China still smoking as WHO's deadline arrives
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A taxi driver flicks cigarette ash from the window of his fast moving vehicle. A male shopkeeper enjoys a smoke in his store on Weihai Road.
On the day by which China had promised to ban smoking at all indoor public places, Shanghai Daily found many people smoking in restaurants, hospitals and on public transport.
A ban should have begun yesterday throughout the country according to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which China signed up to five years ago.
The accord bans smoking in all workplaces, public venues and public transport and also incorporates smoking control measures such as health warnings on cigarette packs, restrictions on tobacco advertising and protections against the effects of passive smoking. Its provisions should have come into effect yesterday.
Health officials and lawmakers in Shanghai, where a smoking control law was introduced last year, say that without a national law, it is difficult to control smoking in the city.
"We are doing a survey to evaluate local efforts on smoking control in the past five years, including the percentage of smokers, female smokers and prevalence of smoking in public venues," said Zhang Liqiang from the Shanghai Health Education Institute, one of people who drew up the local law. "We will try our best to make the city's smoking control effects further in line with the framework."
Many supporters of a ban on smoking say the current laws and their execution are too weak.
"I feel sick after smelling cigarette smoke," said one Shanghai resident, Li Fang. "The law is good, but the enforcement is poor. And the environment isn't such that we would feel good about stopping smokers."
She said she had to hold her breath or move away from smokers to avoid inhaling smoke or had to leave the room if there were smokers present instead of trying to stop them and maybe causing an argument.
Some restaurant workers have been found to turn a blind eye to smokers for fear of affecting business.
Su Long, a hotpot restaurant worker, tries to stop people smoking from time to time but without much success. "Some disregard my advice. I have no other solutions. It's impossible for us to drive away smoking customers," he said.
Zheng Zhong, a taxi driver, said he usually told passengers not to smoke once, but never twice. "If you insist they extinguish the cigarettes, you will usually end up in a quarrel."
A non-smoker, he said he understood why other drivers need to smoke to deal with the pressures of the job.
Meanwhile, the China Association on Tobacco Control has called for films and TV series to be free of smoking scenes and for a ban on product placement.
A survey of 11,000 middle school students found over 40 percent thought smoking added to actors' allure, while nearly 60 percent supported or did not object to smoking on screen, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Almost 33 percent said they would like to try smoking after seeing their favorite actors light up.
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