The city's civilization affairs office is considering drafting laws that could lead to fines for using obscenities, according to the Shanghai Morning Post.

The office finished research on drafting the regulation on citizens' behaviors at public venues at the end of the last year, according to the report.

In addition to the existing citizen manners guideline, which mainly functions as an ethics standard, the city needs to draft a law that metes out fines to the offenders to prevent citizens from using dirty words, Luo Huarong, one of the members of the 10th Shanghai Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said on Saturday.

She said dirty words often lead to fights, some of which may turn lethal.

It is true that a typical Shanghai resident tends to refrain from fist fighting to settle a dispute, but they should also try to keep a similar rein on their mouth at moments of anger, according to Luo.

Shanghai residents are known across the country to prefer quarreling to fighting over trifles on the street.

Gu Daxi, another city adviser, said a law is necessary to fight dirty words and help ensure citizens act politely toward each other. The size of the fine for swearing may vary depending on the income of the offenders, Jiang Dehai, a professor at East China University of Politics and Law, told the newspaper. Jiang participated in research on drafting the regulation.

The law will also include "uncivilized behavior" of some dog keepers.

(Shanghai Daily January 29, 2007)