Increasing Moral Policing in China

However, the latest proposed amendment has attracted severe criticism from civil society in China as it provides for arbitrary punishments for the acts which are ‘harmful to the spirit of the Chinese nation’. More specifically, article 34 of this draft stipulates that a person can be punished with 5-10 days of detention without trial along with a fine of over 1000 Yuan if he/she wears or compels others to wear clothes that hurt ‘Chinese national feelings’ or affects China’s ‘national spirit’. Repeated offenders could also be detained for up to 15 days and/or fined up to 5000 Yuan. Moreover, it also puts restrictions on publishing, disseminating articles or remarks against China’s spirit. As Xi Jinping’s control over administration continues to strengthen after the 20th Party Congress and 14th NPC, this law would further provide legal backing for arbitrary actions by the police and bureaucrats, thereby strengthening authoritarian tendencies in China.

Why These Changes?

The phrase “hurting the feelings of Chinese people” has been previously used multiple times by China against foreign brands like Mercedes Benz, Delta airlines as well as against the Australian government when it demanded for an inquiry into the origin of COVID-19. However, this phrase has now been introduced even for domestic citizens through this amendment. The draft makes provisions to add new acts such as illegal drone flying or concepts like “soft violence” (软暴力) under the ambit of this act. Secondly, it also aims to provide legal backing to some modern practices such as e-surveillance and lawful detention implemented for public security management. It also gives enormous powers to grassroot police who will be empowered to implement moral policing in rural China under the overall guidance of the Ministry of public security. However, beyond these reasons stated by government authorities, several other underlying factors have also influenced these changes in the public security framework of China.

This amendment cannot be seen in isolation, but rather needs to be seen with other changes introduced in governance of China which aimed to strengthen state control over public life. Since the last few years, internet censorship in China has also become much stricter with regulations like censoring ‘harmful’ comments and posts on news websites or punishing those who are found mocking CPC martyrs and heroes. This amendment adds to this regulation and prescribes punishment even for those who ‘glorify invasion wars.’ Such regulations have been a smaller part of China’s Golden shield project started in the early 2000s to establish control over online content. On the other hand, similar measures have also been implemented to regulate day-to-day behaviour of people which have now largely become a part of China’s social credit system.

Furthermore, recent reports about China’s economic downturn may indicate rising discontent among the general public which could be controlled through measures such as this amendment. In fact, China, in the past, has often witnessed stricter censorship regime when its economy has not been running smoothly. Considering rising discontent among citizens over rising unemployment and increasing pressure on households, there are fears that public order in China may be disrupted which may have necessitated such tightened state control.

People’s Resentment Against the Amendment

One such act which could attract punishment after this amendment and that has faced criticism on Chinese social media is the provision to disallow clothing that goes against the “spirit of Chinese nation” and has raised several questions regarding personal freedoms in China. The most worrisome part of this amendment was the vagueness in defining which acts constitute as harming the spirit of the Chinese nation. Moreover, many people expressed doubts such as whether wearing foreign brands clothes or even supporting foreign sports clubs might constitute an act that hurt ‘Chinese spirit’.

 Recently, a group of Chinese wearing Tang dynasty traditional attire were mistaken as wearing Japanese clothing and thus, denied entry to an archaeological park in Wuhan. Interestingly, there were no such provisions in the park guidelines and park officials had acted arbitrarily. These traditional Japanese attire Kimono has attracted a lot of attention from authorities and people with Kimonos have been detained or harassed by authorities all across China, especially since Sino-Japanese relations began to deteriorate in the last few years. Few days ago, people wearing rainbow print clothes were denied entry to a Taiwanese singer's concert in Beijing. Such incidents could increase more if this amendment is ratified by the NPC.

Even several lawyers and legal experts have expressed concerns about the vague language used in this draft which will give arbitrary powers to local authorities and could also fuel excessive nationalism in rural and township areas. A professor of criminal law at Tsinghua university suspected that several clauses in this law might give more room for corruption at local level and further widen the gap between public and police authorities. Few months ago, there were reports that the ministry of public security has increased deployment of grassroot police in local police stations, residential communities and villages. Although this action has been taken to strengthen national security and social stability, analysts have feared that this would instead strengthen China’s local-level surveillance system.

Conclusion

Majority of acts prescribed under this law are not serious crimes and thus, may not be even admissible before the court of law. Thus, it provides greater powers to local officials who will be tasked with implementing this law. Moreover, it would affect career prospects of young violators of this law for petty crimes which could prove more detrimental for them given China’s current unstable employment market. Even though it makes provision for sealing records of underage offenders, this law could still harm undergraduates and graduate students.

It is a common practice in most countries to constantly update public security laws to address new challenges to public safety and social order. However, in an authoritarian country like China, ambiguity and lacunae in such laws gives overarching arbitrary power of moral policing to executive bodies and likely to be used to silence already stifled civil society. As China’s economy continues to witness downturn, ideology and morals have gained prominence to avoid any potential social outburst and keep the society under the state control.