promotion, and dissemination of items or remarks that are detrimental to the spirit of the Chinese nation and hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation.”
The report quoted Chinese constitutional scholar Tong Zhiwei as saying on Weibo: “It is recommended that paragraphs 2-3 of Article 34 of the “Public Security Management Punishment Law” (revised draft) not be reviewed for the time being. Who will confirm the “spirit of the Chinese nation” and what procedures will be followed? ? Who recognizes the ‘feelings of the Chinese nation’ and what procedures are followed to recognize and determine it? These are huge issues that are almost impossible to operate according to the principles of the rule of law.”
This draft gave legal scholars a rare voice and prompted some members of the public to actively join the discussion. “What do you think of Article 34 of the revised draft of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law?” has become one of the hot topics on Weibo. Netizens called on each other to leave messages on the draft comment page on the National People’s Congress website. This collection of opinions will close on September 30.
According to reports, nearly 50,000 people have participated in soliciting opinions on the draft, leaving nearly 60,000 messages. For comparison, the other four drafts that are also soliciting opinions have only received a few hundred comments each.
Even Hu Xijin, a special commentator and former editor-in-chief of the state-run Global Times, wrote that he understood concerns regarding the draft.
Hu Xijin posted on Weibo: “Lao Hu advocates that legislators further improve the content of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 34 of the revised draft of the “Public Security Management Punishment Law”. In response to doubts, it will “damage the spirit of the Chinese nation” and “hurt the Chinese nation”. We also hope that the public security departments in various places will accurately grasp the original intention of the legislation following the bill is officially announced, and will not trigger public emotions through mechanical and excessive implementation and cause negative effects that go once morest the original intention of the legislation.”
In addition, Article 59 of the draft also caused concern among scholars. The article stipulates: “Anyone who obstructs the people’s police from performing their duties in accordance with the law by means of insults, abuse, threats, containment, interception, etc. shall be severely punished.”
The report quoted Zhao Hong, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, as saying in an article that treating “insults” and “abuse” as obstructive behavior means that ordinary people may be detained just for insults, which violates the “less detention” principle of modern rule of law. The concept of “cautious punishment”. The article, originally published in Chinese media outlet The Paper, has been deleted.
The concerns of scholars and some netizens have been criticized by the nationalist camp, with some bloggers believing that concerns regarding the draft are due to the opponents’ own ulterior motives.
The report quoted a Weibo post by blogger “Integrity Brother Lei”: “Only bad people are afraid of surveillance cameras. No matter how they defend themselves or what sanctimonious logic they come up with, they can’t deny that their buttocks are crooked, so they oppose it. We must be doing something right, so we must support the revision of the “Public Security Management Punishment Law”!”
According to the report, the true proportion of the Chinese public’s support and disapproval of this draft is unclear, but several current polls on the Internet show that this is a highly polarized topic. According to a Weibo poll launched by Observer.com, 6,600 people expressed support and 6,000 people opposed it. In a vote initiated by Beijing News Broadcasting, 8,500 people expressed support and 6,800 people opposed.
China first introduced the Public Security Administration Punishment Law in 2005. New content added in this revision also includes regulations on cheating in exams, organizing pyramid schemes, obstructing the driving of public transportation, raising and releasing sky lanterns carrying open flames, throwing objects at high altitudes, and “black flights” of drones.
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