Beijing passes tough anti-smoking rules in smokers' paradise

BEIJING — As the skyline vanished once again under choking smog this week, city lawmakers approved new rules Friday to curb the Chinese capital's even deadlier haze: indoor smoking.

Smoking inside China's restaurants, bars and other facilities makes such public places even more hazardous than facing smog outdoors, according to the World Health Organization, which says smoking kills more than 1 million Chinese citizens each year.

The organization welcomed Beijing's ban on smoking in indoor public places — passed Friday and set to take effect in June — as setting a strong standard for all Chinese cities. The new rules include increased fines of up to $33 for a single violation. That's a huge jump from the current $1.60 fine.

The move follows the publication of draft regulations Monday for a tough nationwide ban on indoor smoking, limits on outdoor smoking and restrictions on tobacco advertising. If the larger ban passes, smokers could face fines up to $80.

Doctors and anti-smoking lobbyists warn enforcing rules against smoking — and changing pro-tobacco attitudes — remains tough in a fume-filled society where smoking remains highly popular and little criticized. With more than 300 million smokers, China is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco products.

In recent years, the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke caused officials to ban indoor smoking in 14 cities, but those regulations remained widely ignored and weakly enforced. The capital's new rules — stronger than its 2008 regulations — ban all indoor smoking in public places, including individual offices. Even Beijing airport's smoking lounges appear set to close.

The draft national regulation — published Monday for public feedback — takes the smoking ban to the next level by prohibiting all forms of tobacco advertising and sponsorship, limiting the use of smoking in movies and TV shows and introducing graphic warnings that should cover at least half of cigarette packs.

"I lobbied the government for so many years, finally I could see a real change," said an excited Xu Guihua, deputy director of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, a lobbying group. "The Beijing law will be a milestone for anti-smoking and health improvement in the future."

Beijing will collect $16 billion in tax revenue from cigarette firms this year, according to state news agency Xinhua. The state-run China Tobacco earned daily profits of $75 million in 2012, reported financial news site yicai.com this year. That gives powerful tobacco firms and other vested interests a motive to keep fighting, said Xu, a former health ministry official.

"They have many excuses, such as 'tobacco controls will affect GDP and economic development,' or 'other countries didn't ban tobacco advertising,' " Xu said.
A man smokes a cigarette beside the statue of Confucius

A man smokes a cigarette beside the statue of Confucius at the entrance of the China National Museum in Beijing on March 1, 2011.(Photo: Liu Jin, AFP/Getty Images)

SMOKE-FREE DINING ON HORIZON

The new national regulation would aid enforcement by clarifying who is responsible for ensuring smoke-free environments, such as a restaurant manager who should seek police help with uncooperative patrons, said WHO's Chinese representative Bernhard Schwartlander.

Throughout Europe, skeptics were surprised as even nations like Italy submitted to indoor smoking bans, he said.

"People find food tastes better, everybody benefits, including smokers. Why should that not happen in China?" Schwartlander said.

Waitress Amy Zhang, at central Beijing's Hongguanglou restaurant, can hardly wait.

"We don't like smokers, especially in winter when we can't open the window, the smell chokes my nose," Zhang said. "If the new rule prevents people from smoking, I will be very happy. But if they don't stop, I think we have to respect them, because they are our clients."

In many sectors of Chinese life, smoking has been an occupational hazard for decades.

"Being a train driver is boring," so many railway staff pass time by smoking, said Jiang Xiangdong, 53, a smoker for 30 years who now accepts his next cigarette could be his last.

"I don't think I need any drugs to quit smoking, it's not a disease," said Jiang, who suffers breathing and sleep disorders, and awaits treatment for lung disease at Beijing's Chaoyang hospital. "I can quit by myself, I did it many times before."
At Beijing's Chaoyang hospital, doctor Guo Xiheng runs

At Beijing's Chaoyang hospital, doctor Guo Xiheng runs the Smoking Cessation Clinic, the first in China. Few patients seek his help to quit, yet many smokers come with respiratory problems, he said.(Photo: Sunny Yang, USA TODAY)

Physician Guo Xiheng disagrees with this myth.

"When you smoke, and it becomes a habit, we call it a disease, and you'd better see a doctor," said Guo, who runs Chaoyang's Smoking Cessation Clinic, the first in China, and has asked Jiang to quit.

Few patients seek Guo's help to quit, yet many smokers come with respiratory problems, he said.

"We really have to change, I wish our government would value the people's health more than the tax from cigarette companies," Guo said.

Meanwhile, taxi driver Li Yanfang says he fears his firm's $33 fine if he or a passenger smokes in the vehicle.

"It's hard for a heavy smoker like me to wait for ages in places like the airport or train station without a cigarette," said Li, 50.

But he does have one suggestion: "I wish China banned all cigarette companies, then I can't buy any, that's the only solution."