Chinese are expressing concern about a potential legal change that would allow for fines and even jail time for people who offend the government’s sensibilities by wearing the wrong clothing.
The Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee recently released a draft of revisions to the law it is considering that would forbid a range of behavior including dress or speech “detrimental to the spirit of the Chinese people and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.”
The lawmakers did not spell out exactly what could get people sent to a detention center for up to 15 days or fined up to 5,000 yuan (US$684). They have listed the law among their priorities for this year.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The draft law highlights how Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has clamped down on civil liberties in the nation of about 1.4 billion people over his decade in power, including by stepping up Internet censorship.
Police in Suzhou, a city near Shanghai, detained a woman last year for wearing a kimono in public.
China has a longstanding feud with Japan over its actions during World War II, a dispute that has been exacerbated by Tokyo’s decision to release treated wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant into the ocean.
Authorities have also clamped down on people wearing shirts with rainbows at concerts and distributing flags on a university campus that had the pro-LGBTQ symbol on them. The flag episode occurred at the prestigious Tsinghua University, which gave two students official reprimands.
Many people on Chinese social media expressed concern that the proposed changes might be going too far. One user on Sina Weibo who goes by the handle “Nalan lang yueyueyue” asked how authorities would know when the nation’s feelings would be hurt.
“Shouldn’t the spirit of the Chinese nation be strong and resilient?” the person wrote. “Why can it be easily damaged by a costume?”
Du Zhaoyong (杜兆勇), who identifies himself as a lawyer on Sina Weibo, wrote in a post that received 8,800 likes that the law would “definitely bring huge uncertainty and open wide the door of convenience to arbitrary and unauthorized punishment.”
The post later disappeared from Sina Weibo.
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